Captain John WilkiePrint Page

The former St John the Evangelist Church was built to commemorate Captain John Lunan Wilkie.  

Captain Wilkie, the commander of His Majesty`s 12th Regiment, died on February 1 1862  when he fell from his horse during a fit. His funeral procession was deemed spectacular and his widow travelled to England to raise funds for a proper Anglican Church to be erected in his memory.

The foundation stone of the first brick memorial Church of St John the Evangelist was laid on the 21st March 1865 by Pownall. It was designed by Mr Eddis, an architect in London, and built by Messrs Leeder and company of Young, and was in memory of Captain John Wilkie. The total cost was about fifteen hundred pounds. From Captain Wilkie’s estate of £3,000, Mrs Wilkie gave five hundred pounds (one third) and collected in England three hundred pounds. Mr Roberts of “Currawong” (a large land holding near Young), one hundred pounds, the Society for promoting Christian Knowledge one hundred pounds, Goulburn Church Society one hundred pounds, Sydney Church Society fifty pounds. Mrs Wilkie expended another two hundred and fifty pounds on interior furnishings. She imported the encaustic tiles, font and other furnishings, and herself did all the needlework.

The Font was given by Captain Francis Boulton of the 12th Regiment. The Church was the first consecrated by the first Bishop of Goulburn, The Right Reverend Messac Thomas, and the service was held on the 11th August 1865. Until replaced in 1893, it was known as the Wilkie Memorial Church.

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