Very Reverend James FarrellPrint Page

The stained glass window commemorates the Very Reverend James Farrell who was the second Colonial Chaplain, first Dean of Adelaide and an incumbent of Holy Trinity Church from 1843 to 1869.

James Farrell (1803 - 1869), was born on 26 November 1803 at Longford, Ireland, the son of Reverend James Farrell, of the United Church of England and Ireland.  In March 1840 he was accepted by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel as a missionary to South Australia.

Reaching the province on 6 September 1840, Farrell was appointed to Adelaide's second Anglican Church, St John's, Halifax Street. In July 1843 he succeeded Charles Beaumont Howard as colonial chaplain and incumbent of Trinity Church. Until 1846 Farrell was the only Church of England clergyman in South Australia. His business acumen assisted Trinity Church to eliminate its oppressive debt. Privately, he invested successfully in real estate, and lent substantial sums on mortgage. In 1856 he was elected first chairman of the board of governors of the South Australian Institute.

Farrell's active ministry ended in May 1866 when, instead of medicine, he accidentally drank a lotion that probably contained arsenic. His health deteriorated. In a desperate search for medical treatment, at the end of 1868 he sailed to England. While taking the 'water cure' at Malvern, Worcestershire, he died of 'malignant ulceration' of the stomach on 26 April 1869 and was buried in Malvern cemetery. The office of Colonial Chaplain expired with him.

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