Reverend Charles Beaumont Howard Print Page

The monument, erected over the grave, commemorates the Reverend Charles Beaumont Howard, the first Colonial Chaplain. It was erected at the West Terrace cemetery by members of the Manchester Unity Oddfellows in South Australia and blessed by the Bishop of Adelaide in December 1921. Charles Beaumont Howard was the only Anglican clergyman in South Australia from 1836 to the arrival of the Reverend James Farrell in 1840. He conducted the first service on January 1st, 1837.

On Sunday afternoon, at the West Terrace Cemetery, in the presence of a large gathering, the Bishop of Adelaide (Rt. Rev. Dr. Thomas) unveiled and dedicated a memorial, erected by members of Independent Order of Oddfellows, Manchester Unity, to the late Bro. Rev. Charles Beaumont Howard, who was the first Colonial Chaplain of South Australia. Mr. T. Potter introduced the Bishop, and the Rev. F. Webb read the lesson. The Bishop said it was an inspiration which had prompted them to restore the headstone to the first colonial chaplain, and a Brother of their esteemed order, Charles Beaumont Howard. The services of the Brother, whose memory they were honouring, were of no trivial kind, and the headstone which they had erected was a high contemporary tribute to the sterling worth of the colony's first chaplain.

Referring to the life of the late Mr. Howard, he said he had arrived by the Buffalo on December 28, 1836. The site of Adelaide had been decided upon at that time, but the actual survey of the city had been taken at the beginning of 1837. Mr. Howard had borrowed a large sail from a captain of a ship, and with great difficulty had conveyed it to the site of the city, and erected it near to the River Torrens. There the earliest services had been held. Subsequently, a wooden church had been sent out in the Buffalo by the old Society for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge, at a cost of £500. The wooden structure had been capable of holding 350 people, and was the first Trinity Church. A wooden parsonage had also been sent, and that was the beginning of the church for Adelaide. That was the foundation laid by the hand of Charles Beaumont Howard, and it was now becoming a great diocese. His had been the work of a faithful messenger of the Lord, and he had made many sacrifices. He had died six years after his arrival, at the age of 36 years. He had been true to the brotherhood, faithful in his care of that little community, who had looked to him for means of spiritual life, and for the blessing of their enterprises, loyal to his King, taken his part in national and patriotic functions, and, above all, he had been loyal to his God, and faithful to his duty. His life was an example for them.

The first years in the colony had been years of financial anxiety and great struggles, in connection with the building of a stone church, and that undoubtedly had hastened his death. It would be well to remember the endurance and self-sacrifice of the first Colonial Chaplain. A great change had come over South Australia since his day, but the work was at least as great, and as exacting for Christian priests and Christian citizens to do at the present time. There was a call for fearless witnesses, for loyalty, for unselfish service, for self-sacrifice, and for a spirit of Christ ruling their motives and their minds. That seemed to him to be the one and only solution of all their problems, social, industrial and international. Therefore, they should live up to the example set by the first colonial chaplain. Jesus called them to do their part ; He called them to service, and in serving Him they most truly served their country and their church. Hymns were sung, and a choir, under the leadership of Mr. A. J. Radford, contributed the anthem, "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee." The ceremony was concluded with the singing of the National Anthem. 
Register (Adelaide), 12 December 1921.

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