Reverend Samuel LeighPrint Page

The Leigh Memorial Uniting Church stands on one of the most important national sites for the Methodist Church of Australasia and is named in memory of the first Methodist minister, the Reverend Samuel Leigh (1785-1852) who arrived in 1815. The Church was opened in 1885, with worship and community services having commenced from an original chapel on the site in 1821. The name was changed to the Leigh Memorial Church in 1899. 

Reverend Leigh was for a while acting superintendent of the Sydney circuit and later was appointed to Parramatta. After his wife died in 1831, he returned to England where he died in 1852.

The handsome church belonging to the Wesleyans in Macquarie-street, Parramatta, is in future to be officially known as "Leigh Memorial Church," conference having during last week's sittings passed a resolution authorising the use of the name. The District Synod has used the name previously in a sort of experimental way. Many people are unaware of the origin and meaning of the name, which, however, is in itself an interesting reminiscence, and has some historical significance. The pioneer of the Wesleyan Methodist ministry in Australia and practically of Methodism, was the Rev. Mr. Leigh, who labored in the colony for many years. His last "circuit" was that of which Parramatta was the headquarters, and he was a resident in the old town till he finally left for England, where he died at a good old age. On leaving, the residents of Parramatta presented him with an address of the kind since so common, but which were then rarities. During Mr. Leigh's stay in Parramatta the original church in Macquarie-street was built, which had in time to give place to a larger structure, which was in turn deposed in favor of the ornate church now bearing the pioneer preacher's name. The old building opened by Mr. Leigh is still standing, and is one of the relics of Parramatta's practically prehistoric days. The present church is on the same block of land and only a few yards distant.
Daily Telegraph (Sydney, NSW), 20 March 1899.

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