REPRESENTING THE LARGEST COLLECTION OF 2X2 HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS ON THE INTERNET
Perry, Oklahoma Conv, 1942
Two by Two History in Australia
NOTE: Several historical accounts about first 2x2 Workers travelling to Australia and New Zealand are posted on the Telling The Truth website.
Due to conflicting dates, the Ship Passenger Records from Ancestry.com dates have been used, rather than those supplied in these accounts.
PIONEERS OF AUSTRALIAN STATES: in alphabetical order by states)
NEW SOUTH WALES (NSW): John Hardie and Richard "Dick" McClure in 1907
QUEENSLAND (QLD): John Sullivan and Jack Little in 1906
SOUTH AUSTRALIA (SA): Adam Hutchison and Jim McCreight in 1908
TASMANIA (TAS): Annie Smith and Fannie Carroll in 1908-10 (and maybe others).
VICTORIA (VIC): Adam Hutchison, Willie Hughes, Charlie Dubman and Archie/Arthur Murray in 1907
WESTERN AUSTRALIA (WA): Tom Turner and Jim McCreight; Laura Falkiner and Aggie Hughes in 1906
AUSTRALIAN STATE HEAD WORKERS: All the first Australian Head Workers were from the British Isles and came to Australia between 1904 and 1908, and pioneered an Australian state.
NSW: John Hardie 1907-61; Joe Williamson 1961-63; Gordon McNab 1963-94; Dan McNab 1994-95; Clyde McKay 1995-2016; Alan Kitto 2016--.
SA: Adam Hutchison 1907-22; Willie Hughes 1922-41-44?; John Baartz 1944-64; Robert Barbour 1964-94; Stan Cornthwaite 1994-2009 ; Alan Kitto circa 2009-15; Wayne Dean 2015--.
VIC: Adam Hutchison 1907-09; Wilson McClung 1909-13; Bill Carroll 1913-53; Chris Williams 1954-55; Willie Donaldson 1957-85; Evan Jones 1987-2001; John Robinson 2001-2014; David Leitch 2014-2018; Jim McLean 2018; Allan Mitchell 2018--.
QLD: John Sullivan 1906-24; Thomas Turner 1924-59; Archie Turner 1959-72; Albert Barnes 1972- 2002; Ray Corbett 2002-2014; Malcolm Clapham 2014--.
WA: Tom Turner 1906-24; Ted Terry 1924-28; Nestor Ferguson 1928-38 ; Willie Phyn 1939--; Sam Jones 1939-46; Walter Schloss 1950-55; Bert Cameron 1956-64; Clem Geue 1964-79; Bill McCourt 1979-2007-08; Peter Doecke 2009-2017; Graham Snow 2018--.
TAS: Adam Hutchison 1914-22; Sam Jones 1922-38; Chris Williams 1925--.
1904, JULY: THE FIRST TWO WORKERS ARRIVED IN AUSTRALIA. John Hardie, 33, an engineer from Kilsyth, Scotland, and his companion Alex (Sandy ) Alexander , 28, were the first. Both men entered the Work in 1900. A misfortune provided their way to Australia. Someone maliciously burned down a portable wooden hall John was using for a mission, and the County's payment for damages was sufficient to pay for their fare to Australia. They arrived in Melbourne, VIC, on July 24, 1904, aboard the SS Medic , and were the very first two Workers to set foot on Australian soil.
1905, OCTOBER 11: NINE WORKERS ARRIVED IN MELBOURNE, VIC. They arrived aboard the SS Geelong, h owever, they did not remain long in Australia. They disembarked and boarded other ships for New Zealand. William Irvine continued to Adelaide, South Australia.
1906, JANUARY 4: SIX WORKERS CAME TO AUSTRALIA. From the SS Oroya, four Workers disembarked at Freemantle, Western Australia. They were Tom Turner, 27; Jim McCreight, 24; Laura Falkiner, 27; and Aggie Hughes, 27, sister of Willie Hughes. They pioneered WA. The other two, John Sullivan, 31, and Jack Little, 27, continued on to Brisbane, QLD, arriving on January 19. 1906. Syd Maynard and Mrs. Burgess were the only two converts in QLD and WA from 1906-08.
1906, MARCH 19. A fter spending about five months in Australia, William Irvine departed on SS Moana from Sydney, NSW, for Vancouver, Canada.
1907, JANUARY 2: TWO SISTER WORKERS ARRIVED IN QUEENSLAND (QLD). Polly Hodgins, 25, and Lizzie Sargeant, 24, sailed from London to Brisbane aboard the SS Ortona. They were the first Sister Workers to arrive in QLD and were responsible for the first converts who professed in 1907. In late 1907, John Hardie visited QLD and baptized their converts.
1907, MARCH 16: SIX BROTHER WORKERS ARRIVED IN VIC. They arrived in Melbourne aboard the SS Moeraki . All but one were from the UK and had been preaching in NZ. They were Willie Hughes, Charlie Dubman, John Hardie, Richard "Dick" McClure, Adam Hutchison and Arthur/Archie Murray , from NZ. Two of them, John Hardie and Dick McClure , sailed on to Sydney and pioneered NSW, where the first to profess were Ruth and Ethel Harrison. The other four Workers stayed and pioneered VIC. The first VIC convert was Ada Cousins. By March 1907, there were 14 Workers in four Australian States, 13 from the UK and one from NZ .
1908 FEBRUARY. The SS Orontes sailed from London on December 27, 1907, and arrived in Melbourne, VIC in February. Aboard were Sam Jones (30), Bob Bashford, Sam McMullen, and Sandy Hinds. About 26 Workers from AU and NZ attended the 1908 Convention at Northcote (a suburb of Melbourne), the first to be held in Australia. At least f our started in the Work: Sid Maynard from WA, Ethel Harrison and Flora Finch from NSW and Ada Cousins from VIC.
In April, Sam Jones, Bob Bashford, Tom Turner and Syd Maynard sailed on to Fremantle WA. By 1908, there were Workers laboring in all the Australian States, which were pioneered in this order: WA and QLD in 1906; VIC and NSW in 1907; and SA and TAS in 1908.
FIRST CONVENTIONS:
NSW 19-- : held at--.
QLD 1910: held at Mt. Gravatt 1910-1917.
SA 1909 April: held at Woodside at Mrs. Alf Harris' place; April, 1910 , second held at Woodside at Wuttkes.
VIC 1908 March : held at Northcote. First Convention to be held in Australia.
TAS 1909, 1910 and 1911: held at Evandale.
WA 1915-1916, March: held between homes of Radfords and Jacobs in Bassendean, then known as West Guildford.
Children's Meetings were held at Convention in NSW and VIC.
ABOUT THE AUSTRALIAN STATE HEAD WORKERS
(in alphabetical order by state).
NEW SOUTH WALES. John Hardie was born January 20, 1870, in Scotland, and was about age 34 when he and Sandy Alexander arrived in Australia in 1904. They held a tent mission at Oakleigh, near Melbourne in Victoria with no response . "They lived in a tent where they used one-half of the tent for their living quarters and the other half for meetings. One day a big storm came and totally ripped their tent to shreds. They then spread newspapers on the ground and slept on them. One day the Elder Worker [Hardie] woke to find his companion gone with all their money" (First Workers to Australia, TTT ).
After two hard months alone in Australia, on September 24, 1904, Hardie travelled to Wellington, New Zealand, to the home of his Irish friend, Tom Hastings, and his wife Emily, who had emigrated from Ireland in 1901. Little is known about his activities for the next year. A little over a year later, in November 1905, John Hardie and Sandy Alexander turned up together and helped Maggie McDougall and Frances Hodgins in a mission at Hutt, near Wellington. It is not known how Hardie and Alexander reunited or where either had spent the previous 14 months. They had good response in the Hutt Mission, but there was strong Brethren opposition. Alexander was influenced to leave the Work and preach for the Brethren.
In March 1907, Hardie and Dick McClure travelled from New Zealand to Sydney, Aust. and pioneered NSW. Hardie was the NSW Head Worker from 1907 to 1961, or for 54 years, the longest held oversight in Australia. He was the Senior Worker over all Australia until his death on April 26, 1961, aged 90. He is buried in Rookwood Cemetery, Sydney, NSW (Independent General Section K, No. 1475). Dick McClure left the Work in 1913, married and had 5 children. Reportedly John Hardie did not speak to him again until shortly before John died.
QUEENSLAND. John Sullivan was born in 1874, was from Dunmanway, Co. Cork, Ireland and was a school teacher when he entered the Work in 1900. Sullivan and Jack Little arrived in Brisbane on January 19, 1906. Their first couple of years in Australia were very hard, with no converts and Little deserted Sullivan. When his sister's husband died, Sullivan went back to QLD and built a home for her. He was the Head Worker of QLD from 1906 until his unexpected death in 1924, aged 50. He wrote one hymn in 1987 Ed. of "Hymns Old and New ." Read article about Sullivan in The Irish Magazine ( Woolcott, n.d.).
SOUTH AUSTRALIA - VICTORIA - TASMANIA. Willie John Hughes was born April 23, 1880, in Rathmolyon, Co. Meath, Ireland and was a purser in the Navy. He professed in 1905 and went in the Work in 1906. He and three others were the first to pioneer South Australia in March 1907. He had the oversight of SA from 1918 to 1944, and the oversight of NZ from 1944 to 1966, where he died.
Adam Dickson Hutchison was born September 10, 1873, in Lauder, Berwickshire, Scotland. Hutchison worked with his father as a blacksmith and then as a Colporteur with the Faith Mission before he professed in 1900, went in the Work in 1902 and came to Ireland in 1903. He went to NZ in October 1905 with the first group of Workers and he and Joe Williamson with two Sister Workers were the first to go to the South Island in NZ. In 1907, Hutchison, along with three other Workers left NZ and pioneered Victoria . His sister, Aggie Hutchison, also labored in Aust.
In 1908, Sullivan and Jim McCreight pioneered SA. McCreight entered the Work in the UK in 1904 and left after two years in Australia. Jimmy Vallance from NZ replaced McCreight. Sullivan had the oversight of SA until 1915, when he became the Head Worker of Tasmania from 1915 to 1922. He then became the first Worker to go to India, where h e died in Burma on January 19, 1925, aged 51, of smallpox. He wrote about 15 hymns in 1987 Ed. of "Hymns Old and New ."
VICTORIA. William (Bill) Charles Carroll and his wife, Margaret (Maggie) Elizabeth (Hastings) Carroll . Bill was born August 15, 1876, in Newtown, Moynalthy, Kels, Co. Meath, Ireland. Maggie was born on April 20, 1875, in Co. Meath. They married on June 6, 1901, in the Rathmolyon Church of Ireland. Their daughter May was born May 31, 1902. Although she is shown in various Worker photos with her parents, May was never in the Work. She married Adolphus "Dolph" Harry Schulz from QLD, born in 1896, who was in the Work for a few years in the early 1920s. They resided in Melbourne, VIC, Aust. May died in August 1991 and Dolph in February 1987. May is the author of nine hymns in the 1987 Ed. of "Hymns Old and New ." Bill was the eldest of five siblings, four of whom entered the Work. Maggie's brother was Tom Hastings who immigrated to NZ.
Bill and Maggie Carroll entered the Work in 1903 and preached in the UK. The Mary Elizabeth Coles-Waddingham Testimony gives an incorrect date of 1899 when the Carrolls entered the Work (two years before they were married in 1901). It also gives an incorrect birth date for their daughter, May (Coles Waddingham, n.d., TTT ). See Morning Leader, June 15 , 1906, TTT .
The Carrolls departed for Sydney, NSW, aboard the SS Orsova on Oct. 24, 1913, with May, age 11. In 1913, Bill assumed the VIC oversight from Wilson McClung, who assumed the oversight in NZ and remained there for 40 years, or until his death. Maggie Carroll was known for holding Children's Meetings at the Conventions in Victoria, which were discontinued after Bill Carroll died in 1953, aged 77. Maggie Carroll died in 1942, aged 67. After much controversy, Willie Donaldson assumed the oversight of VIC from 1957-85.
VICTORIA. Wilson and Annie McClung entered the Work in November 1903 as a married Worker couple from Co. Armagh, Ireland They professed through William Irvine in 1898 in Galway, Ireland Wilson was born in 1868 and Annie was born 1871. They came to Australia in 1908 and Wilson had the oversight of Victoria until 1913, when Bill Carroll assumed the role. Wilson McClung then assumed the oversight of New Zealand until his death in 1944.
TASMANIA. Annie Smith and Fannie Carroll pioneered the Work in Tasmania from March 1908-10, and Adam Hutchison was the Head Worker from 1914-22; and Sam Jones from 1922-39. Fannie left Australia in 1910 for a home visit after which she went to labor in California, where her brother Jack had the oversight. There she was much loved and continued in the Work until her death in her nineties.
WESTERN AUSTRALIA. Thomas McCausland Turner was born September 1, 1877, in S watragh, Maghera, Co. Londonderry, Ireland to William and Melisina (Bateman) Turner. He was a schoolteacher when he professed in 1898. He entered the Work in 1899, and was one of the first four men to commit to the Work full time. In January 1906, Tom arrived in WA with James McCreight, Laura Falkiner and Aggie Hughes . In 1908, Sam Jones, Bob Bashford and Syd Maynard came to WA. The first few years in WA were very hard, and James McCreight left the Work. In 1908, Laura and Aggie went to Victoria.
The three remaining Brother Workers attended the first SA Convention at Woodside in March 1909, and no Workers returned to WA until about 1911, when Annie Smith and Bess Pattison ventured there. Grace Snowball was the first Sister Worker to enter the Work in WA. She and her mother were among the first to profess there in 1912. No Brother Workers returned to WA until 1915, when Tom Turner and Sid Maynard returned. Tom left WA to take the oversight of QLD from 1924 until his death. He wrote three hymns in 1987 Ed. of "Hymns Old and New ." Tom died April 19, 1959, aged 81, and is buried in Brisbane, QLD, Mt. Gravatt Cemetery (MON4e, isle 6, plot 508).
PIONEERING WOMEN. The two Australian states of TAS and WA were pioneered by women. Laura Falkiner and Aggie Hughes , from Ireland pioneered WA in 1906 with Tom Turner and Jim McCreight. Syd Maynard professed in 1906 through Laura and Aggie. Laura was from Borrisokane, Ireland professed in 1898, and entered the Work in 1902. Apart from a few years in VIC and one in QLD, she spent all her years in WA, active in the Work until she died in 1967, aged 91. Annie Smith and Fannie Carroll pioneered Tasmania 1908-10. Annie Smith later married Wilfred Heyes.
Syd Maynard professed in 1906 when he was twenty years old. He was the first to profess on the continent of Australia , as well as the first person to profess in Western Australia . In 1908, Syd was also the first native Australian to become a Worker. He labored in WA and SA for ten years and in India where he spent 29 years. After Adam Hutchison died in 1925, Syd had the oversight of India until his death in 1954, aged 68.
Samuel (Sam) Jones was born 1887 in Portadown, Co. Armagh, Ireland and was a landscape gardener. He entered the Work in 1902. He and some other Brother Workers arrived in Melbourne, VIC aboard the SS Orontes in February 1908. On April 8, 1908, Sam Jones and three other Brother Workers sailed to Fremantle, WA. Their WA pioneering days were very difficult. Sam's companion, Bob Bashford , became so discouraged that Sam gave him all their money and he left. Sam struggled on alone, sleeping in a dry riverbed and became ill. Some gypsies found him and took care of him until he recovered. Sam spent one year in WA, then preached in SA until 1914 when he went to VIC. In 1921 he became Head Worker of TAS until 1939. He returned to WA where he was Head Worker from 1939 to 1946. Sam died of heart failure on April 14, 1946, aged 68, in Rockingham, WA. He was the author of the most hymns (over 100) printed in "Hymns Old and New, " and has been called "The Sweet Psalmist of Israel." The high point of Sam's missions was the 1910 Bethel Mission in SA.
1910 BETHEL MISSION, SOUTH AUSTRALIA. The first German settlers came to SA for religious freedom and to be able to follow their particular (minority) form of Lutheranism. Some settled in Bethel, SA, where a number of people of German stock professed. Some family names were: Geues, Vogts, Schmidts, Matzs, Doeckes, Loechels, Punkes, Schuberts, Schillings and Eisens. Many notes of talks or sermons by Clem Geue have circulated in America about the Bethel Mission held by Sam Jones. In a church service, the Lutheran pastor began speaking evil and telling lies about the Workers. One man jumped up and walked out the door of the Bethel Lutheran church and 23 others followed him. " That same night he [Sam] gave them opportunity to declare their support of the Gospel that he and Jim had preached to them, and the same 24 raised hands." (Bethel Mission 1910, TTT )
Otto Schmidt, who professed in the 1910 Bethel Mission, was the first Australian Worker to go to a foreign country to preach. He and Jim Jardine went to Germany in 1913. In the 1920s, Australia had more than 100 who started in the Work, more than in any other decade. This number included about 40 who went to North America; over 30 who went to India, Ceylon or Burma; and about twelve who went to Europe, mostly to Germany. According to his son, Mervyn Schmidt, Otto later maintained that he had been born again before he ever met the Workers.
THE LEAFLET. A supplementary hymnbook called the "Leaflet," containing about 12-19 hymns was introduced in the 1940s in SA by John Baartz, who loved music. It was used there for nearly 50 years. In 1941, Bill Carroll introduced a Leaflet titled Supplementary Hymns for Field and Fold . Leaflets in VIC were used for about 25 years. In America, the Leaflet was used by Jack Carroll, but not George Walker.
HYMNBOOKS. Some editions of Hymns Old and New have been printed in Australia in 1913, 1917, perhaps in 1918 and 1921. In 1919, R. L. Allan in Scotland published an English Edition, which was used worldwide.
MILITARY IN AUSTRALIA. In 1901, the six original Australian colonies became states of the Commonwealth of Australia, retaining the British monarch as head of state. When Britain entered both WWI and WWII, Australia entered the war on the side of Great Britain.
ADOPTING A NAME. During WWI, Australian professing men used the name " Testimony of Jesus" in hearings applying for military exemption or CO status (Nov. 21, 1916 The Register , Adelaide ; Nov. 24, 1916 Barrier Miner (Broken Hill). In VIC, beginning in 1929 or earlier, the name of "Christian Assemblies of Victoria" was used. In South Australia "they adopted the name CAA ( Christian Assemblies of Australia ) in the second World War in order to get petrol coupons, etc, " ( Vogt 2008 , TTT ).
On April 20, 1928 , Willie Hughes, Head Worker of SA, certified on letterhead of "The United Christian Conventions of Australasia and New Zealand " that Brother Worker Ron Campbell was "an ordained minister of the Gospel labouring in fellowship with a body of Christians assuming this name only" (Hughes 1928 , TTT ). Campbell took issue with the name Workers assumed for their Church in America. He wrote: "I cannot understand the honesty of any preacher out preaching in the name of Jesus and associated with the 'Christian Conventions Assuming This Name only.' This word 'only' rules out all other names, so by right they cannot be honest and use the name of Jesus at all."
According to Fred Hanowell, some time prior to 1957, the Senior Workers wrote a letter of registration for "The United Christian Conventions, Representing Assemblies of Christians Assuming That Name Only" that listed all the countries in the world where there were active Workers and Friends.
"In Australia, for instance, the fellowship split into three divisions, two of them united again, calling themselves, 'The United Christian Conventions, Representing Assemblies of Christians Assuming That Name Only.' " I got to know about it at my first Convention around 1957...in South Germany. It gave me a terrible shock as I read that letter which informed me of the 'Name-giving' and 'Registration'...I have a copy of a letter set up by those older Workers, in which all countries are mentioned in which Workers were at that time, Germany included, also the number or how many Workers were active there. Hence ALL countries and ALL believers in every land were included in that registration and Name Giving." ( 1971, to Fred and Ruth Miller, TTT )
In 1917, "Wilson McClung, head evangelist of a body known as The Testimony of Jesus Christ, " stated to the Military Service Board that there were 2,500 adherents in Australia and 74 evangelists ( Dominion July 26, 1917 , 9, TTT ).
1928. The Australian Workers Convention was held in Sydney, NSW, for two days in January, at which all the Workers in the country (about 120) attended. A number of changes were made. 1927 had been an exceptional year for the Work, with 23 new names on the Australian Workers Lists. Jack Carroll (brother to Bill Carroll) was present from the Western U.S.. A number of changes and transfers were made in all states. This was before Ed Cooney was excommunicated in November 1928.
1964: The Australian Workers Convention was held in Sydney, NSW, in January 1964, and the Senior Worker present was Jack Jackson . Several Worker transfers were made between the states. Mary Turner was sent back to New Zealand--but, instead, left the Work.
BLACK STOCKINGS. In 1935 the practice of wearing black Stockings was discontinued in Australia by most professing women. Reportedly, this was principally due to May Carroll from the U.S. visiting the Australian Conventions that year wearing light stockings where her brother, Bill Carroll, was Overseer of Victoria. Brother Worker Robert Chambers was also visiting from the U.S. that year and he supported her by comparing black stockings to Salvation Army uniforms.
ARTHUR McCOY'S GRIEVANCES, SOUTH AUSTRALIA (SA). In the spring of 1906, Adam Hutchison and Jim McCreight arrived in Adelaide, SA. In 1909, they held the first mission in SA at Woodside. In 1909, a Convention was held in Woodside at Mrs. Alf Harris' place. The local people were very hostile, and hoodlums interfered with the Convention by throwing rotten eggs. Subsequent SA Conventions (1910-1926) were held on Wuttke's farm at Woodside.
Arthur McCoy was from South Australia. Apparently Jim Gordon and Jim Vallance had some open-air Meetings at Wattle Flat and Yankalilla shortly before the 1912 or 1913 Woodside Convention. Arthur and his mother attended the Convention. Arthur professed and entered the Work in 1914. He preached in Tasmania under Adam Hutchison until 1921. Workers suffered and endured severe hardship while laboring in the outback country areas of Australia. For three years, Arthur and his companion lived in very rough huts, and drank water from creeks and roadside tanks. Workers were forbidden to carry a change of clothing, so they were often wet and washed and dried their one set of clothes as best they could. They wore holes through their boots. Not having ten shillings for a dentist to fix a damaged tooth, Arthur filed it off himself, and it later abscessed.
In 1922, Arthur went to preach in NSW where John Hardie was in charge. After the 1923 Convention, John collected all the money Workers had, and handed back to each one two pounds plus transportation fare for some. Arthur wrote:
"We were so short that most of the time we lived on about three shillings and sixpence a week for both of us for food. In an old bucket we found we made thin apple jam from windfall apples and a little sugar. We were so thin that our clothes hung on us...Weeks behind with rent...we cut 22 tons of boiler wood at three shillings and sixpence a ton, and packed loads of blue-gum leaves into containers...we repaired and erected an old windmill...mended cartwheels" ( Parker 1982, 40)
When Adam Hutchison heard they had worked to earn money for food and rent when reduced to severe straits, he said it was a "travesty of Matthew 10," and asked them not to go to work again. Arthur reminded him that Paul wrote of working in necessity, but Adam made no reply.
When Arthur felt pain in his right leg, the doctor at Armidale, NSW, who examined him immediately sent him to the hospital where he was operated upon as a charity case. The doctor instructed them to feed him well: "This man is dying because he is starving to death." Arthur believed his health had broken down largely due to the unnecessary hardships and poverty he suffered while in the Work in NSW under John Hardie's oversight. He blamed Hardie for his hip being permanently crippled and rigid after eight surgeries resulting in him being unable to ride a bicycle. He and his companion travelled on a Harley Davidson motorcycle with a sidecar, furnished by Arthur's brother Keith.
Not long after his hospital discharge, John Hardie took Arthur with him to the Christian Workers' Depot in Sydney to try and stop the printing of the booklet titled: "Go-Preachers or Cooneyites." John told Mr. Ardill the reason for their visit was because there were 14 lies in the booklet. Mr. Ardill assured him that they would not publish anything that was not true, and he noted in the booklet margin the items John said were false. The main issue John objected to in the booklet was that there was a "central fund" ( Parker 1982, 42).
WORKERS' BANK ACCOUNTS. In 1927, Arthur returned to his home state SA and labored under Willie Hughes' oversight until 1939. Arthur's mother told her neighbor about her Preachers who were lowly, poor, unlike other church preachers, and without bank accounts. However, two of the neighbor's family were employed at a bank where there was a trust account in Arthur McCoy's name. Arthurs' mother was quite distressed when she was so reliably informed about the existence of a bank account in Arthur's name.
Arthur was astounded! He discovered the Workers had "central funds" after all. There was a joint account at the National Bank of Australasia, Ltd titled: "John Christian Baartz and Arthur McCoy Trust A/C." John Baartz had succeeded Willie Hughes as SA Head Worker. It hurt Arthur that he had endured and suffered so much, and all along there had been money available, deposited in his very own name that could have been used to save his health. While he had barely survived on a mere pittance, with no change of clothes, often wet, hungry, sick, in pain, and sleeping in the open, the Head Workers actually had a central fund . (Parker 1982, 42 ).
Arthur was unable to accept the indifference shown by John Hardie and Willie Hughes to the shocking living conditions and health challenges of Workers who were suffering needlessly. Arthur urged them to review the policy of sending Workers out to preach under conditions he viewed as being contrary to the mind of Christ. Arthur did much to make the Australian Friends and Workers aware of the pitiful, deplorable conditions under which the Australian Workers often labored. It is not known whether Arthur's pleas fell on deaf ears, or made a difference. Hopefully, his outcry to this great injustice made a difference and the Workers reviewed their methods and made changes to alleviate the needless suffering. In spite of his good intentions to alleviate the suffering of others, Arthur was considered by many Friends and Workers to be bitter, obsessed, eccentric and fanatical. His reputation was maligned, and he bore much reproach, as he valiantly attempted to " make his paths straight" (Matt. 3:3 KJV).
After his hard experiences, Arthur no longer believed Jesus intended for future preachers to follow the Matthew 10 method forever. He believed the commands of Matthew 10 were given against the background of Jewish social customs at the time of Christ; and that the law and customs of Israel provided for messengers and prophets to go empty handed and to be treated as guests. However, there was no such assurance for twentieth century preachers who were literally following William Irvine's Matthew 10 experiment. Arthur did not believe the Senior Workers had correctly interpreted the scriptures.
Arthur McCoy wrote: "commandments given to the apostles...should not have been taken out of its proper time and situation...This 'way'...can be seen to be in effect a parody, a travesty, a clumsy and poor imitation of the Work into which Christ Jesus called the twelve apostles. It should be admitted honestly that many suffered needlessly for not discerning the true time, situation, circumstances and reasons for the set of instructions Christ gave to the apostles" (Parker 1982, 44-45).
In 1939 when he was about 50 years old, Arthur left the 2x2 Work and Fellowship. His mother, brother and sister left also. Until his death in the 1970s, Arthur openly criticized the Workers having bank accounts and their method of following Matthew 10. Some time after he left the Work, Arthur married. He wrote and distributed several letters and lengthy statements written mostly in the years 1955-56 and 1969-71 which provided a vivid picture of some hardships experienced by the Australian Workers in the country areas between the years 1913 and 1939 (Parker 1982, 38-45).
1949: RONALD "RON" IAN CAMPBELL. In 1911, when Ron was a child, his mother and three sisters professed at the Mannanarie, South Australia Convention. Ron entered the Work in 1926 under Willie Hughes. In 1928, Ron and Jim Wingfield went to labor under Jack Carroll in America. In 1947, after WWII, Ron made a home visit to Australia. When he returned to his field in Idaho, he was shocked to find the Friends and Workers had turned against him and Jack Carroll had put him out of the Work. When Ron asked for matter to be handled according to Matt.18:15, Carroll refused.
One reason given for why Carroll expelled Campbell from the Work was because he confronted Jack about his relationship with Linda Heyes, a Sister Worker. Reportedly, Howard Mooney told Ron that Howard's father thought Jack and Linda were secretly married, and Howard also believed it was true. Ron thought they should ask Jack, but Howard refused, saying, " If we face him up, you will be sent back to Australia, and I will be sent back to the print shop." So Ron, believing Jack was a true Brother who had temporarily fallen, confronted Jack alone, and Jack put him out of the Work (Derkland, Sept. 5, 1957 , to Malcolm Graham and Willie Jamieson, TTT ).
Ron returned to Australia in 1949, where for a time, he was allowed to preach on a limited basis but was not given a companion. In 1950, his relationship with the Workers seriously deteriorated when he began to openly criticize the Work in SA. Ron stood up against Willie Hughes, the former Head Worker of SA, for sexually harassing Ron's pretty sister Adelaide. Shortly after their confrontation, Willie Hughes returned to New Zealand where he had the oversight. Campbell wrote George Walker:
"Willie Hughes disgraced himself and let some of us down by his conduct, and my own family are amongst those who feel this the keenest...Willie later tried to assault her [Ron's sister]...she withstood him. She being offended later tried on two occasions to make things right, resulting that he further oppressed her to cover up his sin, and even used his position as her minister to crush her and justify himself" ( Campbell 1952 TTT ).
In 1951, Ron returned to America for about a year and tried unsuccessfully to straighten out matters. George Walker denied Campbell's request to preach in Eastern America. Ron returned to his family farm in South Australia where he spent the rest of his life, unmarried. A Uniting Church minister officiated at his funeral on December 16, 1978. He was survived by two sisters, ages 80 and 89, and was buried in a nearby cemetery.
1950s: THE PURGE IN SOUTH AUSTRALIA. In the 1950s there was a purge of Friends in South Australia, but information is scarce and documents are few, leaving gaps and questions. Reportedly, there was a Meeting in late January 1951, during preparations for the Strathalbyn Convention where Campbell and some Fellowship Meeting Elders took issue with John Baartz. The former Head Worker, Willie Hughes, was a visiting Worker that year. Tensions were running high, particularly at Strathalbyn Convention grounds, where the owners, the Doeckes, were sympathetic to Campbell.
Then in June 1951, a Meeting was held at Ernie Wirth's home in Tusmore, Adelaide, South Australia, where nine Elders met with Head Worker John Baartz and Ian Reed and "pleaded for love to reign...Soon after, these nine Elders received letters stating that they and their families were to cease fellowship." For Walter Vogt, one of the nine Elders, that judgment included ten of his immediate family. Some of the nine Elders were Ernie Wirth, Con Doecke, Fred Ashman and Mr. Sharpe. About 70 Friends were "stood down."
Others were given the choice of not associating with those "stood down, " or leave the group. Ian Reed went to Marg Vogt's parents and told them they had to either give up contact with their two daughters who had married into the Vogt family who had been put out of fellowship, or cease attending Meetings. They left. Friends making contact with those who had been stood down risked being stood down themselves. Some of the affected families were: Vogts, Doeckes, Berritts, Sharpes, Wirths, Harrises, Bruses, Ashmans, Masons, Fergusons, Loechels and others. Some were Bethel Mission families. Only a few who left at that time returned later (Vogt 2008, TTT ). Campbell wrote:
"Never before have [I] seen such a display of human and spiritual corruption in lies being told, false accusations, agreements broken, hate, bitterness, defiance and other unChristlike marks expressed. They are going like a storm hitting the country leaving behind them a trail of broken hearts, homes, churches and relatives, forcing people to submit to them--if not, they tell that they are cut off and doomed, stopping some from holding Meetings if they can, refusing them to attend Convention...telling them not to have anything to do with this one or that one, to walk off the street and out of the home if this one comes to see them. Christ is a secondary person. Workers are the supreme authority and gone as far as to say that no Saint can receive anything from God unless it comes through the Workers." (Campbell Oct. 20, 1952, TTT )
The closure in 1951 of the Strathalbyn Convention owned by Con and Daisy Doecke, a Bethel Mission family, was accommodated by holding two Conventions a year on the Oak Lodge, Kapunda grounds. Also, the first Wilmington Convention was held in January 1952.
1950S: THE PURGE IN VICTORIA. For about the last ten years of his life, after his wife died in 1942, Bill Carroll lived in a home located about 80K south of Melbourne provided by his daughter May and her husband, Dolph Schulz. Personal letters written by W. C. Carroll during this time bear the address of: Greenhaven, Rosebud West, Victoria, Australia.
In Carroll's later years, "Two Sister Workers and a Brother stayed with him at Rosebud to look after him, when there were open homes who would gladly receive him and cater for his needs and do the superintending of his meals, necessitated by the fact that he was a diabetic. This went on for ten years. Reportedly, these Workers held no Gospel Meetings while at Rosebud."
The other Australian Head Workers disapproved of a Worker overseeing a state from a permanent residence. They also did not approve of Carroll using Workers to tend to his physical needs when there were Friends willing to do so. In his latter years, Bill visited outside Victoria less and less. Victoria was self-sufficient regarding Workers and had also sent a large number of Workers overseas. The amount of interchange between Victoria and the other Australian states continued to decrease until it was almost isolated from the other states.
During the 1950s, Bill Carroll began excommunicating Friends in Victoria, including parents along with their children, sometimes without providing a hearing or a reason to the victims. Mervyn Schmidt, son of Otto Schmidt, wrote: "I professed at 12 yrs of age. At 13, in the 1950s, I was excommunicated, along with my parents and many others in the states of VIC and SA, as a result of a purge by William Carroll. In my case, my only crime was I was the son of my father." A Bethel Mission family member wrote, "Week after week numbers were put out including whole churches. No one knew why and appeals were sent to Senior Workers to come over and help us, and give us a hearing."
For about four years, separate Fellowship Meetings were held for the various divisions. Children and teenagers from the various divisions attended school together, but did not assemble together for Fellowship Meetings. Mervyn Schmidt wrote: "For approximately 4 years, about 16 of us met in our home, unofficially...with others who had been put out of fellowship...We were reinstated again after this with the help of George Walker, U.S., and Jack Forbes from England." ( Why We Left, TLC)
1953 NOVEMBER 13: WILLIAM "BILL" CARROLL DIED. He had been the Head Worker of Victoria since 1913, for 40 years, when he arrived in Australia. As Alfred Magowan aptly phrased it, "Very soon reverberations of Australian thunders began rolling and crashing over the Bill's grave. "
The oversight of the Work in VIC went to Chris Williams, who was at that time over the Work in Tasmania. Chris was from VIC and started in the Work in 1914 in QLD. In 1918, he went to NSW; then to Tasmania for 1925-55. There are two stories regarding how Williams was chosen as the replacement. One was that the Victorian Workers elected him. The other was that Carroll designated Williams as his replacement, and did not consult with the other Australian Senior Workers, who thought "the responsible Workers should have been consulted with regard to getting their approval of who should succeed our departed Brother in the oversight in Victoria."
In 1954, the divisions within the fold remained a problem and some Australian Senior Workers asked Senior Workers from other countries for help. Meanwhile in 1954, Edward Cooney (then 88 years old) travelled to Mildura, Victoria, at the request of some twenty Outcasts. In 1955, Jack Carroll, Jack Forbes and George Walker arrived to help settle the disputes. They held Reconciliation Meetings in various locations where the Outcasts as a group could be reinstated without reprofessing. At the Reconciliation Meeting scheduled in Mildura, Cooney went uninvited, along with Jack Schmidt, disfellowshipped owner of the Mildura Convention grounds and a few other Friends. Tom Turner met them at the door and turned Cooney away. His Friends left with him.
1954 GUILDFORD MEETING. About three months after Bill Carroll died on February 20-24, 1954, the two Senior Head Workers of Australia, John Hardie and Tom Turner, called a Meeting of all Head Workers in New Zealand and Australia at Guildford, NSW. Guildford was a Convention ground situated near Sydney. This was the first Meeting of the Heads of the various States in many years.
Tom Turner led the Guildford Meeting of eleven Workers: John Hardie, J. Williamson, Chris Williams, Walter Pickering, Willie J. Hughes, John C. Baartz, R. Les Hawse, W. Schloss, Alec R. Mitchell and Harry Morgan. A report of the Meeting was prepared. The major issues addressed concerned Bill Carroll's successor; the exchange of Workers within Australia; cooperation of Victoria with the other Australian states; dealing with the Outcasts in Victoria and South Australia; and the Rosebud dwelling of Bill Carroll. The Workers "separated at Guildford with high hopes that unity and harmony would prevail and all would be well."
After Chris Williams and Walter Pickering returned to Victoria, they held a Victorian Workers Meeting at Dandenong to discuss the Guildford Report. T he Victorian Workers felt that the Meeting had been held to make a personal attack on the life and testimony of Bill Carroll. They also viewed the Meeting as an attempt by the other Heads of States to interfere with the Work in Victoria. They drew up a document expressing their viewpoints, signed by Chris Williams and delivered it to the Meetings in Victoria. Some Conventions were cancelled. Workers from other Australian states visiting in Victorian territory were considered intruders. In 1955, two South Australian and three New Zealand Workers were sent to preach in Victoria, but many did not welcome them.
Eventually Chris Williams wrote John Hardie that: "a breach even greater, seems imminent...Could it not all not be withdrawn? " George Walker and Jack Forbes traveled to Australia to help reconcile the situation. Over a year later, on April 20, 1955, all the Senior Head Workers, including Victoria indicated that they regretted their actions and unconditionally withdrew their statements. Three items they agreed upon were:
"Regarding the residence at Rosebud, we feel it is our duty to state that we cannot accept such an arrangement as a precedent that could be repeated."
"We would add that in our opinion, when an Overseer in any State or Country, through infirmities or other circumstances is unable to personally carry out his responsibilities, he should call to his aid a Brother who has the approval and confidence of his Brethren and who can eventually assume the oversight.
[They would] "find an impartial Brother from overseas who will supervise and cooperate in the Oversight of the Work in Victoria for such time as may be considered necessary." (Guildford Meeting 1955)
In late 1955, Chris Williams was replaced by Archie Turner , a Scotsman. Chris continued in the Work in Victoria. However, the situation was too much for Turner, and he returned to Scotland. Jack Forbes came and acted as the interim Head Worker for about six months until Willie Donaldson, age 57, from Ireland, arrived in August 1957. Donaldson was able to handle the situation and restored some harmony to the 2x2 Fellowship.
1957: WILLIE DONALDSON, NEW HEAD WORKER OF VICTORIA. Willie was born in Ireland in 1900 and entered the Work during the 1920s. In 1928, he pioneered the Work in Barbados, West Indies, and remained there for the next 30 years. In 1957, he assumed the oversight of VIC. He was sent to Australia with the difficult task of re-establishing unity among the Workers and Friends in VIC, as well as with the rest of the Australia states. He was successful, and was also much loved by the Workers and Friends who held him in high esteem. After a couple years, the holding of separate Conventions ceased and the Friends returned to common Conventions. Willie died in the West Indies in February 1987, and Evan Jones became the Head Worker of VIC.
After two of the divisions were reunited, the word United was added to their letterhead: "The United Christian Conventions of Australasia and New Zealand." Letterhead may be viewed in Telling the Truth Photo Gallery. Reportedly, the following names were also used at times: "Christian Assemblies of Victoria," "Christian Assemblies of Australia," "Christian Conventions of Australia and New Zealand. "
INDIGENOUS NATIVES. Australia became an independent nation on January 1, 1901. Immediately following, policies were designed to keep Australia white and British. Until 1973, Australia was under the White Australia Policy. This was primarily designed to restrict "non-white" immigration to Australia, but also tended to discriminate against the Aborigines, the black natives of Australia. It has been suggested that overall, the Australian Workers have not preached among the Aboriginal community. Reportedly, one Brother Worker wanted to preach to the Australian Aboriginals, but was instead sent to preach in Africa. To their credit, Australian Workers preaching in foreign lands have been involved in numerous indigenous cultures. In 1958, Cooper Sandosham , from Malaysia, was the first dark skinned Worker to visit Australia. At the Conventions he visited, he made a favorable, lasting impression. He preached in Indonesia and North Borneo, and died in 1981, aged 64.
SHADES OF THE PAST. Almost 50 years later, a parallel to the purges and divisions in South Australia and Victoria took place in Alberta, Canada, when over twenty-one churches were closed and hundreds of Friends were excommunicated at the direction of the Alberta Overseer, Willis Propp. Similar events took place in Vietnam in 2009-14.
1960, JUNE 20: EDWARD COONEY DIED. Aged 93, Edward Cooney died in Mildura, VIC, in the home of loyal Cooneyite followers, Richard and Emily Greenaway, 32 years after his excommunication in 1928.
Report of Guildford, NSW, Australia Meeting, February 20–24, 1954
and
Withdrawal of the Guildford, NSW, Australia Report, April 20, 1955
Record of Events Regarding the Guildford Report
As reports have gone forth regarding recent happenings in Victoria, we feel that it is necessary to put on record events which have led up to the present and so clarify the situation.
After the late leader of Victoria, W. C. Carroll,* passed away and was buried, Tom Turner returned via Sydney to Queensland. While in Sydney, he had a talk with John Hardie and they thought a Meeting with the Elder Workers was due to consider matters of general concern to the Work in Australia, including the matter of the oversight of the Work in Victoria. An Elder's** Meeting of this sort had often been wished for and suggested in past years, but William Carroll was not in agreement, not considering it necessary, stating that Conventions were sufficient.
As John Hardie was not well, he asked Tom Turner to convene the Meetings.
All States and New Zealand were asked to send a representative and each leader, including Chris Williams, (appointed leader of Victoria by William Carroll) accepted the invitation, but the other Workers in Victoria wrote back to Tom Turner, in a letter signed by all the Workers except Chris Williams, that they did not see the need for a Worker's Meeting. This was done while Chris wrote from Tasmania accepting the invitation.
The Meetings at Guildford were to be held from February twentieth and notice to that effect was sent out. Others invited to the Meetings were Walter Pickering, Alex Mitchell, Les Hawse and Harry Morgan. Altho Chris had earlier accepted the invitation, at a later stage he began to object to coming and it was only by telephoning him at the last moment that his confirmation as leader in Victoria was sure, that he and Walter Pickering agreed to come.
In all, eleven attended the Meetings which began with prayer and were conducted in a godly manner. Each day for four days, the same procedure was followed and many items were brought forward. Tom Turner was asked to lead the Meetings. It was recognized that the three youngest members at the Meetings were not representing any State in Australia and their voting in the Meetings did not influence the affirmation or negation of the matters in discussion. Alex Mitchell asked if it would be in order for them to vote and the Chairman said, "Why not?" If each State in Australia and New Zealand had one representative, giving each one a vote, then the findings at Guildford would remain the same. Without the extras, W. Pickering, J. Williamson, A. Mitchell, L. Hawse, and H. Morgan, there would have been no alteration to the decisions made. This should be borne in mind, as some objections have been made regarding the constitution of the Meetings.
MEETINGS HELD IN GUILDFORD N.S.W. February 20-24, 1954
Present: John Hardie, T. M. Turner, J. Williamson, C. Williams, W. Pickering, W. F. Hughes, J. C. Baartz, L. Hawse, W. Schloss, A. Mitchell and H. Morgan. In Chair: T. M. Turner.
FIRST MEETING:
1. Confirmation of Chris Williams as Worker in charge of Victoria.
2. Exchange of Workers between States as a good thing to encourage.
3. The 'border' question. Reference to perplexities--that they would be done away with as much as possible and all concerned seek to foster a spirit of love and give and take.
4. Agreed that Victorian Workers cooperate with other States and consider the opinion of others.
SECOND MEETING:
5. The question of Saints being put out of fellowship in Victoria without a hearing. Some cases dealt with. (Deferred until next day).
THIRD MEETING:
6. That all are agreed that we, as Servants of God, should be on the same lines as at the beginning. (unanimous)
7. We are agreed that anything which would cause contention should be avoided. It would have been more expedient if objections to the permanent residence at "Rosebud", Victoria had been considered. The "Rosebud" dwelling had been a cause of contention in other countries as well as in Australia and it should have been done away with to save trouble and brethren from stumbling. Paul said, "Wherefore, if meat make my brother to offend, I will eat no flesh while the world standeth." It is agreed that anything similar should not occur again. (eight for, three against)
8, 9, 10 omitted
FOURTH MEETING:
11. Proposed that for unity between countries on this side of the world, each country: India, Ceylon, Malaya, Indonesia, each State of the commonwealth and New Zealand, at any future Meeting of the Elder Workers be represented. (A Senior Worker should be appointed to oversight.) 11 Workers (Elders) in all and one with the power to convene Meetings to decide matters when called upon by Elders of any State of country. Something without a leader tends to lack of unity. The Elder appointed would also give the advice necessary.
REGARDING WORKERS BEING SENT TO THE EAST:
It was proposed that John Hardie be appointed to this place. (Carried unanimously)
12. Will we all give an assurance that, as much as is in our power, we will go back to our States to show to our fellow laborers that we are all united and that we will foster this spirit of cooperation in this work of God? (Assurance given unanimously)
13. It is with great reluctance that we Brothers should have to register our disapproval of certain things that happened in connection with our departed brother's life. Two Sister Workers and a Brother stayed with him at "Rosebud" to look after him, when there were open homes who would gladly receive him and cater for his needs and do the superintending of his meals necessitated by the fact that he was a diabetic. This went on for ten years. These Workers had no Gospel Meetings while at "Rosebud"--this, we greatly regret. We feel that what happened has been a digression from the way in which the Work began--both in our day and Jesus' day. We trust there will never be a repetition of these happenings. We feel the responsible Workers should have been consulted with regard to getting their approval of who should succeed our departed Brother in the oversight in Victoria.
This last paragraph was unanimously voted to be included in the report. Each of the Workers present was given a copy and others were sent to responsible Workers throughout the world.
We separated at Guildford with high hopes that unity and harmony would prevail and all would be well. Harry Morgan, Les Hawse and Alex Mitchell parted on friendly terms from Chris Williams and had his approval re-visiting in Victoria. Within a few days of the return to Victoria of Chris Williams and Walter Pickering, a Meeting of the Victorian Workers was held at Dandenong to discuss the Guildford Report. Those Workers drew up a circular which was signed by Chris Williams and delivered by hand to the Melbourne churches and sent by post to the churches throughout the State. After making a solemn promise before God to cooperate with all States and work for peace and harmony, Chris and Walter sent this circular which showed that there was no desire whatever to cooperate. Men who were at Guildford were branded as traitors. It was stated that a personal attack had been made on the life and testimony of the late William Carroll and that the Meetings were held for that purpose. Others at the Guildford Meetings can state that there was no such purpose and no attack was made on William Carroll's life and testimony. It was all thru a matter of principles, not personalities. Many matters were brought up and dealt with concerning all States, New Zealand and overseas.
Then the Victorian Workers convened a Meeting at the Dandenong Town Hall of all in and around Melbourne where the full report of the Workers Meeting held the previous week was read. This report was later read at various centers throughout the State. The following are extracts from this report.
"for these days are very evil and we are not fighting against flesh and blood, but against principalities, princes (those who have great dominion) and principalities and powers and spiritual wickedness in high places. Very subtle enemies and very powerful--"
"They explained about the Victorians not being willing to cooperate with other States. Well I don't think there was any Brother more willing to cooperate with other States than our Elder Brother, but we know that the others would not cooperate unless they could dictate or interfere with Victoria, so therefore, they really would not cooperate with us unless they had that privilege, as it were. We know it is not the right thing for any man or Elder to interfere with another State. We know that the reason for this thing happening is because there is such lust for power and place.
"It is really only ungodly men that could speak against the Work of God in Victoria and all their Meeting was really against Victoria and they got all their evidence from ungodly men who had departed from the faith--"
Following a reading of this report in Geelong by John Hardie and helpers, at which Chris Williams and several Workers and Elders from Melbourne were present, Chris stated that he meant to stand behind the testimony of William Carroll, and John replied that he means to stand by the testimony of Jesus Christ.
March, 1954, the day on which the Meeting was held in Dandenong Town Hall, Chris wrote to John Hardie as follows:
"My dear John:
We have plunged into a sea of sorrow since we came back from the Meetings at Guildford. All the Victorian Workers and some of the Elders and Saints have felt it very much that the "Rosebud" question was brought up, involving our Brother who was so much loved and respected for the Christ he loved and preached.
"We have told all the people around Melbourne that we did not stand for it ever being discussed and testimonies have been given by the Workers that lived with William Carroll and we cannot deny that they received 'treat' benefits that helped in the gospel. It has raised such a feeling that a breach even greater, seems imminent." "Could it not all not be withdrawn?" "If you would receive it, a copy of all that was said at the Meeting would be sent to you." "Only desiring that Christ shall be upheld in us and for His sake,
Yours by mercy,
Chris Williams."
To this, John replied on March 16, 1954: that he expected if his health permitted, to be in Albury in the near future and invited Chris to meet him there and talk the matter over, which would be far better than writing. Chris did not answer this letter, and although he was in Wodonga, just across the river, the weekend John came to Albury, he made no attempt to meet him, or even speak to him on the telephone. Instead of taking the matter to the responsible Workers who were at Guildford, Chris Williams vented his feelings and the whole matter amongst the people of God. The circular was sent out to the churches and this followed by the Dandenong report, caused great shock and suffering and confusion and even separating of the people. As a result of this, many wrote to John from Victoria appealing for help, saying they could not associate themselves with the stand the Victorian Workers had taken. These appeals for help came not from those who were out of fellowship, but from those who were still in fellowship. Many had declared their determination to stand by the older Workers before any attempt was made to acquaint them of the true facts.
It was felt that these appeals could not be ignored, especially as Chris took no notice of John's offer to talk things over with him and accordingly, early in April, John came into Victoria to help those who cried for help--those such as had been told by Workers that if they were not satisfied, the door was open. Alex and Harry Morgan also came with John, followed later by Tom Turner and Willie Hughes. True fellowship for many had almost ceased since Workers and Saints in many churches were constant in their "preaching against" those in their midst who they felt were questioning the stand taken by the Victorian Workers. As a result of this end, the true facts being made known, a great many expressed their desire and determination to stand behind the Elder Workers in fellowship with the other States and countries against which the Victorian Workers have stood out.
Beside the attempt at conciliation made by John Hardie, before the trouble was ventilated by the Victorian Workers, a further attempt was made by Tom Turner and Alex Mitchell with Chris Williams and Walter Pickering, but the latter two refused to discuss the matter.
Signed by:
John Hardie, T. M. Turner, W. J. Hughes, J. C. Baartz, W. Schloss, A. R. Mitchell, R. L. Hawse and H. Morgan
The Guildford Report Withdrawal
Dandenong, Victoria
April twentieth 1955
The Overseers of Australia and those from Overseas being met together to consider the difficulties that exist concerning the Work in Victoria, are agreed that the statement contained in the Guildford Report reflecting on the life and ministry of our late Brother (W.C. Carroll) is now unconditionally withdrawn.
The Victorian Workers and Saints who met at Dandenong also wish to express their regret for the statements made reflecting on the Elders and Workers from other countries and these are unconditionally withdrawn, also the letter sent out from Dandenong to the several Churches in Victoria.
Regarding the residence at Rosebud, we feel it is our duty to state that we cannot accept such an arrangement as a precedent that could be repeated.
We would add that in our opinion, when an Overseer in any State or Country, through infirmities or other circumstances is unable to personally carry out his responsibilities, he should call to his aid a Brother who has the approval and confidence of his Brethren and who can eventually assume the oversight.
In order to give assurance to all concerned that every effort will be made to restore confidence and promote unity and true fellowship amongst Workers and in the several Churches in Victoria we will endeavour to find an impartial Brother from overseas who will supervise and cooperate in the Oversight of the Work for such time as may be considered necessary.
Dandenong, Victoria
April twentieth 1955
George Walker, J. Forbes, J. T. Carroll, W. J. Hughes, J. Hardie, T. Turner, J. Baartz,
J. Williamson, C. Williams
*William "Bill" Charles Carroll was born August 15, 1876, at Newtown, Moynalty, Kells, County Meath, the eldest of 6 children. Bill Carroll and Margaret "Maggie" Hastings were married on June 6, 1901, in the Church of Ireland at Rathmolyon, County Meath. Their only child, a daughter, May (Carroll) Shultz, was born in 1902 in Ireland. They entered the Work in 1903 and arrived in Australia in 1913. Maggie died in 1944, and Bill died on November 13, 1953.
**In Australia at this time, an "Elder" was the term used for the Senior Head Worker or Overseer of a state.
