Methodism

Wesleyan Methodism had a profound effect on the lives of the settlers in the Hawkesbury River valley in the first half of the 1800’s. It began as a revivalist movement in England, within the established Anglican Church, under the leadership of John and Charles Wesley.

The Wesley brothers met regularly with a small group of students at Lincoln College, Oxford between 1729 and 1735 for bible study and discussion. Other students labeled them “methodists” for their methodical daily routine of prayer, worship and social work. Their influence sparked a major revival in Christianity from the mid-1700’s onwards that spread throughout England, Scotland, Wales, North America, Australia and the Pacific Islands.

Wesleyan Methodist missionaries came to the Hawkesbury River with a message stressing inner change in people's lives based on personal conviction and self-examination. As Valerie Ross points out, they stressed simplicity of life and dress and purity of morals and this allowed the settlers to discount poverty and the stigma of their convict past (Ross, 1981). In addition, the Wesleyan Methodists were the first group to take their message of service and salvation specifically to prisoners as well as the working class, the sick and the poor. This message had obvious appeal to those used to considering themselves as part of the “underclass”.

Charles Wesley was responsible for composing many of the hymns sung at Wesleyan services (and subsequently in many other protestant denominations). Enthusiastic singing by the congregation was a big part of Wesleyan services and had a strong appeal to the families living a simple subsistence life on the river.

George Everingham (Sarah Woodbury’s younger brother) was the first Australian-born Wesleyan preacher on the Hawkesbury “circuit”; appointed in 1838. For most of the early years, Wesleyan services were held in settler’s homes and outbuildings until the numbers eventually became unmanageable.  

The congregation came from properties up and down the river, mostly by boat. The last Wesleyan services at the chapel were conducted in 1963 but the building still stands. It is currently used by the Dharug and Lower Hawkesbury Historical Society. [Photo of the Chapel by Dharug and Lower Hawkesbury Historical Society].

Other Denominations

The Church of England and then Methodism played a significant part in the lives of the first generations of the Woodbury family. Richard and Sarah’s last four children; Ann, Jane, Matthew and George, born between 1824 and 1831, were baptised in the Methodist Church. Over time, some of the growing family (and subsequent generations) adopted other denominations. 

William’s son, Matthew James (1838-1921) established an inn on his 106-acre property on the Wyong River in 1866. Woodbury’s Inn was the venue of the first known Roman Catholic services in that district; which continued there each month for over thirty years. The inn was demolished in 1978 but a plaque in Woodbury’s Inn Park in Wyong marks the spot (see Photo Gallery on this site).

Richard and Sarah’s last child, George James (1831-1905) and his wife Sarah Elizabeth (1837-1919) became members of the Salvation Army. George and his sons, Matthew William (1856-1933) and Solomon (1865-1946) were founding members of the Salvation Army in Inverell. Matthew and his wife Jessie Ellen (1863-1946) are buried together at Inverell Cemetery (see Photo Gallery on this site). George's older brother, Jeremiah (Jerry), is noted as a convert to the Salvation Army by the 1880's as a riverboat captain in the John and Herbert (see The sailing Woodburys on this site).

Page created on 23 February 2012.