Charles Beaumont HOWARD

HOWARD, CHARLES Beaumont (b. Dublin Ireland, 1807; d. Adelaide, SA, 19 July 1843). First Colonial Chaplain of SA.

Howard graduated BA TCD 1828 and served two curacies in the dio of Chester under the evangelical Bp Sumner 1832-6. He married Grace Montgomerie Neville in 1832. Appointed Colonial Chaplain to SA in Feb 1836, when few other appointments were in view, he travelled to SA in company with Captain Hindmarsh, the first governor. He ministered vigorously to a scattered community in the new, unfamiliar land, moving about on foot and horseback establishing Anglican congregations and encouraging Christians of all denominations. Supported by funds from England and a committee of local trustees he established the first Anglican parish, Holy Trinity, personally supervising the erection of the church building (its foundation stone was laid on 26 January 1838), and publishing a small collection of hymns for the use of his congregation. He also joined many community organisations such as the Hospital Board and the Savings Bank. He and his parish suffered financially in the colony's bankruptcy of 1841. His death was brought on by worry about church finances, overwork, and exposure to the weather as he served his scattered flock.

He preached 'Jesus Christ and Him crucified' as 'the sole foundation of a sinner's hopes' in moderate, plain style, so forming the evangelical tradition in SA Anglicanism. He briefly embodied a sense of cooperation between Anglicanism as he understood it and the other Protestant groups in early SA.

ADB 1; B Dickey, Holy Trinity Adelaide (Adelaide, 1988)

BRIAN DICKEY