Greendale Uniting Church

from a booklet compiled by Mr Kevin Bush

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'Greendale', named after the property of
James Bush, who donated the ground for the
Church and Cemetery, was referred to as
Jerrawa or Jerrawa Creek, so as not to
confuse it with the Primitive Methodist
Church at Greendale, a village near Camden.

The Church was opened in 1862, and apparently
replaced an earlier and more modest place of
worship. The earlier days of Greendale are
not recorded, but it is noted that when the
Rev. W Colley arrived in Goulburn in 1856,
Mr & Mrs John Waters, already residing at
Jerrawa (Greendale) and worshiping with the
Wesleyans, induced Mr Colley to visit the
place and commence services. Probably this
was held in the home of Mr & Mrs Waters and
it may have been that within a year or two of
that date a humble place of worship was
built. It is known that there was a place
worship prior to the church being built in
1862.

Mr & Mrs John Waters joined the Primitive
Methodist Church in England in 1846. They
married in 1849, and migrated to the Gunning
district in 1854. They made their home at
'Oolong', and in the absence of a Primitive
Methodist Church, became associated with the
Primitive Methodist Church at Jerrawa
(Greendale) for the whole of its history
to the time of Methodist union. They lived
to celebrate their Golden wedding in 1899.

As the year 1868 drew to a close, Greendale
lost one of its stalwarts in the Person of
Thomas Emerson. He was born in Norfolk,
son of Baptist parents however, as a young
man, he lost contact with the Church, later
to be converted by the Wesleyans, but through
what he thought as unjust treatment from some
of these people joined the Primitive
Methodists. He was an excellent singer, and
reference was often made by the Greendale
People to the thrilling effect of his
singing. He was a man of prayer, and had 5
or 6 fixed times a day when he prayed. For
the last 5 years of his life he was blind.
He died on the 22nd December, 1868.

The new building had an iron roof, metal
ceiling and coloured memorial windows. The
foundation stone was laid by a Mr Newman
Monday 7th April, 1862. The site, a 1 acre
(half hectare) area was conveyed on the 18th
April, 1862. Mr James Bush carted rock for
the building.

The Church was not officially opened till
1863, and Mr Cyril Holgate, a well known and
respected Lay Preacher at Greendale over many
years provided the following from the Yass
Chronicle, 3rd June, 1863.

'Primitive Methodist Chapel Jerrawa
(Greendale). On Sunday Afternoon
24th May, the newly erected Primitive
Methodist Church at Jerrawa was opened
for divine service.  Sermons, both
morning and night, were preached by the
Rev. J. Cousland to a large congregation
and a collection made on the occasion
realised 17 pounds ($34). A tea meeting
took place on Monday evening and
although the inclement weather compelled
many to absent themselves, there was a
tolerably large muster. After the tea
had been disposed of, a public meeting
was held, presided over by Mr J Waters,
and addresses were delivered by Rev W
Kingdom, J Causland and Mr Roffe. The
total cost of the building was 250
pounds ($500) towards which one half had
been subscribed. The Chapel is erected
of stone, the work being very creditably
erected by Mr Wilmont of Goulburn, and
the whole forms a most commodious and
suitable edifice for the purpose for
which it is required'

Crookwell became a separate circuit in 1880,
with Primitive Methodist Churches at
Crookwell, Parkesbourne and Greendale.
During the earlier years these places had
been in the Goulburn circuit and usually
2 or sometimes 3 ministers.

The second or third minister sometimes
resided at Greendale (at first) and later
at Crookwell. John Addison (1860-1861) and
William Kingdom (1862-64) resided at
Greendale. For a short time James Smith
also resided here. Concerning Mr Kingdom's
stay there it is recorded 'The journeys a
long, roads were bad and at times the river
over which there were few bridges, was
dangerous to cross. He was sent to reside at
Greendale, a typical bush settlement. His
lodgings were not the most comfortable. He
had often to ride from Greendale to
Wingecarribbee, A distance of 100 miles (160
km)'.

Another minister wrote; 'The roads and the
mud were so bad that travellers were less
concerned with the length of the journey
the depth of it'.

At the Greendale Church anniversary held
on the 5th and 6th March 1872, 22 pounds
($44) was raised, and the Rev. G James
together with Messrs Roffe and Bush went to
Mr Laidlaw in Yass, who had lent the money
for the Church and paid him this sum. From
it he returned 5 Pounds, so that the debt was
reduced to 26 Pounds ($52), and at the same
time indicated that there was no need for the
church to pay him any more interest on the
sum owing.

In 1870 Greendale also had a good
anniversary meeting when Mr S Goold of
Sydney was the Preacher. During the evening
service heavy rain fell and flooded the
creeks, so that the people had great
difficulty in returning home.

In 1864, Mr E Roffe was superintendent of the
Greendale Sunday School. For some reason
he left the Primitive Methodist in 1869 but
later rejoined. A band of local preachers
assisted in maintaining regular services at
Greendale, including John Dawe, John
Waters, Edward Roffe, Tom Brown, William
Offley, William Holgate and Henry Bunfield.

In 1872 the Quarterly meeting found need to
discipline one of the preachers who found it
difficult to walk the straight and narrow
way. In 1874 he was reported to have been
'drunk & disorderly' and it was resolved that
he and his accusers be required to 'appear
face to face' with the Rev. B Kenny when he
next visited Greendale. In 1876 he was
suspended from office but the meeting
rejoiced to learn that he had signed the
temperance pledge and hoped that he would
lead a consistent life. In 1879 his name was
removed from the Preaching plan because of
his 'intoxicating habits'.

A cemetery besides the church marks the rest
place of many of the early pioneers.  A
comprehensive study was made of the cemetery
by Rosalie Bush and printed in the book
'Jerrawa, a village that was' which also
included a genealogy of the Bush families.

An old log fence on the western side of the
church served as a hitching place for a long
line of horses. In 1876 a school building
was erected and this was put to good use for
general cultural purposes as well as for
Sunday school   The Band of Hope was
commenced in 1889 and met fortnightly. It
provided a great deal of the social life of
the community. An event that was looked
forward to each year was the Band of Hope Tea
Meeting on the 24th May. People came from
all parts of the district to be present,
travelling in buggies, drays, wagons,
horseback and by foot. Games were played in
the afternoon, followed by tea, then a
concert. The Sunday school had a
library which in 1886 consisted of over 75
books and was still in use in 1914.

The Band of Hope pledge was 'I promise by the
help of God to abstain from intoxicating
liquor as beverages and to endeavour to
Persuade others so to do'.

Members would walk from Dalton and the
surrounding district to attend meetings,
others would travel by horse and in later
years, by motorbike.

The Band of Hope was closed on the 13th June,
1939.

The Primitive in the district were reaching
out beyond Greendale and in 1875 they
presented a request that Greendale and Yass
be made separate circuits. The quarterly
meeting agreed, but it did not eventuate.
There is no evidence that the Primitives ever
established a cause in Yass however. from
Greendale, they did establish causes in
other districts. A Chapel was erected in
Moorlong some 20 kilometres from Greendale
on the Fish River.  The Rev. J Foggon and
some Lay Preachers from Greendale visited
the locality and held services in a settlers
home. Later a 'friend offered an acre of
land on lease for 21 years' and a chapel
accommodating 80 people was erected, and
opened on the 31st August 1868. Forty
friends from Greendale went down for the
tea meeting   Because much of the work was
done voluntarily, it cost only 13-10-0 pounds
($26). It is unknown where Moorlong was.
It did not remain on the plan for long, and
apart from the account of the opening, there
is no other reference to it.

The Primitives obtained land in Gunning, but
never built a church, as the Wesleyans were
well established there. After a time
services ceased.

Near the close of the century, two other
centres had Primitive Methodist services,
at Jerrawa Platform in the home of Mr W Offley
and in the home of Mr Jim Holgate a little
beyond Dalton. The latter place was opened
in 1899 and it is reported that there were
good congregations.

It is understood that a small cemetery still
exists on the Fish River called Greendale
perhaps this is where 'Moorlong' was located.