This booklet contains the address given by the Rev. W. Gray Dixon in 1909 at St. Paul’s Christchurch to the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of New Zealand. It was published at the request of the General Assembly and the proceeds of the sale of the booklet went into Presbyterian Church funds. The Rev. William Gray Dixon was born in Scotland and was the Presbyterian Minister at St. John’s Warrnambool from 1889 to 1900. In 1900 he went to New Zealand to St. David’s Church, Auckland and later to Dunedin. Rev, Gray Dixon was the author of several publications relating to Presbyterian Church history and activities. This booklet was sent from Auckland by Rev. Gray Dixon to Marcus Saltau, his friend in Warrnambool. Marcus Saltau (1869-1945)followed his father in the produce business in Warrnambool and expanded it to include management of the Warrnambool tramway (which took freight from the town to the port) and a shipping business that had its own vessels and an interstate and international trade. Marcus Saltau was prominent in Warrnambool’s community as a Councillor, Mayor and a politician (Upper House Member for the Western Province 1924-1940). He was a founding member of the Warrnambool Woollen Mill Company, concerned with the establishment of the Nestles Factory at Dennington and a Warrnambool Hospital committee member and Chairman for over 30 years. The Jean Buick Saltau Maternity Ward and Marcus Saltau House at the Warrnambool Hospital survived as important community buildings for many years. This little booklet is of high significance as it is connected to two important Warrnambool people of the past – the Rev. William Gray Dixon and Marcus Saltau. It is the only Gray Dixon piece of writing that the Historical Society possesses and it is of double significance when it is noted that Marcus Saltau, the owner of the booklet was a friend of Gray Dixon’s, and was also a most important person in Warrnambool’s history. This is a soft-cover booklet of 22 pages. The cover which is completely detached and very torn is grey-coloured with dark blue and grey ornamental scrolls and shields around the title of the book. The book contains a portrait of John Calvin, three black and white photographs of places in Geneva, the music of a song, ‘The Marseillaise of the Reformation’ and some verse. The book was stapled but the staples have been removed. The pages are made of lightweight parchment paper. The illustrations have been glued in. The text is a publication of an address given by the author, Rev. W. Gray Dixon to the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of New Zealand in 1909. Front Cover: ‘John Calvin and the Modern World, Rev. W. Gray Dixon, M.A., Price Sixpence’ Inscription on first page: ‘To Marcus Saltau, Esq. with the esteem & affection of the Author, Auckland, 9th February 1910’ rev. w. gray dixon, marcus saltau, warrnambool

St. John’s Presbyterian Church in Warrnambool was opened in 1875 with the Minister in 1895 being the Rev. W. Gray Dixon. At this time the Young People’s Society of Christian Endeavour was active and there was great enthusiasm for supporting missionary work in China and India. This newsletter is of considerable importance as it is an original document and describes the activities of the Presbyterian Church in Warrnambool in the 1890s and gives us some idea of the character of the church at the time. It includes information on Fred Newcombe who later died in India while working as a medical missionary and the names of many people who made their mark in our history. This is a white four-page printed newsletter - St. John’s Quarterly Record, No. 21, Warrnambool, April, 1895. The front page contains an image of St. John’s Church. The printed material includes Church Notes, Marriages, Funerals, Church Register and Disjunctions from Membership. The pages are partly torn.st. john’s presbyterian church,, warrnambool presbyterian church 1895