The Town Mission was established in Ballarat East by a group of Wesleyans. "Australian Silverpen" wrote an historical sketch about the Town Missioner, Martin Hosking. From miner's tent to mission pulpit : Martin Hosking, Ballarat's town missionary : an in memoriam sketch /​ by The Australian Silverpen. See https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/223253590?q=town+mission+hall+ballarat&c=book&versionId=244807517 See also Dorothy Wickham's Beyond the Wall: Ballarat Female RefugePostcard size black and white photograph of the Ballarat Town Mission Hallmartin hosking, town mission, welfare, charity, ballarat, ballarat east, canadian home, ballarat town mission

The Annual Tea for 1946 was in aid of the Alexandra Babies' Home, Ballarat .Orange printed card for the Ballarat Town and City Mission Annual Tea Ticket and Sunday School Anniversary Services. ballarat town and city mission, alexandra babies' home, w.j. wiley

The hall was located on Main Road.ballarat town & city mission, building, public

ballarat town & city mission, building, public

Colour photographs and video of a bluestone channel which flows behind the Salvation Army Town and City Mission in Eureka Street, Ballarat East. bluestone, channel, ballarat east

Representational snapshot of the goodwill and support provided by members of the MTSV for visiting seafarers over the years. Small rectangular (landscape orientation) monochrome photograph depicting 3 gentleman sitting informally at a restaurant table.'A night on the town, Two of the mission's Stipendiary Lay Readers, David Connolly (left) and Peter Smith (centre) take a midshipman from a British ship out to dinner. Circa 1957'david conolly, peter smith, lay reader

Small rectangular (landscape orientation) monochrome photograph depicting a gentleman and lady sitting informally at a restaurant table.'Another night on the town. David Conolly, Stipendiary Lay Reader at the mission, dining out with Harbour Lights Guild member Cathy Herron - a practice frowned on at the time. Circa 1957.' david conolly, lay reader, catherine herron, lhlg

Leather bound bible with gilt text on the spine and gilt edged pages. The dedication page has a small newspaper cutting stuck at the bottom of the page. rev t s b woodfull

The Mission Rescue and Children's Home Canadian opened on Friday November 22, 1907. The formal opening at 3pm was conducted by the Mayor of Ballarat City Councillor F. Brawn with Hon David Ham to preside. The Hon Alfred Deakin gave an address. The Town Mission was established in Ballarat East by a group of Wesleyans. "Australian Silverpen" wrote an historical sketch about the Town Missioner, Martin Hosking. From miner's tent to mission pulpit : Martin Hosking, Ballarat's town missionary : an in memoriam sketch /​ by The Australian Silverpen. See https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/223253590?q=town+mission+hall+ballarat&c=book&versionId=244807517 See also Dorothy Wickham's Beyond the Wall: Ballarat Female RefugeImages of a building known as the Canadian Mission Rescue and Children's Home sarah ellis, ballarat female refuge, ballarat, welfare, town and city mission, women, canadian rescue home, mission rescue

The Mission Rescue and Children's Home Canadian opened on Friday November 22, 1907. The formal opening at 3pm was conducted by the Mayor of Ballarat City Councillor F. Brawn with Hon David Ham to preside. The Hon Alfred Deakin gave an address. The Town Mission was established in Ballarat East by a group of Wesleyans. "Australian Silverpen" wrote an historical sketch about the Town Missioner, Martin Hosking. From miner's tent to mission pulpit : Martin Hosking, Ballarat's town missionary : an in memoriam sketch /​ by The Australian Silverpen. See https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/223253590?q=town+mission+hall+ballarat&c=book&versionId=244807517 See also Dorothy Wickham's Beyond the Wall: Ballarat Female RefugeBlack & white photograph of an advertisement for the opening of the Canadian Mission Rescue and Children's Home.canadian home'martin hosking, sarah ellis, ballarat female refuge, ballarat, welfare, town and city mission, women, alexandra babies home, babt, orphanage

The Mission Rescue and Children's Home Canadian opened on Friday November 22, 1907. The formal opening at 3pm was conducted by the Mayor of Ballarat City Councillor F. Brawn with Hon David Ham to preside. The Hon Alfred Deakin gave an address. The Town Mission was established in Ballarat East by a group of Wesleyans. "Australian Silverpen" wrote an historical sketch about the Town Missioner, Martin Hosking. From miner's tent to mission pulpit : Martin Hosking, Ballarat's town missionary : an in memoriam sketch /​ by The Australian Silverpen. See https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/223253590?q=town+mission+hall+ballarat&c=book&versionId=244807517 See also Dorothy Wickham's Beyond the Wall: Ballarat Female RefugeBlack and white photograph of Martin Hoskingmartin hosking, missionary, ballarat east

Typical light-hearted festivities on a picnic out of town organised by the mission, in this case Cup Day, 1907 Small monochrome outdoor photograph, depicting a fencing competition between a child and a seafarer. To even up the game the seafarer has taken to his knees cup day, 1907, sword, fencing, child, orchard house, malvern, george higgins, beatrice elizabeth higgins (nee shuter), charles shuter, goldsmith album, picnics, entertainments, social events

This book has been compiled by W H C Darvall, the Honorary Secretary at the Mission,( turn of 19th- 20th C.) A chronological recording of key dates and events in relation to the workings of the Mission to Seafarers (Victorian Seamen's Mission). The book also includes a number of clippings from newspapers or journals and concludes with an invitation to attend a special meeting of the Mission to discuss a proposed amalgamation with the Victorian Branch of the London Missions to Seamen, 15 November 1905. The author Mr Darvall arrived in Australia as a migrant 1853, served as the first Town Clerk of Beechworth 1856-1870. A solicitor in Collins St 1870s onward, he died in 1906.In diligently recording "matters of interest" to the Mission, Darvall has provided us with a significant point of reference from the establishment of the Victorian Bethel Union, afloat in 1850s through to the proposed amalgamation with the Missions to Seamen finalised in 1906. Many of the events were compiled retrospectively drawing on Annual reports and minutes but many were recorded contemporaneously from the 1890s. The Chronology serves as a means of verifying events through other sources such as minute books, annual reports and so on. It also provides us with the names and functions of people who had significant roles within the Mission from its earliest days in the 1850s through to the amalgamation of 1906.Label adhered to front cover, handwritten in ink: "The Victorian Seamen's Mission/An epitomised History/of/Matters of interest connected therewith/compiled by/ W.H.G. Darvall / Honorary Secretary" Label adhered to inside cover, printed label reading: "No.....Date....18.../A & W Bruce/Manufacturing Stationers,/65 Bourke Street West,/Melbourne/in re-ordering this book it is necessary to state the no. only"minutes, clippings, proceedings, william henry charles darvall (1830-1906)

This is a copy of an album of photographs held at the National Library of Australia. The album was photographed by Reverend's Weller grand daughter. Freda Oxley was a friend of the Wellers. She was born in Windsor in 1882 where Alexina Weller (nee Caley) was also born in 1885. She travelled on the SS Persic from England and arrived in 1925. She stayed at the Mission for several years, and became a host of the many picnics, making friends with the ladies from the Guild, taking photographs of people and events. Page 1 to 3: Outward Bound - SS Persic - September 26th .... November 12th 1925 Page 4: Interiors of the Mission to Seamen Melbourne Page 5: Mission to Seamen exteriors and wharf Page 6: Wellers with officers during lunch in the Manse Page 7-8: Mission's staff, garden, Wellers Page 8: Freda Oxley, the Wellers, Alexina Weller, Xmas Day 1927, Dora Walker and Rev. Weller Page 9: Gardens: the photographs show the garden's plants in its early years / Botanical Gardens / Nellie Melba's gardens in her estate Coombe: Walter Butler, the architect of the Mission had designed some extensions for Nellie Melba's estate and part of the gardens of the property, so it was likely through they acquaintance that the Mission's reverend and friends were invited. Page 10: Ships in the Yarra River Page 11: Skaregrom and Mitchell ships Page 12-15: Picnics Page 16: Christmas at the Mission, tennis court Page 17: Picnic Page 18: Dora Walker's wedding Page 19: Beach holiday Freda went back to the UK in March 1929 on the Cathay. But she came back to help the Mission as she's listed on the electoral roll in 1931 living there with the Olivers.This album provides valuable photographs of the Mission's interiors, garden, staff, guests and activities during the Wellers stay. It also provides the provenance of the Weller album held in the Mission's collection.The album was donated to the National Library of Australia by Miss Elizabeth Phillips, with her address in England, with a typed note attached that reads: 'These photographs were taken by my aunt Miss Freda Oxley between 1925 and 1928. She went out to Melbourne at that time and stayed at the Mission to Seamen with her friends the Revd Jack Weller and Mrs Weller. The Revd Weller later became Bishop of the Falkland Islands.'freda kathleen oxley 1882-1969, ss persic, gardens, botanical garden, picnics, officers, portsea, sydney, rev. w.m robertson, dora simpson nee walker, wedding, alice sibthorpe tracy, ethel augusta godfrey 1861-1935, royal botanical garden, nellie melba, coombe, zoo, seamen, sailors, walter richmond butler (1864–1949), juan oyarzo, john oyarzo, fern tree gully, kerferd family

Taken at a Debutante Ball 1957 St Kilda Town Hall. David Canolly was a lay reader and Marjorie Stafford, the daughter of George Stafford, a policeman who was involved in the Mission helping during the 1950s. (Conolly interview in 2016)Subjects LHLG member MS and Lay Reader DC had a long standing connection with the Mission Black and White Gloss print photograph of a couple in evening dress, both are standing.Hand written in black texta; l Circa 1957 Marjorie Stafford daughter of George Stafford, & D C at Debutante Ball for Robert Burns Lodge at Stkilda TRown Hall lay reader, david conolly, marjorie stafford, lhlg, st kilda town hall, george stafford

The photo appears in an article titled "Raking memory's coals", about a visit by Roger Mitchell to Exmouth in 1983, where UC National Mission is at work on the frontier in the West. "In the car and over a meal we meet National Mission's community worker Bernice McLeod, self-effacing to the point of frustration, shrugging off a role in the oddly-mixed US base town which some say makes her saintly; others a pillar of the community."Bernice McLeod is shown playing with a small child.C&N 13/6/84 p. 3, p. 19.mcleod, bernice, exmouth, uc national mission

Reverend Alexander McCallum DD was born in 1866 and served at Shepparton, Melbourne Brunswick, Oakleigh, Ararat, Geelong Yarra Street, Geelong West, Melbourne Brunswick, New Town, Warrnambool, Wangaratta, Melbourne Central Mission. He was Secretary-General 1917-1920 and President-General 1920-1923, Secretary of Conference 1910 and President of Conference 1911. He died in 1933B & W head and shoulders studio portrait of the Rev. Alexander McCallum, mounted on grey card.rev alexander mccallum, methodist, minister, president of conference

On Easter Monday, 5 April 1915, the Mission organised a picnic on the St Andrew's Church grounds in Brighton. Some French and Swedish sailors ere invited to take part in sports. In the centre is probably Ethel Godfrey, Honorary Secretary of the LHLG, who was just back from England where she visited her brother, Dr Frank Godfrey and his family in Scarborough. Along with her sisters Federica and Winifred, they saw the German attack on the English town.\ located on the North Sea. Article published in the Herald, Monday 12 April 1915, page 3: "SAILORS ENJOY OUTING In the spacious grounds of St. Andrew's Church, Brighton, on Easter Monday, the Seamen's Mission held an enjoyable outing, which culminated in a tug-of-war between French and Swedish sailors, and a race in fancy costume. In the evening, at the mission house, on the Australian Wharf, a welcome home was given, after the chapel service, to Miss Ethel Godfrey, who addressed the men, and related some of her adventures at Scarborough, where she was staying when the English seaside resort was raided by German warshlps."The Godfrey sisters and their step-mother had done the voyage to Europe to visit their brother just before the war stars. They witnessed the outbreak of the war, the attacks on Scarborough. When they came back to Australia, the voyage was dangerous as Germans were attacking vessels. Barely arrived in Australia, Ethel Godfrey who could speak French, having studied in Belgium, was already helping with the picnics, eager to share her story and support French sailors.sepia photograph depicting four sailors, a lady and two young girls standing in a park.One of the sailors is handing an apple to them.Written in Pencil on verso: French sailors in Brighton 1915french, picnic, lhlg, brighton, st andrew's church, ethel godfrey, scarborough raid, sailors, mission to seamen, seamen's mission, children, girls, apples

The Brookside Private Reformatory for Protestant Girls was established on 29 December 1887 by Mrs W. T. Rowe. It was initially established at Glenfine, and soon moved to more extensive premises in the town of Cape Clear, near Scarsdale. The establishement of private reformatories had been made possible by The Juvenile Offenders' Act 1887 , which was assented to only weeks before the opening of Brookside. The Mintaro Reformatory Home for Girls at Monegeetta, Lancefield was established in 1903 by the Methodist Home Mission Department to take the girls from the Brookside Reformatory at Cape Clear when it closed in 1903. Brookside Homestead taken from the public roadway.brookside, farm, homestead

The Chinese School was attached/run by the Town Mission. "THE CHINESE SUNDAY SCHOOL . The opening services of the newly erected Chinese Sunday school building in connection with the Town Mission, were brought to a close on Monday night by a tea and public meeting, held in the Mission Hall. The now building, which presents a very nice appearance, and is an improvement to that part of the Main road, was erected at a cost of £95 ; Mr H. R. Caselli acting as honorary architect, kindly prepared plans, etc. A new front fence was erected at a cost of £l6, which, with all other expenses, amounted to £126 3s 6d. Previously to the present effort collections and subscriptions were obtained as follow; —Mr Burnett's service, £l8 11s 5d; Chinese Sunday school anniversary, £9 16s 10d; concert on Easter Monday, £8 15s; Phoenix Foundry, per Mr Pethard, £7; sub scriptions, £23 8s 6d, leaving a debtor balance of £57 7s 9d. The. collections on Sunday were good. Mr Lee Young, of the Chinese store, Main road, kindly gave the tea, whioh was a valuable donation. The proceeds of the tea meeting will be about £l0. The building was prettily decorated by Mr Chessell, Mrs King Hook, and the gir!s.connected with the sohool. Mr Moorshead, the caterer, gave all the school children tea gratis- Mrs Lee Young, Miss Emma Lee Young. Miss G. Kay, Miss J. Hong Gong, Mrs King Hook, Mrs Stoneman, and Mrs Pethard waited at tables. Mr M. D. Morgan presided at the public meeting in the Mission Hall, and was supported platform by the Mayor of Ballarat East, the Revs. J. White, J. J. Perrin, and E. Turner, who delivered excellent and suitable speeches; but previously, however, offers of donations - to clear off the debt were made by Mr D. Ham, £10; the chairman, £5; Mr and Mrs Whitrick, £2 17s; a number of donors of £1 each, and less sums, which, with the collec tions, amounted to £58 16s 7d. This sum, with the sale of the cottage.on the ground, clears the debt, and leaves the com mittee a few pounds in hand towards lining and seating the building. A pleas ing feature in the meeting was the hearty giving of several Chinese Christians, including Mr Le Young; also singing by the Chinese chil dren, led by Mr Pethard. When the result was made known tbe whole, meeting stood and sang —“ Praise God from whom all blessings flow," for the success in having the place opened free of debt. Votes of thanks were passed to Mr Caselli, and all who took part in the effort: and one of the happiest meetings ever hold by the mission was brought to a close by again singing the doxology and the benediction." Ballarat Star, 27 February 1885)Black and white image of a weather board school known as the Chinese School, Ballarat.chinese school, ballarat, ballarat town and city mission, chinese, education, school, chinese sunday school

Rev. Graeme Dudley Bence was born into a Methodist family on 24 December 1930 in the coal mining town of Tonyrefail, New South Wales. His family moved to Bornemouth England in 1931. He married Doreen in Bristol on 21 June 1952. Rev. Bence was ordained at East Cliff Congregational Church Bournemouth on 26 May 1953. He was commissioned to the sevice of the London Missionary Society in Papua and subsequently served in Australia starting at Hughesdale Congregational Church from 1958 to 1965 and Wyclif Congregational Chruch Surrey Hills from 1965 to 1972. In 1972 he accepted a call to the Nightcliff Church in Darwin and became Assistant Director of Mission and Service in the Uniting Church of North Australia. The Northern Synod elected Graeme Moderator from 1981 to 1983. He returned to Victoria in 1986 and retired to Rosebud in 1991. He died on 31 July 1994.Head and shoulders drawing in profile of Rev. Graeme Bence.bence, graeme

Reverend Weller succeeded the senior chaplain role after Rev Gurney Goldsmith in the mid 1920s until the end of the decade. He was a keen photographer himself. Freda Kathleen Oxley (1882-1969) pictured here holding a camera took pictures during a voyage to Melbourne on S.S. Persic via Cape Town in 1925. An album of 126 photographs is now held at the National Library of Australia in Canberra., containing views of the Mission to Seamen, Melbourne, with visiting sailors and clergy; family groups, gardens, ships, church picnics, a wedding, some views of Portsea. She seems to have been a childhood friend of Mrs Weller as she was like her born in Windsor, UK. She lived in the chaplaincy for 3 years and became a volunteer; she can be seen in a few photographs of picnics. She left in 1929 shortly after the Wellers (see Jottings Easter 1929) and went back to the UK.Provides early 20th C. records of MTS senior personnel and images of LHLG supporters and members.small black and white photograph mounted on an album page depicting clerically dressed male figure flanked by two females in 1920s dress posed in front of a large palm tree. on page 12On album page handwritten: "Reverend JR Weller, Mrs Weller, Mrs Orley (holding a Kodak Brownie camera)"alexina weller (nee caley), reverend john reginald weller, finhaven, kew, mr john inerrarity buchan, cup day, freda oxley, 1928, ss persic, fan album, annie alexandrina caley (known as alexina) 1885-1934, freda kathleen oxley 1882-1969

Open House 2022: "Like many Melburnians, Ying-Lan Dann has long been fascinated by the Mission to Seafarers, in Docklands. When she was invited to create a work in response to a building as part of this year’s Open House Melbourne, she knew immediately which it would be. Taking a peek behind the closed doors of some of Melbourne’s finest and most interesting buildings is a core premise of the weekend event, now in its 15th year. During that time, the program has grown from half a dozen buildings to a 200-plus strong list that extends to Ballarat and Bendigo. “[It’s] much more expansive and citizen-led,” says Fleur Watson, Open House Melbourne’s executive director. “As a public festival, it has always had a spirit of generosity, this gesture of opening up and allowing visitors to come and look and experience things.” Swinging open their doors at the end of the month will be some of the city’s finest mansions, including Villa Alba in Kew and Brighton’s Billilla, the Cairo flats in Fitzroy, the newly renovated Jewish Museum designed by Kerstin Thompson, the Melbourne Quakers Centre, the Albanian Mosque in Carlton North and many more. Considering how to approach the event this year, held remotely for the past two, Watson decided to explore beyond the traditional, with associate professor and director of curatorial practice at Monash University Tara McDowell. The two have co-curated an exhibition of works to run concurrently with the Open House program, called Take Hold of the Clouds. That’s where Dann’s work, Circular Temporalities, comes in, one of seven commissions around town in which local and international artists respond to chosen buildings or sites. A lecturer in interior design at RMIT as well as an artist, she is interested in time and finding different mediums to show things in flux and, having grown up on Phillip Island, she often uses water as a theme. When she started spending time at the Mission, Dann found there was an oculus at the top of the dome, known as the Norla Dome. She thought about how that small but significant opening related to where sailors spent so many months of the year, the sky being the only thing they would see much of the time, stars guiding the way in times gone by, and of the recent stories she’d heard about sailors being trapped at sea during COVID. Built in the Arts and Craft style between 1916 and 1919 and designed by architect Walter Butler, the Mission includes a chapel, clubroom, Chaplain’s house, a small cottage and the Norla Dome, which was apparently inspired by the Pantheon. The Mission was funded by the government and the Ladies Harbour Lights Guild, who Dann was also intrigued by. “One of the things those women identified is that life at sea is very dangerous [and they] wanted to give them a space of sanctuary and support,” she says, adding that for many years, the dome was used as a gymnasium. Her work inside the dome includes a 35-minute loop film, recorded from the ferry during the crossing from Queenscliff to Sorrento. The horizon takes up about a third of the shot and moves as the waves rise and fall, mirroring the journeys made by the sailors who found refuge at the mission over the years; it will be projected onto a gauze-like fabric, allowing glimpses of the building behind. Dann also plans to activate the site over the course of the weekend and will read a poem by Justin Clemens.The articles gives an insight of the création of the artwork by Ying-Lan Dann. digital copy of an article with photographs published in the Ageopen house melbourne, 2022, ying-lan dann, take hold of the clouds, norla dome, exhibition, the age, cultural events

In 1945 the Reverend Harry Griffiths, who worked for the Methodist Inland Mission in Alice Springs, saw the need for a boarding facility for children of families living in remote areas in Central Australia who needed access to schools. He and his wife established Griffiths House, on a site in the town centre, and for many years it became home for students from all over the Outback, including many young Aboriginal people. In the late 1950's the Rev Fred McKay, successor to the Rev John Flynn as Superintendent of the Australian Inland Mission, lobbied the United Church in the Northern Territory to build and expand on this important start. Together the Presbyterian, Methodist and Congregational churches embarked on a missionary venture to develop St Philip's College - a new, larger residential hostel which would one day become a full boarding school. An ideal site - 22 acres of bush at the junction of the Charles and Todd Rivers and backing on to the Telegraph Station National Park - was secured and after six years of planning, construction began in 1964. Fred McKay led the legendary work parties comprised of volunteers from all over Australia who travelled to Alice Springs, paying their own way and volunteering their expertise, time and labour, to turn a dream into a reality. This fantastic tradition continues today, with work parties arriving each mid-year holiday. On 13 February 1965 the first boarders moved in to St Philip's College. For the first 24 years, therefore, St Philip's College operated as a residential hostel only. The College’s ninth Headmaster, Mr Christopher Tudor, arrived in 1986. He and the Council Chairman, Mrs Jan Heaslip, judged that the time was right to complete the original plan to turn St Philip’s College into a fully fledged independent boarding/day school, serving not only “bush” families, but also the growing population of Alice Springs. The then College Council embraced the idea and three years of frantic, determined preparation and planning commenced, culminating in an extensive $2 million building program in 1988. To this day there continues to be further development with the new landscaping underway near The Minnamurra Hall, Reception and Rivergum Cafe, plus the recent completion of the Science & Food Technology building and the new Rivergum Cafe.Head & Shoulders of Chris Eldridgest. philip's college, tudor, chris, eldridge, chris

In 1945 the Reverend Harry Griffiths, who worked for the Methodist Inland Mission in Alice Springs, saw the need for a boarding facility for children of families living in remote areas in Central Australia who needed access to schools. He and his wife established Griffiths House, on a site in the town centre, and for many years it became home for students from all over the Outback, including many young Aboriginal people. In the late 1950's the Rev Fred McKay, successor to the Rev John Flynn as Superintendent of the Australian Inland Mission, lobbied the United Church in the Northern Territory to build and expand on this important start. Together the Presbyterian, Methodist and Congregational churches embarked on a missionary venture to develop St Philip's College - a new, larger residential hostel which would one day become a full boarding school. An ideal site - 22 acres of bush at the junction of the Charles and Todd Rivers and backing on to the Telegraph Station National Park - was secured and after six years of planning, construction began in 1964. Fred McKay led the legendary work parties comprised of volunteers from all over Australia who travelled to Alice Springs, paying their own way and volunteering their expertise, time and labour, to turn a dream into a reality. This fantastic tradition continues today, with work parties arriving each mid-year holiday. On 13 February 1965 the first boarders moved in to St Philip's College. For the first 24 years, therefore, St Philip's College operated as a residential hostel only. The College’s ninth Headmaster, Mr Christopher Tudor, arrived in 1986. He and the Council Chairman, Mrs Jan Heaslip, judged that the time was right to complete the original plan to turn St Philip’s College into a fully fledged independent boarding/day school, serving not only “bush” families, but also the growing population of Alice Springs. The then College Council embraced the idea and three years of frantic, determined preparation and planning commenced, culminating in an extensive $2 million building program in 1988. To this day there continues to be further development with the new landscaping underway near The Minnamurra Hall, Reception and Rivergum Cafe, plus the recent completion of the Science & Food Technology building and the new Rivergum Cafe.Head & Shoulders of Chris Tudor.st. philip's college, tudor, chris, eldridge, chris

In 1945 the Reverend Harry Griffiths, who worked for the Methodist Inland Mission in Alice Springs, saw the need for a boarding facility for children of families living in remote areas in Central Australia who needed access to schools. He and his wife established Griffiths House, on a site in the town centre, and for many years it became home for students from all over the Outback, including many young Aboriginal people. In the late 1950's the Rev Fred McKay, successor to the Rev John Flynn as Superintendent of the Australian Inland Mission, lobbied the United Church in the Northern Territory to build and expand on this important start. Together the Presbyterian, Methodist and Congregational churches embarked on a missionary venture to develop St Philip's College - a new, larger residential hostel which would one day become a full boarding school. An ideal site - 22 acres of bush at the junction of the Charles and Todd Rivers and backing on to the Telegraph Station National Park - was secured and after six years of planning, construction began in 1964. Fred McKay led the legendary work parties comprised of volunteers from all over Australia who travelled to Alice Springs, paying their own way and volunteering their expertise, time and labour, to turn a dream into a reality. This fantastic tradition continues today, with work parties arriving each mid-year holiday. On 13 February 1965 the first boarders moved in to St Philip's College. For the first 24 years, therefore, St Philip's College operated as a residential hostel only. The College’s ninth Headmaster, Mr Christopher Tudor, arrived in 1986. He and the Council Chairman, Mrs Jan Heaslip, judged that the time was right to complete the original plan to turn St Philip’s College into a fully fledged independent boarding/day school, serving not only “bush” families, but also the growing population of Alice Springs. The then College Council embraced the idea and three years of frantic, determined preparation and planning commenced, culminating in an extensive $2 million building program in 1988. To this day there continues to be further development with the new landscaping underway near The Minnamurra Hall, Reception and Rivergum Cafe, plus the recent completion of the Science & Food Technology building and the new Rivergum Cafe.Tudor and Eldridge in conversation with the College in the background.st. philip's college, tudor, chris, eldridge, chris