Subject

Christ in the Garden of Gesthemane The Ascension of Christ

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Description & History

Discussion on placing memorial windows to men of the church who enlisted in the First World War began in 1919, and a fund set up that realised £120. Brooks, Robinson & Co. was commissioned for two windows that were inserted into the north wall at each side of the pulpit recess. The subjects, typical for Christian churches, were also intended to represent Sacrifice and Hope, in honour of the servicemen. The Argus noted the intention to insert a smaller window on either side to inscribe names of the men and the fallen, however this seems to have been abandoned, possibly due to the extra cost. Instead, an opus sectile memorial honour board was erected to their memory.

The first young man from the church to lose his life was Corporal SDJ Figgis in August 1915. Douglas Figgis was a 19 year old library assistant with the Public Library, Melbourne, when he enlisted on 13 March 1915, with the permission of his father, Arthur. As part of reinforcements, he was 'taken on strength' of 5 Battalion, and received shell wounds to his neck only five days later on Gallipoli; he died on 10 August 1915. He was buried at Beach Cemetery, Anzac Cove, after a service conducted by Chaplain JC McPhee. His name can be seen on the Honour Roll in the State Library of Victoria located at the entrance to the La Trobe Reading Room.

Thirty men enlisted from the church and over the next four years the deaths in France of Sergeant Stanley George Mathieson Campbell, of wounds on 3 October 1916; Lieutenant Alan James Kerr, killed in action on 27 July 1916; and Private Eric Alexander McCleery, who died of wounds in the United Kingdom, were also recorded on the church Honour Roll.

References & Acknowledgements

Argus, 7 April 1919, p. 8; 6 September 1915, p.1; NAA: B2455, Figgis SDJ; NAA: B2455, McCleery; A.G. Gunson, A Brief History of the Canterbury Congregational Church 1891-1977, 1978.