Subject

Faithful Knight

Text

Fight the Good Fight of Faith Ensure Hardness as a Good Soldier of Jesus Christ

Inscription

unknown

Description & History

The red brick Presbyterian Church at Donald was opened on 25 March 1925. It was built by Messrs. B.M. Basset and Son, Donald for the substantial sum of £4275. Above the holy table was a three-light memorial to the parishioners who took part in the First World War. The local paper gave a detailed description of the window, noting the predominantly purple, blue, green and gold colours in the side panels set with the ribbon text scrolls and the central image of the knight with 'shining armour, the drawn sword and the shield of faith emblazoned with the flaming cross'. Below the window was an honour board that listed the names of the parishioners who enlisted from the congregation. The central image of the knight can be attributed to Montgomery on stylistic grounds, but the surroundings ornamentation was most likely the work of Ballarat firm, William R. Robson. In February 1925 Robson was billed 40 guineas for a figure to be inserted into a multi-light window, and the account was paid in early April. The Honour Roll at St. Andrew's Church reveals the 51 men who enlisted, nine of whom were killed. A. Allan, R. Allan, A. Bailes, L. Baker, A.W. Barber, J.C. Barrie, C.G. Boswell*, J. Cameron, O.Davey*, W. Davison, J. Duncan*, L.V. Dunn, H.R. Dunn*, W. Dunn, J.D. Freeland*, R. Geddes, A.A. Gillies, R. Gilmour, W. Gray, R.V. Horsfall, S. Hannah, S. Hepworth, W. Hogg, D. Keith, M.E. Kay*, G. Lees, B. Lewis, A. McDonald, G. McDonald, R. McDowall, H. McIntyre, D. McLaughlan, J. McPherson, A. Muir, N. Peters, J. Rodgers, N. Rodgers*, O. Shepherd, E.G. Spencer*, G. Tucker, W. Turnbull, A. Tyson, F. Wardley, G. Wardley, W. Wardley, C. Westmore, H. Willey, V. Willey, F. Young. The loss to the district must have been devastating.

References & Acknowledgements

Donald Times, 8 January 1924; Donald Times 27 March 1925; William Montgomery letterbooks, NGA Research Collection; William Montgomery ledger 1911-1927, private collection.

Thanks to Lil Kirk, Honorary Archivist, Donald History Group.