Subject

Ascension of Christ

Text

n/a

Inscription

[Plaque] For the memory of a loving childhood of Douglas Brett Young

Description & History

St. Stephen's Anglican Church built a Warriors' Chapel as a memorial to the servicemen and women of the parish. Napier Waller prepared six window designs for windows that were completed for unveiling on Remembrance Day 1951, each representing one of the various aspects of the 1914-18 and 1939-45 wars. Each window was quoted at £100, which represented a high price in the early 1950s. The unveiling was performed by Sir Edmund Herring, Victoria's Lieutenant Governor and the windows were dedicated by the His Grace, the Archbishop of Melbourne, J.J. Booth. Waller completed a mural in 1961 and two more windows for the church were dedicated in 1964 and 1970, the latter among Waller's last works.

Although the window was one of the series dedicated as a memorial to the servicemen and women of the parish, this window was also given in memory of Douglas Brett Young, son of parishioners, Nevil and Betty Brett-Young, who was killed when he fell from a tractor while the family was farming in New Guinea. Douglas's father, Nevil Allan Brett-Young (b. 23 February 1902) was a Warrant-Officer in the Australian Army who enlisted in Queensland on 19 December 1941. At the time of his discharge he was serving with the Australian New Guinea Administrative Unit.

References & Acknowledgements

Argus, 10 November 1951, p.17; A.A. Phillips, A Centenary History of St. Stephen's Gardenvale, [1982], pp.139, p.142 and unpaginated appendix.