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Pious Labours: Reformation and Reverend Brown’s chaplaincy
Alex Grose
Grose, Alex 2014, 'Pious labours: reformation and Reverend Brown's chaplaincy', Fremantle Studies, 8: 62-77.
‘The rich man in his castle
The poor man at his gate,
God made them high and lowly,
And ordered their estate’.
From the hymn All Things Bright and Beautiful
‘Listen, and for organ-music, thou wilt ever,
as of old, hear the morning stars sing together. ’
From Thomas Carlyle’s Sartor Resartus
Introduction
Resting in the Anglican Chapel at Fremantle Prison-a tall, luminous room suspended between the outstretched wings of the main cellblock-is an organ. The instrument is a Farrand & Votey cut from mahogany and carved to resemble a vine. Its face is worn and its keys are shrouded in dust. We make out pedals and stops, Melodia, Dolce, Viola ... Countless hymns have been sung to this organ, its origins are unknown but its date of manufacture probably fell between 1887 and 1897.
Looking back into the dispersing tides of the colonial era we find remnants of a Victorian value system oriented to facilitate the cohesion of Man and Church under the ever-present eyes of God. The first request for a church organ was put forward by Reverend James Brown, the Anglican chaplain to the Fremantle Convict Establishment, between 1853 and 1855 with the intention that it would accompany the Sunday services for the prisoners of the Fremantle colony. 2 His biannual report requesting this instrument was the first to be submitted to the Comptroller General’s office after Brown started his duties in 1853. It serves as a critical evaluation of the operation of the prison through the disciplined eyes of a church representative and will be the primary focus of my study. The report also documents the dynamic relationship between Church and State that was to have important consequences in the development of Western Australia throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. I will, therefore, outline the history of the Church and its relationship with the Convict Establishment before detailing the influences that Brown had on the Establishment.
In approaching this topic I was hoping to obtain copies of all biannual reports submitted to the Comptroller General’s Office by Brown but I was unable to retrieve them. I was, however, able to draw on the 1852 diary of Reverend Brown (courtesy of the Battye Library) 3, the diary of John Wollaston, 4 and the Colonial Records on microfilm from the Australian Joint Copying Program (AJCP). The book Church Beginnings in the West by A Burton 5 provided a valuable look at the early church in Western Australia and A New History of Western Australia edited by CT Stannage 6 also proved helpful.
The Philosophy of the Convict System
At the time of Brown’s report ideas about discipline were in flux. While many pre-enlightenment responses to crime involved the showcasing of the state's ownership over the body (floggings; public executions; tortures), 7 the Fremantle Convict Establishment came into operation as a new way of thinking about punishment was emerging. The new spirit of reform brought about a more psychological approach to punishment and came to regard criminal activity as an ailment of the soul. 8 At the same time a shift towards secularism destabilised the relationship between religious and public institutions. The Anglican Church and the Establishment existed in a sort of troubled symbiosis, with the Church struggling to redefine its role in the penal system. The Church saw its role as facilitating the reformation of convicts while, in truth, ‘religion was enrolled as a direct means of psychological subordination 9 within the Establishment. Essentially, the idea of God was evoked to strike fear into the hearts of the convicted. Prisoners were compelled to reform via the perpetual surveillance of a divine moral authority. 10 Other contemporary approaches to punishment also emphasised surveillance, for example, the panopticon was a prison design planned by social reformer Jeremy Bentham to allow for the constant observation of its prisoners. 11 Moral reformation is a common theme throughout Brown's report and the re-integration of the individual into society was an important constituent of this process that, in the broader context, was hoped to promote a life-long commitment to the work of the Church.
Two distinct approaches to prison operation were active in Britain in the mid-nineteenth century: the ‘separate’ system and the ‘silent’ system. The separate system was a model used by the English prison Pentonville Penitentiary. It involved total isolation; separate yards and hoods over heads. Ayris writes ‘[t]he only relief from the wall of silence was the supervised bible readings. 12 The silent system on the other hand aimed to prevent all forms of verbal communication between prisoners, but allowed them to interact while working. 13 The convict settlement employed both of these approaches with different levels of severity but officially the Fremantle Convict Establishment was to operate on the separate system as it was believed to prevent moral contamination.
The resemblance of Fremantle Prison, constructed in the 1850s, to Pentonville was more than just ideological. It is worth noting that in a report of 1852, Henderson states: ‘[i]n making the new plan for the prison, I have adapted the plan pursued for Pentonville and placed the chapel in the centre of the building." 14 The regime at Pentonville was harsh, both emotionally and physically. Many prisoners to emerge from this form of punishment were to suffer from psychological illness in later life. 15
The Prison and the Establishment
The transportation of criminals from Britain to the Swan River colony officially commenced with a proclamation made in London on 1 May 1849, several years before Brown’s arrival.
In pursuance and exercise of the powers vested in Her Majesty by the said recited Act, Her Majesty, by and with the advice of Her Privy Council, doth order and it is hereby ordered, that upon and from the first day of June this present year, Her Majesty’s settlements in Western Australia shall be places to which felons and other offenders in the United Kingdom then being or thereafter to be under sentence or order of transportation or banishment shall be conveyed under provisions of the said recited Act. 16
This ran contrary to the early aspirations of the settlement, as many settlers had hoped to subsist without the help of convict labour. The first shipment of 75 convicts arrived with the first Comptroller General of convicts, Captain EYW Henderson, on board the Scindian the following year.
The arrival of the Scindian at the port town brought about a number of problems and local working class opposition to the use of convict labour did little to facilitate their resolution. A letter in the Perth Gazette lamented: It puts one in mind of that horrible and murderous discharge of lava from Vesuvius which entombed alive the cities and inhabitants of Pompeii and Herculaneum. This modern crater of expediency has opened its horrid jaws and commenced vomiting forth a fiery, pestilential effluvia, only less than infernal, which at one swoop has entombed our hopes as an independent colony, and withered and blighted our moral prospects for ever. 17
Despite such strongly expressed moral opposition, some saw convict labour as a necessary evil in combating economic stagnancy.
Men of the Church, just like the population as a whole, were hotly divided on this issue. Some religious leaders felt that convicts were a moral contaminant: ‘Fremantle has become, by the influx of strangers and consequent licentiousness, a very unfit place for a native school’, Rev JR Wollaston was later to write.18 Conversely, many religious leaders of both Protestant and Roman Catholic faiths were in support of the transportation of convicts, as it was believed that once ‘saved’ convicts could strengthen the numbers of their respective Churches. 19 A quick glance at the convict demographics supports this hope. Of a sample group of 2711 West Australian convicts examined by Sandra Taylor, 1592 were Protestant, 463 were Roman Catholic, 20 were Presbyterian, 16 were Methodist, 12 were Jewish and the rest were unrecorded or other. 20 Convicts also provided cheap labour that was used for building, among other things, churches and chapels.
The first problem to present itself to the young Captain Henderson was the decision of where to house the recently transported convicts. The convicts were held on board the ship as Henderson went ashore to make hasty arrangements for their temporary accommodation. 21 Not long after his arrival in Western Australia, Henderson wrote a formal request for more officers and men. 22 As a result Lieut Wray, Second Lieut Crossman and Second Lieut Du Cane were sent to Western Australia along with ninety-five sappers over the following two years. These men were set up in and around the Swan River Colony to supervise convict stations and work gangs. It is interesting to note that the first Anglican Chaplain of convicts, Reverend Matthew Fletcher, arrived with the Scindian. This suggests that the immediacy of the need for ‘spiritual guidance’ was well understood by the British authorities but not, perhaps, the magnitude of the demand for labour.
As a result of the thrifty work of Captain Henderson the convicts were housed in a depot at the site of the current Esplanade Hotel, then a warehouse, and cluster of accompanying buildings that were rented from Captain Daniel Scott, Harbour Master of Fremantle. This location was still in use at the time of Brown’s report and remained the primary location for the housing of convicts until the partial opening of the Fremantle Prison in 1855. The temporary location was reportedly in need of much repair upon the arrival of the Scindian in 1850, however, it had a number of useful buildings and yards including 1 large wool shed; 1 stone store; 2 large stores (wooden); 1 dwelling house; 2 cottages; stables; gardens; and, a parade and exercising ground for the men. 23 These buildings served as a hospital, a bakehouse, a warehouse, a kitchen and separate residences for officers and prisoners. Religious services were held in one of the main prison blocks. For the Lord’s Supper (or Eucharist), the convicts were granted use of the town’s Anglican Church, St John’s, at the far end of High Street. 24 Religious services were also held at the prison each morning and evening. Most convicts were involved in work parties and, upon request, were permitted to attend school for four hours each week. Library access was granted to convicts who expressed an interest in what Brown referred to as ‘self-improvement’, something he monitored closely. 25
The Structure of the Church
In the hierarchy of the Anglican Church in Western Australia parishes (such as the Picton parish or the Albany parish) were served by Archdeacons who stood below Bishops, each Bishop taking charge of a certain province or district. All Church-workers acknowledged the supremacy of the English Monarch. The connection between Church and State was formally defined in two famous prayer books; the first, The Thirty-Nine Articles (based on the work of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Cranmer) being replaced in 1837 by Her Majesty's Declaration. These were renewed and re-issued with each succeeding monarch. Each prayer book was comprised of a collection of prayers for various occasions, coupled with statements prescribing the proper conduct of the religious person in matters of faith. Such texts helped to differentiate the Church of England from Catholic and Dissenter practice.
In the nineteenth century, the popularity of the Church of England had begun to wane with only 14% of those queried listing themselves as Anglican in the English religious census of 1851. Upheavals in traditional ideas about morality and the universe may have played a role in this decline. Charles Darwin’s revolutionary book The Origin of Species appeared in 1859 calling into question aspects of the Biblical account of creation. 26 The theory of Utilitarianism was put forth by John Stuart Mill and had a big impact on thinking about justice and morality. 27 Men of religion saw the Age of Reason as a challenge to orthodoxy. Many books were written attempting to reconcile ideas of faith and science.
Even though numbers were dwindling, the Anglican Church continued to wield power throughout the following century. Missions spread the religion to remote areas, and the Penal System continued employing Chaplains for the spiritual guidance of prisoners.
Church Leaders in Western Australia
Religious leaders were strongly supported by a community of followers who formed the backbone of much of the chaplaincy and church-construction projects to emerge during the nineteenth century. Support in the early years of the colony was scant, however, and many religious leaders found themselves alienated and alone.
The Reverend George King arrived in the colony in 1841. Although unable to claim a government stipend, he performed his duty to the best of his abilities by building a church, establishing an institution for Aboriginal children and holding services in outlying districts. 28 By 1846, however, King grew impatient with the authorities and left the settlement. 29
John Wollaston came to Western Australia in 1841 under the false belief that he had been appointed as an Anglican Clergyman to perform ministerial duties for the West Australian settlement. He was unaware that a government stipend was not paid to religious men unless they were in charge of an operating church. Wollaston was forced to build his own church from local materials at Picton, near Bunbury, in order to receive government payment but even then attendance was poor. The colonial experience for men of religion was very strenuous. From a life of religious contemplation, and with minimal training in labour, they were stranded in a settlement barely capable of supporting its own population. John Wollaston serves as an excellent example of the spirit of the early Church, struggling in its infancy against countless challenges. 30
Wollaston was richly rewarded when his contributions were noticed by Bishop Short and Archdeacon Hale of South Australia while on a tour of the Swan River Colony. He was ordained as Archdeacon in 1849, a position that he held until his death in 1856. Wollaston paid a visit to the Fremantle Convict Establishment in 1851 and recorded the following in his diary:
April 6th, Sunday. At 7 am, [I] assisted Mr Fletcher in administering the Lord’s Supper at Fremantle Church, to ten of the most hopeful of the convicts. This [was] to me a novel and deeply interesting service. None [were] present after the closing of the doors, but Mr F and myself, the men and one warder. The general demeanour of the prisoners was very serious, and several appeared truly penitent and devout, particularly the youngest among them, who could not refrain his tears, nor scarcely lift up his head as he knelt before me. They wore the convict dress. I approached Fremantle with strong prejudices against the convict management, created by false statements by different people as I travelled up, but too much praise cannot be bestowed upon the present experimental system, for it has never been tried before in the Colonies. 31
Much of the antagonism that Wollaston encountered may have emerged from the wide-spread distrust of the Colonial System as a whole rather than the Fremantle Establishment in particular.
Reverend William Mitchell, a significant member of the West Australian Missionary Society - which he helped to found in England to provide missionary support to the Western Settlement - was to have a notable impact on the Church in Western Australia. Mitchell’s support seems also to have had a positive impact upon the later career of Brown, over and beyond his immediate duties as Chaplain to the Convict Establishment. 32
Between them, James Brown, William Mitchell and Matthew Hale were to hold great influence over the Anglican Church as it was operated in Perth and Fremantle in the 1850s and 60s.
Bishop Hale, Archdeacon James Brown and Rev W Mitchell: senior Anglican clergy in the Swan River Colony, date unknown, (image scanned from a reproduction in Frank Greenslade, Mitchell Amen, University of Western Australia Press, Nedlands, 1979)
Religion, Convicts, and State
Bishop Hale reportedly had high hopes for the future of the Colony. He saw the convict Establishment as an opportunity to secure a role for religious doctrine in Australian society stating that ‘in the other colonies, by reason of the neglect of the moral and religious condition of the convicts the experiment had not received a fair trial’. 33 The integration of religion into the convict disciplinary system in Western Australia, however, was to prove problematic.
Conflicts arising from clashes between religious practice and the demands of the Convict Establishment were not uncommon. In early January 1854, Captain Henderson suspended the Roman Catholic Chaplain, Rev Thomas O’Neil, for preaching a sermon of an inappropriate nature. The suspension was met with anger by many Roman Catholic prisoners. A brief conflict was triggered requiring police intervention while townspeople began barricading doors and collecting weapons in preparation for an outbreak. 34
More broadly, disagreements occurred repeatedly between religious leaders and the authorities as many religious leaders felt that politics were interfering with the spiritual work of the Church. In the early 1850s Wollaston came into conflict with Governor Fitzgerald over his selection of an Anglican Chaplain. Later, Governor Hampton clashed with Bishop Hale over the duties of Anglican clergy, a dispute that was to have destructive consequences for Hampton’s later career. 35 In short, these conflicts eventually led to the dissolution of the church-state relationship, resulting in the termination of special funds for the Church of England over other denominations in the 1870s. 36 Chaplains and clergymen during this time were paid as civil servants 37 and it seems that there was a great deal of discontentment amongst them, mostly because the payment was limited. ‘In the early 1850s the imperial and local governments contributed nearly £2000 annually towards Anglican-stipends, as against only £200 from the church societies in England and an almost negligible amount from the congregations in the colony. 38 The struggle to capture the interest and attention of the general population, coupled with the short supply of funds, made for a frustrating situation. Wollaston spoke to the Colonial Secretary at a meeting held on 1 February 1842 to discuss this issue: ‘Our case is this: the Home Government in its liberality supports all forms of religion alike (ergo none at all) and therefore the colonial [government] does the same.’ 39 The Church was frustrated both by its reliance on government funds, and the loss of its privileged status in colonial society.
Reverend James Brown
James Brown was born on 31 March 1820 in England and was privately educated before he entered Trinity College, Cambridge. 40 He became a Deacon in 1845, was ordained priest the following year and worked as a curate in Yorkshire and Pembrokeshire before deciding to take up a ministerial position overseas. In his diary, amongst a tapestry of ritual notes, he speaks of a will ‘to do something more than ordinary’. 41 The significance this decision must have had for him is reflected in the fact that this contemplative survey occupies three pages in the middle of an otherwise trivial notebook. Missionary work in Borneo seems to have been a tantalizing possibility: ‘Borneo then unexpectedly offered itself, and from my own countrymen my attention was turned to a heathen race.' 42 (Such language and terms of discussion are typical of this era). Brown continued his inner debate by reflecting on his personal concerns:
I am disturbed in mind when I think of my qualifications - a frame not overstrong, and slightly, at least, inclined to rheumatism: a mind, but slightly cultivated, subject to much distractions, and not over capable of study at the best of times. With an utter want of mechanical genius, a want of facility in acquiring languages, a nervous temperament, and a near sight, and no musical ear. 43
The decision to come to Australia seems to have been partly motivated by concerns for his health. 44 Brown began work for the Fremantle Convict Establishment on 18 June 1853, twelve days after his arrival onboard the Sabrina. At the time of his arrival there was a great deal of work to be done towards improving the health and wellbeing of the prisoners. 45 His work as chaplain to the Establishment during such a vital period of growth seems to have had a considerable impact.
One of the Convict Chaplain’s administrative obligations was the biannual report, as mentioned above. It served to outline the activities of the preceding six months and offer various observations and requests to the Comptroller General. The report we will be discussing here was issued half a year after Brown’s arrival in Fremantle.
The Report
The report is dated 2 January 1854 and deals with the period extending from 1 July-31 December 1853. It is seventeen pages long and takes the form of an extended handwritten letter addressed directly to the Comptroller General. It deals with a number of issues under the following subheadings: Sunday services; daily services; administration of the Holy Communion; deaths in hospital; school; library; lectures; outstations; general conduct; effects of outward voyage; working of the system; most common vices; books for T.L. Holders on going out; advantage of a short period of approbation in all cases after arrival in the Colony; Chapel; and, true reformatory principles. My discussion of the report will focus on the role of the Chaplain in the prison system, using specific examples from Brown’s work.
Brown was not merely commenting on the prison system but was also acting as a spokesperson for his Church. He was wary of falling into conflict with the authorities, and no doubt eager to please at this early stage in his professional life. It is a significant fact that much of Brown’s reputation and consequent employment resulted from the close friendships he cultivated with other religious men in and around the settlement. Evidence that Bishop Hale, undeniably the most influential Church figure in the colony at this time, had a high opinion of Brown is abundant in his diary 46 and indeed it was Hale who later selected Brown for the position of Archdeacon.
Brown, the guardian of an uneasy partnership between the Church and the Establishment may have shared many of Bishop Hale’s reformist inclinations. Despite this he seems to have remained on good terms with the Establishment throughout the period of his employment. Brown begins the report with a comment that recalls the tone of his early diary entries. ‘Placed, for the first time, in a position so very dissimilar to that of Parochial Clergyman in England, I may be expected to have felt much my want of experience.’ He goes on to praise the Superintendent for his counsel and support. 47
The work of a Chaplain seems to have been rather time-consuming. Thus he writes: ‘The duties of a Convict Chaplain, if not always fatiguing in themselves, are very constant in their demands upon his time and thought; leaving unfortunately little leisure for private study.' 48 This is supported by a report given by the Superintendent from this period: ‘Morning and evening prayers are read by the Chaplain Rev Brown who devotes his whole time to the duties of his office.' 49 Sunday duties included full morning and afternoon services, a short evening service in the hospital and the visiting of prisoners under punishment in the ‘refractory cells’. Weekdays involved morning services and evening prayers coupled with the broader duties of the Chaplain including the observation and to a certain extent the disciplining of convicts. 50
Brown’s Non-Religious Commitments
Brown’s influence extended beyond religious matters; in the report, he comments on the library 51 and the positive role it was playing in prison life. The library was stocked with religious, mathematics and history texts and appears to have been put to good use by the prisoners, with the notable exception of those who borrowed books on the French Revolution and on popular outlaws to derive some cheap thrills. Brown comments on this and remarks that he has since had them removed from the library, offering his advice that such books did not contribute to the improvement of the moral character of the convicts: ‘To the pure alone are all things pure.’ 52 Prisoners were permitted to borrow books overnight for private study, and Brown expressed his pleasure that this system had not been abused. Learning and self-motivated education were to play powerful roles in future prison-systems around the world and a large part of this in the Western Australian Convict Establishment was promoted by Brown.
School was held in the sleeping quarters of the hard labour convicts. Lectures on a variety of topics were given, presumably those covered by books in the library. Brown seems to have taken an active interest in the education of convicts. 53 In his report he mentions that the Roman Catholic prisoners were unable to participate until a Catholic schoolmaster was found. Although Brown oversaw the arrangements of just such a schoolmaster, he did not dedicate much time in the report to discussing the arrangement or indeed anything relating to the Roman Catholic prisoners for whom he was not responsible.
Although the report rarely deals with the Roman Catholic prisoners, a brief mention is made by Brown in his discussion of the hospital where he was obliged to hold services. Roman Catholic and Protestant prisoners were intermingled in the hospital and Brown states that this had been met with ‘some little difficulty’. However he gratefully observes that ‘[t]he Roman Catholics have behaved with the utmost decorum at these services, and have often appeared gladly to assent to such doctrines as are held by both Churches; though declared by a minister not in communion with their own.’ 54 Nevertheless, the separation of the religious denominations in the prison system was to continue. The Church of England priest for the Fremantle Prison during 1968-1969, Father John Ryan would later say of the Catholic prisoners: ‘You rarely met them. Never saw them even hardly. You might just happen to meet going out or coming in, otherwise there was no fraternizing whatsoever. 55
Another not strictly religious matter that Brown mentions is the overcrowding in the prison.
By the arrival of the Convict Ships Robert Small and Phoebe Dunbar, the number of Prisoners was increased much beyond our present means of accommodation. Two outstations were therefore formed on the N. and opposite side of the Swan River, at the distance of a mile and a half and four miles from Fremantle. 56
These ships arrived respectively on 19 and 30 August 1853 together containing 588 convicts. The sudden increase in numbers meant that short term residences were a necessity. Brown expresses his satisfaction at the fact that at one such outstation, Protestant prisoners organized small congregations for daily prayers of their own volition. 57 Mirroring Captain Henderson’s concern at the numbers of guards in this early stage of imprisonment, Brown observes that ‘[t]he scarcity of freemen fitted to act as warders has led to the employment under your sanction of prisoners as constables, or under-warders.’ 58 Such men seem to have conducted their duties well, and Brown remarks that he is pleased with their conduct. In his report, Brown also requested a church organ, more books and reading materials for convicts as well as more suitable spaces for religious services.
The labours of a chaplain will be pursued, I trust, with greater profit when the creation of a Chapel in the New Prison shall enable us to worship the Most High amid associations inspiring reverence and devotion - in a Building set apart for God, and separate from common and profane uses. 59
Brown also started a choir that ran with varying degrees of success for many years. All of the aforementioned requests were to be fulfilled in later years partly due to the influence exerted by Brown and others. Brown mentions a plan to be submitted to the Comptroller General by the Superintendent that would ensure choir members would be given ‘some small advantages’ no doubt to boost dwindling numbers and reward good conduct. Brown also suggests that the Schoolmaster might teach the organ to a chosen prisoner, if an organ were acquired for services. 60
Purity and Contamination
Brown also discusses the spiritual impact the journey from England had on the convicts. The report offers a brief description of their health and psychological well being. The notions of purity and contamination appear again in relation to the exposure prisoners have to one another during the journey: ‘The pious labours of the Chaplain at home seem lost upon many of the Prisoners through subsequent contamination on the outward voyage.’ 61 Brown discusses the importance of providing prisoners with appropriate spiritual guidance.
On page 3 of the report there is a particularly revealing comment on the role of religion in the prison system. In reference to the addition of short bible readings at daily mass, Brown comments:
The vicious and careless are not suffered to proceed in the labours of the day without hearing something to warn or arouse them, nor suffered to retire to rest without being reminded of the goodness and forbearance of Him, who ‘is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil'. 62
One can only assume that for many chain gang prisoners stranded in a foreign land, such reminders provided little consolation.
Religion was deeply woven into prison life. It stood on all sides of the convicts’ existence, creating uniform pressure that could not have been achieved by physical discipline alone. It was thought that progress in prison life could not be made without religious commitments. The discipline instigated by the religious and disciplinary institutions saw many convicts reintegrated into society, but saw many others collapse under the pressure. ‘The quenching of hope leads to the rapid demoralisation of character’, 63 wrote Brown, elaborating on the view that punishment should be subordinate to reformation. Brown strongly believed that religion was the only means by which a convict could have his moral character returned to him after lapsing into criminal behaviour. This complies with the views of Bishop Hale who wrote a book on this theme and Reverend Wollaston who wrote in his diary:
After their discharge as ticket-of-leave men they have every opportunity of maintaining themselves with honesty, and thereby retrieving their social characters. And although, of course, there will be some who are incorrigible reprobates, yet I am certain this merciful plan now pursued, will be the means, under God, of reclaiming many a sinner from the error of his ways. 64
Brown saw religion, not only as the source of moral conduct but also as the primary force for uniting man with society. ‘Reformation in its true sense can only be achieved by religious principles, springing up in the heart under the fostering Hand of God.’ 65 This seems to be the implicit belief underlying Brown’s thought: that human means of discipline cannot ‘strike at the root of the evil by purifying the heart’ in the way that religion may, given the right opportunity.
Conclusion
The first full Anglican service in the Fremantle Prison chapel was held on 20 May 1858 but services had been conducted from 1856 in the incomplete structure. By this time Brown had moved on without having seen the arrangement of the chapel he felt was so necessary for the moral support of convicts. Though modest in his estimation of his abilities, Brown was accurate in his evaluation of his health. He was to suffer health problems for the remainder of his life. After he completed work for the Fremantle Convict Establishment, Brown was transferred to York where he succeeded Dean GP Pownell. There he oversaw the construction of a chapel and contributed to the foundation of a girl’s school. In 1856 he married Frances Tree Mitchell, the daughter of Reverend Mitchell. In 1862 he was appointed Archdeacon by Bishop Hale in succession to Wollaston. He worked within the Perth Parish until 1874 when he took charge of the Swan Orphanage and remained there until his death in 1895. It appears that Brown was very successful in his later work and that he remained committed to passionately serving the Church until his final days. His obituary suggests that he was an admired man, who continued to serve the Church passionately until his death.
Fremantle Studies Day, 2012
Notes
1 Thanks are due to Bob Reece, who read an early version of this essay, and Zoë Barron and Elizabeth Grose, who assisted with editing.
2 Wendy Birman, ‘James Brown’, Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, [accessed November 2012].
3 Reverend James Brown, memorandum books and papers, 1850-52.
4 A Burton, journals and diaries, 1841-1866 of Rev John Ramsden Wollaston, AM, University of Western Australia Press, Nedlands, 1975.
5 A Burton, Church Beginnings in the West, J Muhling Printer, 1941.
6 CT Stannage, A New History of Western Australia, University of Western Australia Press, 1981.
7 Michel Foucault, Discipline and Punish: T/Je birth of the prison, Alan Sheridan (trans), Harmondsworth, 1977, p 57.
8 Ibid. p 123. Foucault charts the progress of this idea, observing that punishment with the general aim of correcting the soul was first enshrined in law during the time of independence in the United States, and later spread to the rest of the world.
9 M Aveling, ‘The Religious Aspect (1829-1895)’, in CT Stannage, New History of Western Australia, University of Western Australia Press, 1981, p 576
10 M Murphy, ‘Theological Voluntarism’, in EN Zalta (ed), The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Fall 2012 edn), http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/voluntarism-theological/. Murphy writes that in theological voluntarism what is ethical is in some way dependent on God; God’s omniscience implies that no sin outside His awareness, and consequently also, outside His judgement.
11 J Bentham, The Panopticon Writings, edited by M Bozovic, Verso, London, 1995. In this series of letters, Bentham outlines his plans for the Panopticon.
12 Cyril Ayris, Fremantle Prison: A brief history, West Perth, 1995, p 1 1
13 JE Thomas, The English Prison Officer since 1850: A study in conflict, 1972, p 17
14 Found in Ayris, Fremantle Prison.
15 P Priestly, Victorian Prison Lives, London, 1985, p 37
16 Despatch No.23, 1 June 1849, sent from Earl Grey, Secretary of State (U.K.) to Capt. Charles Fitzgerald, Lieutenant-Governor of Western Australia, found in the Fremantle City Library Local History Collection.
17 Perth Gazette, 30 November 1849.
18 R Reece & R Pascoe, A Place of Consequence: A pictorial history of Fremantle, Fremantle Arts Centre Press, 1983, p. 14.
19 Aveling, p 589
20 S Taylor, ‘Who were the convicts?’, in CT Stannage, Convictism in WA, University of Western Australia Press, 1981, p 38.
21 Wendy Birman, ‘Sir Edmund Yeamans Walcott Henderson’, Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, [accessed November 2012].
22 Ayris, p 9.
23 Report by EYW Henderson, Comptroller General of Convicts, to the Hon. Colonial Secretary, Enclosure 7, vol 5, p 230
24 Letter from Reverend James Brown, Chaplain’s Office, to the Hon. Comptroller General, 2 January 1854, pp 1-17.
25 Ibid.
26 C Darwin, On the Origin of Species, John Murray, London, 1895.
27 Fred Wilson, ‘John Stuart Mill’, in EN Zalta (ed), The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Spring 2014 edn), http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/mill/.
28 KJ Cable & H King, ‘George King’, Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, [accessed November 2012].
29 Burton, journals and diaries, 1841-1866 of Rev John Ramsden Wollaston, MA, p 36. In his diary, John Wollaston reflects: ‘Poor man, he has not had a single promise made him by people here fulfilled; has been obliged to go to great expense in order to settle himself and family, and has been sadly cheated and imposed upon.’
30 Aveling, p 576.
31 Rev CA Burton 84 Rev PU Henn (eds), Wollaston’s Picton journal (1841- 1844) University of Western Australia Press, Nedlands, 1975, pp 44-53.
32 Birman, ‘Reverend William Mitchell’, Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, [accessed November 2012].
33 Ibid., p 64.
34 On George Clifton, The Western Australian Historic Society, 40/2719, p 11.
35 Aveling, p 591.
36 Ibid., p 592
37 Ibid.
38 Ibid.
Burton, Church Beginnings in the I/West, p 35.
Birman, ‘James Brown’
Brown, memorandum books and papers, 1850-52.
42 Ibid.
43 Ibid.
44 Birman, ‘James Brown’
45 Ibid.
46 Burton, Church Beginnings in the I/Vest, Perth, 1941, p 98.
47 Brown, p 1.
48 Ibid.
49 Superintendent Thomas Hill Dixon, Schedule and Statistical Report to the Comptroller General's Office, AJCP, C018, microfilm 455.
50 Brown, p 4.
51 Ibid.
52 Ibid.
53 Dixon
54 Brown, memorandum books and papers, 1850-52, p 9.
55 Criena Fitzgerald, Father john Ryan, Interview Transcript, Battye Library, W.A.
56 Brown, memorandum books and papers, 1850-52, p 9.
57 Ibid., p 20.
58 Ibid., p 10.
59 Ibid., p 16.
60 Ibid., p 11.
61 Ibid., p 10.
62 Ibid., p 3.
63 Ibid., p10.
64 Burton, journals and diaries, 1841-1866 cf Rev john Ramsden I/Wollaston, A414,
65 Brown, memorandum books and papers, 1850-52, p 16.
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