great australian presbyterians
The
Presbyterian Contribution:
A Centenary Colloquium
s211006@student.uq.edu.au
I am not sure how Presbyterian federation was kicked off except that the Rev. Dr Nish of Victoria was the father of it and I am not not sure how it relates to political federation though there must be connections somewhere. I note that the Presbyterian one was stalled in March 1885. I suspect it arose through state assemblies receiving delegates from other assemblies. The Rev. Dr Macdonald of the PCV was the other main instigator or pusher.
What intrigues me is the good- and bad-natured sparring between the state churches as to which one was the best and how this affected the process, which must also have paralleled the political rivalry between Victoria and NSW. In the NSW general assembly in March 1890 the NSW men were poking fun at their Vic brethren, the latter had always maintained that their church was the stronger. Dr Nish's speech on 10 March consisted partly of an attack on the Rev John Walker for his claims that Victoria was only a daughter colony!
The point of issue seems to have been the PCV's jurisdiction over the Presbytery of the Murrumbidgee. The GANSW 1883 debated this, Nish defending it, Walker, then of that Pty, attacking it.
You get the impression that Walker was viewed by the Victorians as a traitor to their cause. He had been befriended by Balfour and the two worked together on Sabbath defence. But then Walker came to Sydney! He was building his Woollahra church and asked Balfour for a donation, partly because the church cost was huge. Balfour sent a token amount, about ten pounds, which I view as a snub. He had been investing sums of money with Balfour prior to this, speculating on the stock market and land boom and lost this presumably. Subsequently Walker takes pot shots at the Victorian brethren.