(Extract from "St Leonard's Anglican Church 1896 - 1988" by R.W. Mumford, with the kind permission of Mrs Betty Mumford)

NEW ANGLICAN CHURCH BUILDINGS:­

Plans have been prepared by Mr.Harrison, architect of Perth, for churches to be erected at Mount Barker and Denmark. The Rev. D.Howell-Giffith has promoted the building of these churches and hopes to have them open within four months. The plans show a weatherboard church of rather ornamental design and with bell tower. The main portion of the church is 37ft X 21ft, and gives seating accommodation for 138 persons. The chancel is 23ft X 15ft, so that the total length of the building is 60ft. An organ loft is provided and also a vestry. Toward the cost of the Denmark church, Millars' Jarrah and Karri Forests Co. gave a site and will also make a considerable reduction in the cost of the timber. Toward the cost of the Mount Barker church Bishop Riley has given 50 pounds from a special fund, and Mr. Hassell has promised 25 pounds

2nd November 1899.

BISHOP RILEY AT DENMARK:­

Dr.Riley, Bishop of Perth, visited Denmark on Sunday last for the purpose of dedicating the new church to divine worship. The church is situated immediately behind the Denmark Hall. It is built of Karri and is lined inside with matchboard. The building is capable of seating a couple of hundred people. The dedication service began at 7.30 o'clock, the church being well filled. The Bishop was assisted by the licensed reader Mr. Marshall. The ordinary service was gone through and the Bishop then delivered a short address in which he dedicated the church to divine worship, at the same time congratulating the people of Denmark on the splendid little church they had built. Two adults were baptised and two were confirmed. The service was considerably assisted by a very efficient   choir.  The Bishop returned to Albany on Monday and left for Perth by train the following morning.

(The Bishop was due to return to Albany on the Sunday, following this visit. He was to officiate at a Church Parade of the W.A. and S.A. contingents to the war in South Africa).

(Reproduced with the kind permission of The Albany Advertiser.)

Late in 1910, after an interregnum of five years, a Minister was appointed to Denmark. The Rev William Augustus Wolseley BA, commenced his duties on 18th December. Prior to coming to Denmark he had been Rector at Ravensthorpe for five years. Having spent his early life in Ireland he must have found the harsh countryside and greater distances of Western Australia very daunting.

Wolseley was born in 1865 into a titled family, later becoming a Baronet. As a young man he suffered a head injury, which was thought to have been the cause of his speech impediment. After taking his degree at Trinity College Dublin in 1887, he achieved further scholastic honours before his ordination to the Priesthood in 1889. He first served at Limerick, then followed Killnaughton, and later Ballylongford before he came to Australia.

William Wolseley took services at many places within his widespread Mission District. Torbay Junction (now called Elleker) at the eastern end, cut at least to Parry's Inlet at the western end. He lost no time in getting people to bring their children to be baptised. Two children were baptised on Christmas Day 1910. In 1911 John Young was baptised in the Young's Siding station room. Some of the Randall family were baptised at their home at Wilson's Inlet in 1914. Baptisms were performed in private homes, schools and halls. In the ten years he spent in Denmark he was to baptise eighty eight children. Possibly half the people living in the district were Church of England. He attended Synod in 1911, at which the Bishop said, "...the Rev. Wolseley BA, has laboured with great devotion and self sacrifice at Denmark, to which place he was appointed some months ago."

Tragedy struck the town in November 1911. Seven members of the Smeed family were drowned in a boating accident on Wilson Inlet. The Rector buried four of the family on 7th November, and one on 9th November. A Lay Reader, Mr.E.H.McLean buried the other two on the 13th. Three of the deceased were children. Only one member of the family was not in the boat that day. Mrs. Bert Smeed had a premonition of disaster and stayed at home.

On his second Christmas Day in the district William Wolseley gave the Prayerbook stand, (which is still in use on the Altar). The Service Registers for the period prior to 1914 have disappeared. However from other records we know that the Rector held services in State schools at Torbay Junction, Kwiajup, (a school about one mile west of Young's Siding), Scotsdale, William Bay and East Denmark. Halls were used at Young's Siding and Torbay. This was in addition to the regular services in the Denmark Church. During his Ministry he had the assistance of two licensed Lay Readers, E.H.McLean and Stephen Henry Johnson. Mr.McLean had been licensed in 1908, and Mr.Johnson in 1917. Mr.W.J.Morgan also helped, taking a service occasionally.

William Wolseley's stipend for 1911/12 was 149p 13s 4d, of which 77p 13s 4d came from Denmark and 66 pounds from the S.P.G. Where the other 6 pounds came from is not stated.

The Rector's mode of transport was a bay horse called Tommy. From stories told by people who knew him, it is clear that his horse did not always receive the treatment it deserved. on one occasion when Tommy had refused to cross a bridge he was tied up for 24 hours as a penance. At one home where Wolseley often stayed for the night, he would sit down to his evening meal without first attending to his mount. If the sons of the family had not fed and watered Tommy, the poor horse would not have been looked after. He would arrive on his rounds on Tommy, his mackintosh flying wide and appearing more like a witch than a priest. He called as he rode, "Tommy, you damn fool, damn fool." (The head injury in his youth was believed to be the cause of his speech impediment in which he repeated phrases.)

A lady who knew the Rev.W.Wolseley when she was a child, writes of the first time she met him:

"We were right on the road (Scotsdale Rd.) and about a 30 yard drive from our big gate to the house. One evening, I think autumn or winter months as lamps were alight, we were sitting to our evening meal, when horses hoofs galloped up our short drive. Exclamations of "Whoever's that?", then at our porch door a mighty voice, falsetto type, called loudly "Anyone at home?" Then. "Anyone here at all?, Lets have word...anyone home?". ...My father jumped up and went to the door, which opened into the dining room. This high voice went on babbling, "..where could he put the horse then? Was there a stable or a barn? It was not much he asked only a bit of shelter and maybe a bite if there was one for horse and himself." When we saw him, it was a long rangy figure, black cassock tucked up round his waist, beetling huge eyebrows and hair wild about his head, but still talking in that disjointed high voice, all perfectly reasonable, but hardly a clerical, or any sort of stranger's, entry upon strangers.... I did not know then, but later was told by Dad that he was not rude, the high voice was that of an Irishman from a certain part, and his wild appearance was from riding through bush from Mount Barker and missing Denmark altogether but following the Scotsdale Creek until he saw a bridge, came across it ....

That man was the Rev. Wolseley, apparently either a Bush Brother of the Brotherhood, which worked from Queens­land then, or an eccentric who followed their pattern. His conversation was that of an educated man if you excu­sed the blatant demanding and taking for granted. Indeed later we found out that he was a scholar of Trinity College Dublin and a most brilliant man, but quite erratic. He expected food and rations from the stable bins for horse feed, taking also armfuls of hay from our stack and say­ing he didn't expect a bed in the house, he'd sleep in the barn., and did. ....he asked most pointed questions as my Dad called them. Much more forthright Mother said he was too rude to be a cleric, and doubted whether in fact he might be an imposter. However, it was not so but as an eccentric he certainly qualified. Rev. Wolseley was known too, to walk, or erupt, into schools and take over to give a religious lesson regardless of teachers' protests that it was not the right time. I don't think Scotsdale had its school built when he came that first time, but later while attending there, one day he did visit but not galloping in as he had done at home that time. Still high pitched voice dictating everything. One could not however deny his sincerity, but as Dad said he'd bet Ireland, and England too, would have been glad­ that his duty had called the Reverend further away."

At that time the Church was lit by oil lamps, and sometimes during an evening service some of the lamps would go out because they ran out of oil. The Secretary, Mr.W.J.Morgan, was asked to take steps to arrange a better system for cleaning the Church and filling the lamps. Applications were called for some person to attend to these duties, amount of remuneration required, to be stated. G.M.Marshall was given the job for a fee of 2s 0d per week. A roster was drawn up for lighting the lamps for Evensong, and ringing the bell. After the roster had been operating for a few months, the Secretary drew attention to the amount of kerosene being used. He had bought a case in November, and another case in December. A case held two four gallon tins, and cost 10s 0d in 1914. It was resolved that in future the kerosene be kept under lock and key, the Secretary to hold the key. This stopped the rapid depletion of the kerosene supply, but then again the lamps started going out before the evening service ended. The story is told of how the Rector sat in the Church, in the dark for several evenings to catch the person taking kerosene from the lamps. He heard someone enter, but could not see who it was.  By the shape silhouetted against the dim light through the open door he could make out that it was a woman. Not wanting to lay hands on a lady, he coughed to make the intruder aware of his presence. The lady must have received a terrible shock. She ran out of the Church and away. After that the lamps never again went out halfway through Evensong,

The provision of horse feed for "Tommy" was an ongoing subject at Committee meetings. In 1913 it was moved that "The Committee in future will not show any expenditure, the sum for feed should show as Stipend." As the stipend was supposed to be a set figure, this really meant that the Rector would have been paying for the upkeep of the horse. The Rev.W.Wolsely explained the facts about the purchase of the horse, and handed back 16s 0d being the balance of a loan of 5 pounds from the Church to the horse fund. The Secretary and the Rector were then instructed to draw up a balance sheet in connection with the horse fund, any credit to be put to horse feed. The following year one pound was passed for horse feed. (Although not stated in the Minutes, this was almost certainly per month), and outlying missions were asked to assist with paying for feed.  Again in 1914 it was resolved that, "In future the Committee will allow the Rector 1p 5s 0d per month for upkeep of horse." A year later a motion carried read. "In future the Committee be responsible for upkeep of horse, and the previous motion regarding the horse be rescinded." 

When William Wolseley left Denmark he asked that his horse be sold for "not less than eight pounds". Eventually the Committee calIed for tenders for the purchase of the horse. The successful tenderer was Mr.Church, who became the owner of "Tommy" for five pounds.

Being both a bachelor and a hearty eater, Wolseley was willing and eager to share a meal. His appetite was legendary. He once arrived at a farm house at Young's Siding. Everyone was out milking, but there was a rice pudding the farmer's wife had cooked out ready for dinner. He promptly sat down and engulfed the lot! There are a number of stories about him and his appetite. His table manners were not those one would expect of a Minister. One lady who knew him when she was girl, described him as "uncouth". However he was always made welcome when visiting, and he and his horse fed and looked after. When arriving back in town at night, after being out in the bush visiting, or taking a service at an out-centre, he would ride around, and when he saw a light in a house belonging to one of his flock he would knock on the door and ask for a meal.

He lived in a house on Moore St., the lot where No.62 now stands. Normally when not out of town, he would have his evening meal at Federal House, a boarding house situated on the present Esplanade. It was generally thought that he was not wholly dependant on his stipend, as it was rumoured that he received remittances from England. Certainly he could be generous when he felt that someone was really in need. Often Wolseley would call at the local store and ask for groceries to be sent to some poor person whom he had lately visited. The cost was to be charged to him. There is also the story of a little girl who lost ten shillings given to her by her parents for a grocery order. When she explained her sad plight to the Revd. Wolseley he promptly gave her another half sovereign. There is no doubt his heart was in the right place.

Reading the Minutes of the Committee meetings gives one the impression that people found it difficult to work harmoniously with William Wolseley. He had great trouble in keeping a Committee functioning. Members elected at Annual Meetings often did not see out the full term. When someone resigned, people approached to replace them often seemed reluctant to make themselves available.

Despite his rough manners and hard-hitting sermons, no other Priest has earned and received so much praise from those to whom he ministered. He visited all his flock regularly. In 1918 when word that the Armistice had been signed reached Denmark, he rode around the outlying areas to take the good news to the isolated settlers. In an article in the "Albany Advertiser" in 1979, Mabel Arthur, nee Roberts, stated that at the end of the first World War the Postmistress took a message that the war was over and went to the billiard rooms, and the men there went and rang the Church of England bell "which consisted of a piece of iron hanging from a post, when hit by a piece of iron the whole town was immediately alerted, someone was lost ... a house was on fire etc., to gather the town together." (This "piece of iron" is believed to be the rolling stock wheel rim used as a  church bell to this day!)

Some of his comments in the Service Register show his devotion to his work. Services were given, sometimes in bad weather, to very small congregations, or even to no congregation. Some comments he wrote include; "Rode straight from Parry's Inlet, only two turned up at Denmark." May 1919. "East Denmark, walked to service." The story is told of him walking to East Denmark in the pouring rain. Only one other person attended, but he gave the full Communion Service. May 1919 again. "Denmark. Only one turned up. Deplorable." December 1919. "No one. No organist. No choir. Disgraceful." New Year's Eve, 1919. "Watch night, only two. Awful! Blasphemous."

At every Annual Meeting he was praised and thanked for his work in the area. One vote of thanks to him for his devotion to duty, reads in part: "...in going to outside places in all winds and weathers." At the time of writing,(1990), there are still several people living in Denmark who remember William Wolseley.

Bishop Cecil Wilson visited Denmark in May 1919 to discuss the matter of transferring the Rector. Several people spoke of the desirability of a change of Priest, at the same time stressing the very good work he had done in the District. The Bishop agreed to the transfer, as the Diocesan Council had already reported that a change was advisable.

In January 1920 the Rector advised the Committee that the Bishop was replacing him, but would not give him another Parish in the Diocese. His last service in Denmark was on 22nd February 1920. William Wolseley left Western Australia and returned to his home country. There he underwent an operation to rectify a head injury he received when a young man. His speech impediment was cured. He was given a post as Senior Curate at Church Felling in 1921, and continued in various places until 1942. In 1932 he married, and accepted the position of Vicar of A1nham, where he served for ten years. The appointment was under the Patronage the Duke of Northumberland.

When he succeeded to the Baronecy his title was, "The Reverend Sir William Augustus Wolseley BA, 11th Baronet of Mount Wolseley. A letter from him quoted in a Denmark Parish Messenger of 1947 recorded that he was then 82 and a Baronet. Surely after sixteen year devoted service in Ravensthorpe and Denmark in the first two decades of this century, he had earned a quiet and peaceful retirement. He died on 19th February 1950 aged 85. Perhaps there is some excuse for us in Denmark picturing him riding his bay horse Tommy between the towering boles of karri, rising from feathery wattle, the switch being softly applied to Tommy's side, the mackintosh caught with an ethereal wind flying wide, and with the pastor himself making a triumphant entry into heaven.

(This material collated in part from an article in The Albany Advertiser dated 23rd September 1955, and in part from "St Leonard's Anglican Church 1896 - 1988" by R.W. Mumford. We acknowledge and thank both The Albany Advertiser and Mrs Betty Mumford for permission to quote from these sources.) 

A photograph of Rev'd Worseley, and of the church at that time, can be found on the Photos Page.