Page:Handbook of Western Australia.djvu/164

146 The late Mr. Joseph Hardey was an accredited local preacher of the Wesleyan denomination in England, and on his arrival conducted the first Wesleyan service held in the Colony, at Fremantle. At the Peninsula a regular Sabbath service was maintained; Perth and Guildford were occasionally visited. Mr. Hardey conducted the first public Wesleyan service in Perth, in the open air under a mahogany tree. The father of Messrs. Clarkson, also a local preacher, came out about two years after them, and at that time a regular prayer meeting was established in Perth. Subsequently a room was erected and set apart for religious services, and to be used as a Sunday school, Mr. J. Inkpen having given a portion of his allotment for the purpose; and this formed the nucleus of the present Wesleyan trust property in Perth. On application being made to the Wesleyan Missionary Society, the Rev. John Smithies was sent out, who arrived in 1840. In 1841 another chapel was erected, and the first was then occupied as a schoolroom. A chapel had also been built at Fremantle—there was also a congregation assembling at York—the Sunday schools at Perth and Fremantle were flourishing. In 1852 Mr. Smithies was succeeded by the Rev. W. Lowe.

The present Wesley Church, Perth, was built in 1869-70, at a cost of over £5,000, including the organ. In York, Geraldton, and Albany, ministers are now stationed and chapels built; Perth and York have each a manse, and one is soon to be erected at Albany.

The statistics of the Wesleyan community, according to returns for 1877, are:—Ministers 4; local preachers, 5; churches and chapels, 10; manses, 2; sabbath schools, 8; scholars, 625; teachers, 69.