Tristan da Cunha Churches

Religious History of Tristan da Cunha

Religion in the 19th century

In the beginning, Tristan's founding father William Glass instituted daily prayer and Sunday public worship. Later services were held in Andrew Hagan's house, as it was the largest in the settlement. The Glass family bible is held in the British Library, London, along with other documents from the early settlement years. They arrived there via New London, Connecticut, where they had been taken when William's widow Maria and much of their family moved there in 1856.

Tristan students in the UK were shown the Glass family bible in the British Library boardroom in 2017 as part of the island settlement's bicentenary celebrations.

God-fearing William Glass had recognised the settlement's need for spiritual leadership, not least for the conducting of marriages and the christening of children, and he put this feeling forcefully when an east-bound minister visited the island in 1848. The minister duly reported back in London to the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel (SPG) which set about sending Anglican missionary priests to Tristan.

The first SPG priest was Rev. William F. Taylor, who arrived in September 1851. Taylor's initial accounts were positive, but with fewer ships calling and the community reliant on such visits for essential commodities, his fears intensified for its future. He therefore advocated a total evacuation. The result was that some forty-five islanders accompanied him when he left in 1857 to settle in a new parish in the Riversdale and Mossel Bay area of the Cape.

Edward Heron Dodgson came after Taylor in 1881. His mathematician brother Charles is better known as "Lewis Carroll", the author of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. However, he found the assignment tough and left in 1884. Yet, when news broke in Britain of the calamitous lifeboat-tragedy in November 1885 during which fifteen of Tristan's eighteen able-bodied men were lost, Dodgson felt such shock that he immediately returned to help the distraught community for a further three-year stint on this most desolate outpost of the British Empire.

St Mary's Anglican Church

Rev. Dodgson was determined to build a church. He gathered stones and started to build, but the progress was so slow he decided to use the stones for a cemetery wall instead.

The SPG realised that a placement on Tristan was the toughest of all of its appointments. Loneliness, bouts of exceedingly bleak weather, and a shortage of like-minded companionship were all bound to take their toll mentally. This was no placement for a single man, so Dodgson's successor in 1906 was John Graham Barrow, a married priest. Barrow also hoped to build an Anglican church on the island, going so far as to mark out a site, though nothing further came of it. It was not until the arrival of Martin H.C. Rogers, the fourth priest, that the church was finally built.

Rev. Rogers called all the men for a meeting in June 1922 and they decided to start building as soon as winter was over. The foundations were laid for a church 50 feet x 14 feet by the end of October, and a small box of silver coins was buried under the foundation stone. Dodgson's stones were fetched from the cemetery to be used on the church. "HMS Dublin visit made it possible to complete the church as amongst the stores they sent were timber, roofing, window glass, ironmongery and tools" – Mrs. Rogers ('Lonely Island').

By 5th July 1923 the church was finally completed and was solemnly dedicated to St Mary the Virgin on 8th July. "Everyone felt a personal pride in it," says Mrs. Rogers, "because everyone had done his share to get it completed."

St Mary's Church, Tristan da Cunha, 1929

The Lectern Bible and harmonium had been bought by Rev. Barrow. The altar had seasonal frontals and a crucifix from Oberammergau (given by a lady in England). Stations of the Cross were framed and hung on the church walls. The tiny stone font that washed ashore when Rev. Dodgson arrived is still used in the church today. Two ship's bells were recovered from the wreck of the Mabel Clark (1878). They were initially hung at either end of the settlement, but were transferred to St Mary's Church when she was built.

The first baby to be baptized in the new church was Wilson Glass, and sisters Violet and Dorothy Glass, who married Willie Lavarello and Ned Green in July 1924, were the first couples to be married in it.

Over the years there have been further developments. In March 1929 a harmonium arrived aboard the tourist ship Duchess of Atholl, a gift from the Queen. Rev. Augustus Partridge (1927-33) lengthened the church and painted the East End in bright colours, still a feature of the church today.

The interior of St Mary's Church: original (left) and after redecoration by the Rev. Partridge - Photos: SPG

But there was another side to the story. From 1932, HM Government gave the priests the official title Honorary Commissioner and Magistrate. Such was Partridge's temperament that he wielded absolute power. His successor, Rev. Harold Wilde, was an even more divisive individual. He held the post over the next six years, without the potential check of any spouse, and his influence on the island was often a harsh one. Both men employed punishment and constraint, and resentment amongst the islanders inevitably followed. Wilde was finally evacuated from Tristan in August 1940, and yet this anomalous minister/magistrate situation continued right up to the British Government's appointment of an Administrator in 1950. Thereafter, the resident priests were able to concentrate on their pastoral duties.

When a top-secret military radio station was established on the island in 1942, its personnel included a naval chaplain, Rev. Cyril Lawrence. He quickly recognised that the archipelago had the potential to provide stability and self-reliance for the Tristan people through the responsible harvesting of their local stock of crawfish. In 1948 he organised a scientific survey of the whole island-group, and the success of this venture, followed by the creation of a fishing industry, underlines the extraordinary contribution Lawrence made towards Tristan's future era of prosperity.

Rev. Dennis Wilkinson (1949-52) oversaw a major enlargement of St Mary's Church by adding a south aisle which began on 12th May 1952. Hugh Elliott described it as a considerable achievement. It involved an excavation at the south side equal in width to the existing building, the rebuilding of the south wall in the new position and its replacement by concrete pillars. This gave the Church a south aisle or perhaps more exactly a double nave. The pews from a 'blitzed' City Church presented by the London Diocesan Fund through the good offices of Irving Gane (Tristan da Cunha Fund) were installed and the whole interior re-modelled and painted. Every islander, including members of the small Roman Catholic community, contributed a day's free labour per week over a period of seven weeks. The solution of technical and material difficulties was greatly facilitated by the unstinted co-operation of the Company and many other non-islanders gave valuable help. On 6th July, the enlarged Church was re-dedicated.

St Mary's Church as enlarged in 1952 by the Rev. Dennis Wilkinson. Photo: Scheer

More recently, a wooden bell tower was added during the chaplaincy of Keith Flint (1963-66), and a new corrugated aluminum roof was put on in 1970.

St Mary's Church, Tristan da Cunha, 1982, with the wooden bell tower added by the Rev. Keith Flint in 1965.

The church was further extended and redecorated in 1990/91, with the entrance porch moved from the centre to the western end of the northern wall. The vestry extension was completed in 2002. Unfortunately, the ship's bell that hung in the bell tower was damaged in the 2001 hurricane and had to be replaced with a new bell in a new tower in August 2003.

St Mary's Church today. The central altarpiece retains the width of the original 1923 church. See our separate Churches page for larger pictures and more information.

Anglican Clergy

Oddly, "Tristan d'Acunha" along with the Cape came under the ecclesiastical authority of the See of Calcutta, India from 1814 until 1847, when a separate Diocese of Cape Town was established. In 1859, the parish was transferred to another new Diocese, that of St Helena, and remained there until 1952. Understandably, visitations by the bishops were few and far between, although they did keep in correspondence with the island.

In 1952, Tristan returned to the Diocese of Cape Town, although its priests continued to be sponsored by SPG until 1981. Islander Lorna Lavarello-Smith was ordained into the priesthood in 2013 and assisted with services during her visit to the island in 2017. In 2019 Rev. Margaret Van den Berg was the first woman to take up full time ministry at St Mary's Church.

Incumbant From To Rev. William F. Taylor 1851 1857 Rev. Edwin H. Dodgson 1880 1884 Rev. Edwin H. dodgson 1886 1889 Rev. J. Graham Barrow 1906 1909 Lay Reader Andrea Repetto 1909 1911 Rev. Martin H.C. Rogers 1922 1925 Rev. Robert A.C. Pooley 1927 1929 Lay Reader Philip Lindsay 1927 1930 Rev. Augustus G. Partridge 1929 1933 Rev. Harold Wilde 1934 1940 Rev. Cyril P. Lawrence 1942 1944 Rev. David I. Luard 1944 1946 Rev. Alec E. Handley 1946 1948 Rev. David I. Luard * 1949 Rev. Dennis Wilkinson 1949 1952 Rev. David Neaum 1952 1956 Rev. Philip H. Bell 1956 1961 Rev. Percy Clough * 1959 Rev. C. Jack Jewell 1961 Rev. J.E. Keith Flint 1963 1966 Rev. W. Paul S. Davies 1966 1968

Incumbant From To Rev. Angus A. Welsh 1968 1971 Rev. C. Jack Jewell 1971 1974 Lay Reader Lars Repetto 1972 2021 Lay Reader Eddie Rogers 1972 2023 Rev. Edmund D. Buxton 1975 1978 Rev. Patrick J. Helyer 1978 1980 Rev. Michael N.W. Edwards 1981 1983 Rev. J. David Pearson 1984 1986 Rev. Philip Jourdan 1988 1989 Rev. W. (Bill) S. Skipper 1989 1992 Rev Bevil Morgan * 1995 1996 Father Don H. Wittich 1997 2000 Rev. Bernard Wrankmore * 2000 Rev. Ambrose Van de Merve 2001 2004 Rev. Chris Meyer * 2004 2005 Lay Reader C. Glass-Green 2004 - Rev. Leon Van Rheede * 2005 Rev. Don H. Wittich * 2006 Father Chris D. Brown 2007 2010 Rev. Denzall R. Snell 2014 2016 Rev. Margaret Van den Berg 2019 -

* Not listed on plaque in St Mary's Church

Roman Catholicism on Tristan

Although the Italian settlers Andrea Repetto and Gaetano Lavarello would have been Roman Catholic when they were shipwrecked on Tristan in 1892, they were happy to join the island's Anglican congregation. Later, three Irish sisters, Elizabeth, Agnes and Annie Smith married three Tristan men in Cape Town and moved to Tristan in 1908.

Regrettably, in maintaining their faith, they were discriminated against by certain Anglican clerics, who were responsible for distributing supplies sent to the community by the Tristan da Cunha Fund. (No such interdenominational conflict exits today.) The first Catholic priest to visit Tristan was Fr L.H. Barry in 1932, who was Catholic chaplain on HMS Carlisle. Encouraged by this visit, Agnes Rogers set up an altar in her home, and from 1934 started holding services there. She was awarded the 'Benemerenti' medal by Pope Pius XII in 1958 for her service to the faith.

Catholic chapel inside Agnes Rogers' home, 1965

St Joseph's Roman Catholic Church

After Agnes Rogers' death in 1970, her son Cyril Rogers continued to hold services. When Agnes's house was passed on to one of her grandchildren, Sunday services were moved first at Cyril's house, and then for a while at the house of the island's expatriate Treasurer, Gerry McCrudden. Gerry encouraged two of Agnes's grandchildren, Dereck Rogers and Anne Green to lead services, which they began doing when the small chapel was built near Prince Philip Hall in 1982/83. The first service was held on Good Friday, although the church was still some way to being completed. In 1994, Anne's brother James Glass also became a lay minister.

The chapel was replaced by the current larger St Joseph's Church built on the same site in 1995/96, which can accommodate 90 people. As with St Mary's Church, the new St Joseph's was constructed by the whole community, both Catholic and Anglican. The new church was officially blessed and opened on the 9th February 1997 by Monsignor Anthony Agreiter, the Apostolic Prefect of the Falkland Islands.

The first St Joseph's Church on Tristan da Cunha, built 1983

St Joseph's Church today. See our separate Churches page for larger pictures and more information.

Catholic Clergy

There is no resident Catholic priest on Tristan da Cunha and church services are led by local lay ministers. Since 1986, the island has come under the pastoral care of the Mission Sui Iuris of Saint Helena, Ascension Island and Tristan da Cunha, which is led by the Apostolic Administrator of the Prefecture of the Falkland Islands. Before 1986, Tristan came under the Archdiocese of Cape Town, South Africa. The Apostolic Administrators and Prefects appointed by the Catholic Church visit Tristan from time to time, as do other priests.

Ecclesiastical Superiors Incumbant From To Mgr. Anton Agreiter 1986 2003 Mgr. Michael Bernard McPartland 2002 2017 Abbot Hugh Allan 2016 2024 Fr. Tom Thomas 2024 -

Lay Ministers Incumbant From To Agnes Rogers 1934 1970 Cyril Rogers. 1970 1983 Dereck Rogers. 1983 - Anne Green 1983 - James Glass 1994 -