Hartley Williams (clergyman)

Hartley Williams (1844 – 18 January 1927) was an Anglican clergyman in South Australia who ran a private school in Mount Gambier.

History

Williams was born in South Australia, a son of Thomas Williams (c. 1794–1881) and his second wife Catherine née Codd, who arrived on the Platina in February 1839. The father, a banker and farmer, was appointed to the Legislative Council, then jailed for six months for false pretences.^[1] and died in England.

Williams was educated at St. Peter's College and entered St. Mary's Hall, Oxford University, but returned to Adelaide without a degree,^[2]

In 1871 he was ordained by Bishop Short as a deacon, and as a priest in 1874. In 1874 he was appointed curate of St. Peter's Church, Glenelg under Canon Field, remaining there for two years.^[3] He was at Melrose for five years 1875^[4] to 1878?, servicing the townships of Laura, Jamestown, Gladstone, Georgetown and Port Pirie. Port Augusta was later added to his responsibilities. He resigned the incumbency in 1879^[5] and was assigned to St. Jude's, Brighton. He resigned that cure in 1881, expecting a transfer to Melbourne^[6] but was sent instead to Hobart, Tasmania where he relieved Canon Bailey at the St. John the Baptist Church on Goulburn Street. While there, in 1882, a sermon he gave criticising an article in The Mercury brought an intemperate response from that newspaper.^[7] Williams returned to South Australia shortly after,^[8] accepting an invitation to serve as the first incumbent of the Church of the Holy Cross in Mount Gambier.

In 1884 he founded a high school for boys^[9] in Doughty Terrace, Mount Gambier, at which many of the town's future leaders were educated. The existing grammar school closed soon after, and its principal, Richard Newstead Hobart (c. 1835–1898), joined with Williams as second master.^[10] Rev. Donald Kerr was another recruit to the school's teaching staff.^[11] The Holy Cross Church closed in 1888 and Williams quit the ministry around the same time.^[12] His exodus from the Holy Cross church, and perhaps from the Church of England, may have been a consequence of friction between himself and Church authorities. He was of the "High Church" persuasion; dogmatic and outspoken in his views.^[13] He no doubt took the classes in Latin, of which he was a considerable scholar.^[14] The school closed in 1903,^[15] and Williams left Mount Gambier a few years later. The building was for a time used as a private hospital, then may have been used as a girls' school.^[16]

He moved to Naracoorte or Bordertown, and may have been involved with a political organization.

He died at the Grange.

Other interests

Hartley Williams was an enthusiastic sportsman: he excelled at cricket (he was an umpire in the early days of the Adelaide Oval), boxing and rowing. In his later hears he was fond of angling^[17] and gardening.^[3]

In 1902 he was appointed (honorary) Inspector of Fisheries for the River Glenelg,^[14] where he had a residence.

He was for some time a close friend of Canons Samuel Green (c. 1842–1904), James Pollitt (1813–1881) and the Rev. F. Slaney Poole (c. 1846–1936).^[13]

Family

Hartley Williams (1844 – 18 January 1927) married Emma Jane Moorhouse (1850 – 21 December 1895) of Melrose on 10 October 1871 at the Church of Holy Trinity, Melrose. Their children, many of whom used "Hartley-Williams" as though it were a surname, include:

• Maude Eveline Hartley Williams (1872– ) married Harry De Neufville Lucas (1869–1959) in 1913
• Charles Hartley Williams (1874– ) married South Australia, to Elime Matilda Pries ( – ) in Busselton on 1 October 1914. He and Algeric Williams traded at Northam as "Williams Brothers".

• Margaret Hartley Williams lived in Western Australia

• Daniel Frank Hartley Williams (1875– )
• (Mary) Beryl Hartley Williams (1877– )
• Muriel Hartley Williams (1878–1889)
• Ethelberga Hartley "Berga" Williams (1880–1963), often mis-spelled "Ethelburga", married Lionel Edward Francis Despard ( –1928) of Renmark on 25 September 1906. She married again, to Ernest Malcolm French (1869–1947) on 9 February 1932.
• Irene Hartley Williams (1884– )
• Grace Nona Hartley Williams (1886– ) married Lt-Col. John Ewen McPherson at Eastbourne, Sussex, remained in England.
• Algeric Hartley "Eric" Williams ( – ) moved to Western Australia, married Gladys Eleanor Prockter (1884– ) of Toodyay on 29 July 1912
• Montagu Hartley Williams (1889–1959) married Phyllis Maud Claridge ( – ) in 1924, lived at Cowell, South Australia

References

1. "Insolvent Court". South Australian Register. South Australia. 4 October 1843. p. 3. Retrieved 17 November 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
2. "Death of Rev. Hartley Williams". The Narracoorte Herald. LI, (5,251). South Australia. 25 January 1927. p. 4. Retrieved 18 November 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
3. "Obituary". The Advertiser (Adelaide). South Australia. 20 January 1927. p. 11. Retrieved 18 November 2016 – via National Library of Australia. While useful, this article contains much inaccurate information.
4. "Dioscesan Synod". South Australian Register. XL, (8877). South Australia. 28 April 1875. p. 6. Retrieved 19 November 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
5. "General Summary". South Australian Register. XLIV, (10,039). South Australia. 17 January 1879. p. 1. Retrieved 19 November 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
6. "Abstract of News". South Australian Register. XLVI, (10,679). South Australia. 4 February 1881. p. 5. Retrieved 19 November 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
7. "The Mercury". The Mercury. XL, (3807). Tasmania, Australia. 24 April 1882. p. 2. Retrieved 19 November 2016 – via National Library of Australia. "prostituting the pulpit . . . penchant for being made a martyr of . . . forgetting his sacred calling and the sacred building in which he was"
8. "Proposed Address to the Rev. Hartley Williams". The Mercury. XL, (3857). Tasmania, Australia. 21 June 1882. p. 2. Retrieved 19 November 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
9. "The Border Watch,". The Border Watch. XXII, (2180). South Australia. 27 September 1884. p. 2. Retrieved 20 November 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
10. "The Taxation Question". The Border Watch. XXII, (2229). South Australia. 21 March 1885. p. 2. Retrieved 20 November 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
11. "The Premier's Department". The Express And Telegraph. LIII, (15,858). South Australia. 22 June 1916. p. 3. Retrieved 20 November 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
12. "Holy Cross Church". The South Eastern Times. , (919). South Australia. 10 September 1915. p. 2. Retrieved 20 November 2016 – via National Library of Australia.Which came first and whether there was a cause and effect are yet to be established.
13. "Obituary". The Border Watch. LXV, (6571). South Australia. 20 January 1927. p. 4. Retrieved 20 November 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
14. "About Men and Women". The Express And Telegraph. XXXIX, (11,550). South Australia. 12 April 1902. p. 5. Retrieved 20 November 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
15. "A Painful Accident". The Border Watch. XLIII, (4148). South Australia. 17 October 1903. p. 2. Retrieved 20 November 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
16. "Personal". The Border Watch. XLIX, (4775). South Australia. 10 November 1909. p. 2. Retrieved 20 November 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
17. "A Good Sportsman". The Border Watch. XXXVI, (3556). South Australia. 22 January 1898. p. 2. Retrieved 20 November 2016 – via National Library of Australia.