On June 5th 1836, William Grant Broughton was enthroned as the first and only Bishop of Australia, in St James’ Church, Sydney.
Born in England in 1788, he was educated at Pembroke Hall, Cambridge and ordained at the age of 30 in the same year he married his wife Sarah. After spending some years in parish ministry and as Chaplain of the Tower of London, he was recommended by the Duke of Wellington for nomination as the Archdeacon of New South Wales, then part of the Diocese of Calcutta. He and his family arrived in Sydney in 1829 on the convict ship John and he spent several years in pastoral and administrative work, including implementing plans for the development of education in the colony which led to the establishment of the King’s School in Parramatta. Returning to England in order to promote the interests of the colonial church, he was consecrated Bishop of Australia on 14th February 1836 at Lambeth Palace Chapel, before returning to Sydney to commence his episcopacy. While he was in England, he joined forces with a Master at Eton College, Rev. Edward Coleridge, to solicit donations of theological books to bring back with him to Sydney for the use of the clergymen there. This collection of books includes donations from E.B. Pusey, several heads of Oxford Colleges and John Henry Newman, and forms the nucleus of Moore College Library’s rare book collection, the Bishop Broughton Memorial Library.
Soon after his enthronement he wrote to Joshua Watson, influential layman and member of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel:
“…You will be satisfied to learn that a marked and general improvement has taken place in the tone and feeling of the people towards the Church of England. Indeed I do hope with prudent management to lay a foundation very effectively for its general establishment throughout the Colony, and though our Governor has taken pains to impress the Secretary of State with emotion that the people here partake so much of the spirit of the age as to abhor the idea of a dominant church , I hope by God’s grace that ours may be dominant in the truest and best sense of the word; that is, by consent and approval of the country”^
Despite being required to travel vast distances across his new diocese, Broughton maintained his campaigns for education, kept up with the development of the Oxford Movement back in England, continued to develop the diocese and attempted to implement plans for theological education and training. After a long journey back to England in 1852 he died early the next year and was the first post-Reformation bishop to be buried in Canterbury Cathedral*.
The depth and scope of Bishop Broughton’s work was keenly felt by his later successor, Archbishop of Sydney H.W.K. Mowll and his wife Dorothy. They organised a series of celebrations from May 24th to June 7th 1936, in honour of the centenary of Broughton’s enthronement, including several services in St Andrew’s Cathedral which combined the celebrations usually held for Empire Day. 7000 Sunday School children filled the Sydney Showground, and various youth organisations held a demonstration with banners in the Town Hall. A historical pageant, performances by the Centenary Choir, a garden party at the King’s School and a missionary exhibition featuring Bishops from India, Palestine and Japan, were also held. The events attracted visitors from across Australia, and received wide press coverage. In the depths of the Depression, with war on the horizon, the celebrations united the diocese in remembering and rejoicing in Australia’s Christian heritage.
