Australia’s first parish clergyman

Posted on May 19, 2009 
Filed under Resources

CowperPeter Bolt’s second book in the Studies in Australian Colonial History series is now available for pre-order.

“William Cowper arrived in NSW in August 1809 to become the minister at St Phillip’s Sydney. Across 49 years of ministry he must have baptised, married or buried, most of the population! Cowper was instrumental in setting up many of the social institutions that helped to establish a more wholesome society as NSW moved from penal colony to nationhood. His children were also pioneers, each in their own way, in building our nation. It is a gauge of the significance of his influence in the colony that when he died, Sydney closed down and 25,000 people lined the streets for his funeral. His impact had been strongly felt in NSW.”

– William Cowper (1778-1858): The Indispensable Parson. The Life and Influence of Australia’s First Parish Clergyman.

Details on how to pre-order the book here (PDF file).