Public Lecture on Padre Hugh Gough

Posted on March 11, 2026 
Filed under History, People, Sydney Diocese

Mark Earngey, Head of Church History at Moore College, is giving a free online public lecture for the Evangelical History Association –

“In the 1950s, Hugh Gough emerged as a rising star among British evangelicals. His involvement with the Cambridge Inter-Collegiate Christian Union (CICCU) and his courage in publicly supporting Billy Graham at a time of ecclesiastical controversy won him admiration across the evangelical world. Nowhere was this more evident than in Sydney, where he was elected Archbishop and served from 1959 to 1965. Yet Gough’s relatively brief episcopate, combined with the scarcity of accessible primary sources, has meant that he remains less well known than his predecessor Howard Mowll and his successor Marcus Loane.

Recent archival discoveries, however, have begun to illuminate neglected dimensions of Gough’s life and ministry. Among the most significant is a substantial body of material from his service as an army chaplain during the Second World War, including battlefield photographs from North Africa and personal correspondence written from the front. These sources open a crucial window onto Gough’s formative years as a padre.

This paper traces his wartime ministry from Jerusalem to El Alamein and into Italy, revealing how these experiences shaped the convictions and character of one of twentieth-century evangelicalism’s most significant yet understudied leaders.”

– On Wednesday, 18 March 2026 at 8:00pm AEDT. Free registration to watch online.

Photo: Padre Hugh Gough in North Africa – thanks to Mark Earngey.