Biographical Resources
for John Saunders
John Saunders (1806-1859) was the second
Baptist Minister in the colony of NSW, arriving in
December 1832 and resigning because of ill health
in 1847. He oversaw the building of the first
Baptist Chapel in Sydney (Bathurst Street) and the
first formally constituted Baptist congregation.
His ministry was remarkable in its breadth. As
well as being committed to justice for Indigenous
peoples, Saunders campaigned for the abolition of
convict transportation and was a major public
figure in the temperance movement.
For further biographical material on Saunders
see particularly the work of Baptist historian Ken
Manley -
K. R. Manley, "John Saunders" in The
Australian Dictionary of Evangelical Biography
(ed. Brian Dickey; Sydney: Evangelical History
Association, 1994 pp. 330-331).
K. R. Manly, In the Heart of Sydney: Central
Baptist Church 1836-1986 (Sydney 1987).
K. R. Manley and M. Petras, The First
Australian Baptists (Sydney, 1981).
For other Australian Christian thinking at this
time see Henry Reynolds' "Missionaries and
Protectors" in This Whispering in Our
Hearts (St Leonards: Allen & Unwin 1998).
A copy of this sermon was graciously and
promptly provided by the Information Request
Service of the Mitchell Library, Sydney:
Claims
of the Aborigines
