From The Archives

The Hays Family 

In the August 2002 issue of Quarterly News I wrote that Mrs Vera Hays donated the church’s first organ. The Hays family were very active in the church in its early years. Mrs Hays and her daughter, Miss Lavinia Hays, were responsible for the preparation of the communion table.
Mr John Herbert Hays (Vera’s husband) was a Church Steward. 

It is nice to be aware of family connections, and I have since learned that
Mr and Mrs Hays were the grandparents of Mrs Jillian Richards. 

The Choir In The Early Years

The church’s first organist was Mrs Myrtle Ransom, wife of the church’s first Secretary, 
Mr Herbert Ransom. For the first year, the church did not have a choir. People, mainly the women, met at Mrs Hays’ home on a weekly basis to practice hymn singing. 

The choir was first formed on 9 March 1930. 

In the early years, the organist Mrs Ransom, also served as leader of the choir. The King David window, which is dedicated to the memory of Mr and Mrs Ransom, was located in its present position near the choir stalls, as a reminder of Mrs Ransom’s musical ministry in the church. The fact that David is holding a lyre also makes this point.

For several years Mrs Ransom had the assistance of a “choir steward”,  Mr Len Bickford. Apparently the duties of the choir steward included assisting with the preparations for choir practice, putting up the hymns for church services and similar duties. He did not conduct the choir. 

During its formative years the choir went through its ups and downs. In the early part of the war years, for instance, it lost most of its male singers. 

The first person to be called the “Choir Conductor” was Mr H. A. Fuller. He took on the job in early 1942, after coming out from Harrow on the Hill Baptist Church in England. Jack Welch recalls that he was a fine singer and there was much demand for his services as a singer and conductor during the war years. The ABC often called on his expertise. He was employed by the British Government and he returned to England in 1945. 

Mr H. Bird took over for a couple of years (1945-1947) after Mr Fuller left. In 1947 Mr R. H. White, the church organist up until 1969, took on the additional role of Choir Conductor from time to time. A number of others, including Dr Fraser Bergersen, also undertook the task for short periods.

 In Memory Of Mr Alban Hill, Armadale, Victoria

The above inscription can be found on one of the pews on the southern side of the church. When he first arrived in Canberra in 1958, Mr Alban Gurnett-Smith and his family sat on that side of the church. On examining the brass plaque on the back of the pew in front of him, he was amazed to find that it was in memory of his grandfather, Alban Hill. In accordance with the custom of the time, 
Mr Gurnett-Smith was named ‘Alban’ after his grandfather, being the oldest grandson. 

The following information is taken from a detailed written summary of Mr Hill’s background, which was provided by Mr Gurnett-Smith: 

Alban Hill was born on 6 July 1861 at Warrenheip, near Ballarat (previously spelt ‘Balaarat’), only 2 kilometres from where the miners’ revolt took place at the famous Eureka Stockade. He died some 61 years later in 1922. 

In July 1887 he married Agnes Dudman (born 7 February 1865 at Avenel, between Ballarat and Benalla). Agnes lived until 1936. Her family were acquainted with the Kelly family 
(Ned Kelly,) who lived at Eleven Mile Creek, near Benalla. 

Alban Hill’s father came from Goodrich, Herefordshire, England. He was a Government Inspector. His wife, who was 3 years older than he was, came from Falmouth in England. They both migrated to Australia separately, where they met and were married in Portland, Victoria, in 1858. 

At 21 years of age Alban Hill joined the Commercial Bank of Australia (which later became part of the Westpac Banking Corporation). In this capacity he moved a good deal and lived in several towns in NSW and Victoria, including Warracknabeal, Broken Hill (where he apparently opened the first Commercial Bank there) and Sydney. He ended up as the General Manager of the Bank in NSW, and retired at that level in 1913, due to ill health. On retirement he moved to Malvern, Victoria. 

He is known to have held a number of positions in the church. For example, he was Sunday School Superintendent at Burwood Baptist Church in NSW. He was also involved in Sunday School work at Armadale Baptist Church and was a delegate to the First Australasian Baptist Congress in Sydney in 1908. 

He held a number of leadership positions with community organizations and, as a senior official of the bank, attended a number of official functions, such as the State Banquet held in Sydney on 21 August 1908 for the US Navy. 

Alban Hill was an accomplished writer of short stories and poems. He had items published in The Australasian and The Barrier Miner. When he retired, The Bulletin of 19 June 1913 reported: 

 “Alban Hill who has been most things in the Commercial Bank of Australia definitely retired from the service after 31 years of strict attention to business. After keeping him at many years at the weary job of taming the wild cats that the busted boom left on the head office premises, they made an inspector of him and then turned him into the Chief Manager in NSW. Somewhere the damp got into his bones and rheumatism tortured him into taking long leave with a retirement at the end. Quitting Sydney he has settled down in Malvern”.