Series 17: 'The Hassall Family: Descendants of Rowland and Elizabeth Hassall', unpublished manuscript by Jean Stewart (1999); and 'James Samuel Hassall (1823-1904)', paper by Jean Stewart (1998), 1998-1999

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authorisation to celebrate marriages. He remained at St. Matthew's, Sherwood until 30 June 1899. The original church of St Matthew was a brick and stone building built in 1868 in. the English fashion with a churchyard. It was consecrated on 13 Januargy 1868 by Bishop Tufnell. As time went by the original St Matthew's Church was deteriorated and was replaced by a wooden structure in 1893, the same year as the major the flood which affected the cemetary and covered the floor of the church to a depth of three feet. The wooden church lasted until 27 September 1921 when it was destroyed by fire and all the church records were lost.

During his period as minister at Sherwood the Marriage Register showed that he attended to the needs of people in a very far flung parish which extended as far as Woogaroo, Yeerongpilly, Coopers Plains, Eight Mile Plains, Brown Plains, Rocky Water Holes, Woolston and across the river to Moggill and Kenmore. James Hassall and his wife and daughters subscribes to a fund to buy a bell, communion service and large harmonium for St Matthew's. His 1881 Diary shows that he attended services in St John's Cathedral fairly regularly and also often conduction services at Oxley in the morning and Sherwood in the evening. At other times he was at Oxley in the morning and Browns Plains in the evening or Sherwood in the morning and Eight Mile Plains in the evening. A visit to Moggill in May 1881 with Reverend James Stanley was to look at land which had been promised for a church. He conducted funeral services at various churches in his far flung district and very often his wife accompanied him to those services. There was at least one instance of his falling foul of the Deputy Registrar of the Church when he was fined one shilling in 1886 for interring a body without obtaining a certificate - but Hassall justified himself by arguing that the Deputy Registrar had always been oppressive.

Throughout his long ministry James Hassall wrote many letters complaining about his poor stipend and the reluctance of his parishioners to contribute to give him an adequate income. Perhaps in Sherwood there was some reason to expect a better deal when in 1888 his son, James Charles Hassall and two of his sons-in-law. Sidney Tooth and Frank Pratten, were three of the six members of the Stipend Committee.

James Hassall remained at Sherwood for twenty one years until he retired in 1899 and was given a large send-off attended by churchdignitaries and his appreciative congregation. This was held in the Corinda School of Arts and was attended by the Bishop of Brisbane. Right Reverend Dr Webber. Most Corinda families were represented and, after pianoforte duets and vocal items, he was presented with a purse of sovereigns.

Last edit almost 2 years ago by Amelia H
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During the 1880s James Hassall and his sons bought various sections of Portion 113 at Corinda from Robert Donaldson, a farmer and later owner/manager of his own butchery business who serves on the Sherwood Divisional Board from 1884 to 1888. He profited from the subdiviosn of his land during this period when James Samuel Hassall, Robert Francis Hassall and James Charles Hassall together bought 5 acres for £20 per acre. Robert Francis Hassall bought 5 acres in 1882 and 5 acres in 1885. James Charles Hassall bought 9 acres in 1884 and James Samuel Hassall bought 5 acres in 1884 and 2 acres in 1885. The land was along Oxley Creek and had substantial grass and water which had made it excellent for the grazing of dairy herds.

At Corinda James Samuel Hassall built his house called Matavai after the bay in Tahiti where his grandparents and father had landed in 1791. A diary kept by him in 1881 showed that he took great pleasure in his garden planting a wide variety of vegetables and many types of fruit trees. His family at this time were very active with a social life involving visits to many friends both locally and just outside Brisbane. The children often took the long journey to visit their relatives in Parramatta and Camden and from there wrote letters to their parents full of news of the family. Here he wrote his book of memories. In Old Australia, which were published after his retirement. He died in a rented house nearby callend Bungonia on 25 September 1904 aged 80. An obituary in The Church Chronicle of 1 November 1904 summed up his character in two words "simplicity and faithfulness". It also said "He was a man without the slightest shadow of unreality or pretence, and everyone who knew him gave him reverence and love for his intrinsic goodness". His widow, Frances, died on 12 September 1907 aged 81. They were buried in the Sherwood Cemetery. He left an estate valued only at £131 which probably indicates that his real estate property including his acres in Portion 112 had been transferred to his wife.

James and Frances Hassall had the following children: Emily Isabella (born 1851 who married Sidney Tooth), Catherine Elizabeth (born in 1853 who married William Gordon Brown), Robert Francis (born in 1855 who married Helena Hannah Ransom), James Charles (born in 1857 who married Sarah Moorhead Coxen), Thomas Frederic (born in 1859 who married Florence Macdonald), William Henry (born in 1861 who married Ethel Pratten), Mary (born in 1863 who married Frank Pratten) and Arthur Marsden (1869-1903). Many of their descendants live in Brisbane.

James Samuel Hassall is significant in a number of ways. Not only does he provide and important link with the early religous and pastoral life of the colony by his heritage, but he also gives us a wonderful insight into the lives of many people during those early years in his In Old Australia. His own work, both in his chaplaincy and visitations to gaols in Berrima and Brisbane and his ministry in Bungonia and Berrime as well as in the northern circuit of Brisbane and later in Sherwood carried on the work started by his father and both his grandfathers. It forms a significant chain and demonstrates the qualities of humanity and warmth by which he was known in his lifetime.

Last edit almost 2 years ago by Amelia H
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