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settled. He continued this work single handedly when Cover returned to England. He later shared the ministry of Castle Hill with William Pascoe Crook after 1803.
Rowland Hassall found the colony daunting in some ways and reported to the London Missionary Society that ''Adultery, Fornication, Theft, Drunkenness, Extortion, Violence and uncleanness of every kind'' abounded. He noted that Samuel Marsden found it pretty depressing and met with ''littel els but trouble and grief in his striving to do good to the souls of men''.50
Of special interest for Hassall whose own education and literacy was so limited was the establishment of a school at Kissing Point under Matthew Hughes, a former convict who married Mary Small on 6 October 1808 from the Hassall house in Parramatta where she had gone to live after leaving the school where she had been taught by her future husband. Hassall wished to build a church there ''...partly on account of the prejudice of the people against each other, they not willing to attend at each other's houses, and partly for the purpose of opening a schoolroom''.51
He assisted the school by appealing to William Wilberforce in England for assistance for the provision of money and books.52 Hassall not only contributed £40 to the cost of the school building but visited regularly after it was opened by Reverend Richard Johnson and Reverend Samuel Marsden and even paid the fees of seven poor children so that they could attend. He supported Matthew Hughes who was by all accounts considered to be a fine Christian man who combined religious and secular education by teaching the children to read from the New Testament. Hassall wrote: ''In my visits to the school, weather to catechise the children or supervise other affairs, I find them in good order, and they make pretty good progress in their book, so that some of them can now read the Testament''.53
Hassall was also anxious to improve the school at Toongabbie which he described in August 1801 as ''very bad, having no floor, walls, windows or doors, & at this time of the year the hearers tremble with cold...''. He appealed to the London Missionary Society for Testaments and Bibles and books of all kinds, not forgetting to mention that his son, Thomas, was ''now learning lattin''.54
As well as the establishment of the school at Kissing Point, Hassall was a pioneer in the Sunday school movement and the first Sunday school at Parramatta was set up in this house by
50 As cited in Grocott, Allan M., Convicts, Clergymen and Churches, Sydney University Press, 1980, p.67. 51 Historical Records of New South Wales, Vol. IV, p.74. 52 Gunson, Neil, ''Hassall, Rowland (1768-1820)'' in Australian Dictionary of Biography 1788-1850, Vol.1, p.251. 53 Pollock, William John ed., The Small Family in Australia 1788-1988, John and Mary Small Descendants Association, Erskineville, 1988, p.120. 54 Goodin, V.W.E., ''Public Educationin N.S.W. before 1848'' in Journal of the Royal Australian Historical Society, Vol. XXXVI, Part III, 1950, p.89.
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his son, Thomas in 1813. This Sunday school was later moved to St John's Church. So popular did the school become that leading Dissenters and Methodists formed the New South Wales Sunday School Institution in December 1815. Those on the committee were Rowland Hassall, John Eyre, Thomas Hassall, John Hosking, E.S. Hall, Thomas Bowden, Francis Oakes. The Treasurer was Edward Eager and Secretary was James Smith. 55
During the period when Bligh was governor, Hassall began to minister to the Calvinistic Methodist and Presbyterian settlers at Portland Head on the Hawkesbury and Preached once a month, as he stated to the Bigge enquiry at ''Mr James Meins, at other times at Mr Davidsons and last Lords Day we had services at 2 new places and both morning and afternoon could hardly hold the People that attended''. 56 He helped build the Dissenting Chapel (since 1824 exclusively Presbyterian) on land given by Owen Cavanough at Ebenezer and which was completed in 1820. He preached there until the appointment of the Reverend John Youl in 1809. 57
[Picture] Ebenezer Church, Wilberforce. From Proudfoot, Helen, Exploring Sydney's West.
Gradually Hassall withdrew from his itinerant preaching activities and concentrated on services held in barn at his house in Parramatta on Sunday and Friday evenings. The house was on a four acre block at the corner of George and Charles Streets. His grandson, James Hassall, in his book, In Old Australia, recalled that the house had been provided by the government for Hassall and ''There was a great mulberry tree in the garden and the largest English oaks in the colony were there''.
55 Ibid, p.161. 56 Bigge Appendix, B.T., Box 49, Missionary Vol.1, p.285. 57 Gunson, Neil, ''Hassall, Rowland (1768-1820)'' in Australian Dictionary of Biography 1788-1850, Vol. 1, p.251.
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[Picture] Rowland Hassall's house on the corner of George and Charles Streets, Parramatta. From Brook, J., and Kohen, J.L., The Parramatta Native Instituion and the Black Town, A History.
Hassall supported Marsden's view of an Evangelical presence in the colony and was not disposed to support dissent for dissent's sake. He did much to promote ''Calvanistic Methodism'' in the district which later embarrassed his son-in-law, Walter Lawry, and other more strictly Wesleyan preachers who became more and more prominent and continued the itenerant mission. Nevertheless they remained on good terms with him and refrained from undermining his work until after he had died. Hassall remained loyal to and corresponded with the London Missionary Society and offered support to its members when they visited the colony58 and helped others of them, particularly William Shelley, whom he sheltered when Shelley arrived almost destitute in the colony from Tonga some years after Hassall. On the other hand he wrote deploring the conduct of Edward Main, one of the former missionaries who had come to Sydney with him on the Nautilus. Main's behaviour had deteriorated the colony, he had a drinking problem, he lived in an adulterous association and owed money to many including some of his fellow missionaries. He applied to Captain Wilson, again in Sydney in 1800 in the Royal Admiral, to be taken on as a missionary again but his fellow missionaries, including Hassall and William Shelley, wrote that they would not support his application because of his intolerable conduct.59
Rowland Hassall maintained close correspondence with the missionaries who remained in Tahiti and later when he established his store he began to supply them with goods such as, tools, boat building materials, material, thread, butter and including, incredibly, guns and ammunition. Brother
58 Ibid. 59 Lockley, Lindsay G., ''Edward Main'' in Tasmanian Historical Research Association Papers and Proceedings, Vol.9, No.3, August 1961, p.111.
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Nott, who had remained in Tahiti, complained to Hassall in 1803, ''Had the muskets you sent to Mr Henry been good ones I should have taken them, but they are of no use. Those sold to the natives by Mr Harford were so neat in their eyes that they would not esteem those you sent at all. But if you will be so kind as to send me two neat ones the first opportunity I shall esteem it a favour...''
Rowland and later his son, Thomas Hassall, were consistent suppliers of weapons and ammunition to the missionaries on the islands who bartered them for produce, services and favours. In fact Thomas Hassall sent two English muskets to Brother Bicknell in 1815 and these were exchanged for two tons of meat. King Pomare continually requested guns to use in the violent struggles which flared up between rival chieftans.
As well as supplying guns, Rowland Hassall only demurred at supplying King Pomare with a still which the King requested, by stating that only the rigid prohibition of the manufacture and sale of stills imposed by Governor Bligh prevented him from complying with the king's request although he reassured him that he would in future if ever the rules were relaxed.60
Throughout his life Hassall ''never lost sight of his original destination as a Missionary, and continued to perform the duties of one, by preaching the Gospel in almost all parts of the colony''. His life was said to have been a ''continued example of religion and piety, extensive benevolence and hospitality''.61 He held very strong views on proper adherence to the principles which he preached. He was meticulous about keeping the Sabbath and he warned whenever possible about conduct which he considered to be inappropriate. For example he opposed race meetings which he said were the result of activity by the devil who had ''stirred up his Agents to establish Horse Races, Cock fighting Bulls [obscure] and almost every kind of sinful amusements''. Nevertheless he was sure that his and the influence of other preachers would win ''and altho' a great Evil I take it as a Token for good for the enemy of Souls to see his Kingdom tottering''.62
Not all Hassall's interest were concerned with his mission as a preacher. He had a growing family and assigned servants to support and although he had a land grant it seems that he did not devote much time to it personally as far as cultivation was concerned. He had added 60 acres to his original grant and in 1801 his sole stock consisted on two horses, five sheep, two goats and one hog, hardly enough to support his dependents.63 He, like others in the colony, was struggling to make ends meet and he was one of a group of settlers to petition Governor Hunter in January 1800 to maintain the price of wheat at the level of the previous year and to establish a public store from which they may be supplied with ''necessary articles of life''.64
60 Wannan, Bill, Very Strange Tales, The Turbulent Times of Samuel Marsden, Lansdowne Press, Melbourne, 1962, p.121. 61 Ibid. 62 Yarwood, A.T., Samuel Marsden - The Great Survivor, Melbourne University Press, 1996 edition, p.141. 63 Historical Records of New South Wales, Vol. IV, p.648. 64 Historical Records of Australia, Vol. II, pp.444-5.
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[Picture] Parramatta township c1809, when today's Smith St ran down to the rocky river bed 'where all further progress for boats was stopped by...large broad stones over which a fresh water stream ran'. The Gaol Bridge at the end of Church St leads to the gaol. (ML, SLNSW)
From Kass, Terry et al., Parramatta, A Past Revealed.
In September 1800, on the recommendation of Reverand Samuel Marsden, Governor King appointed Hassal to the charge of the granary at Parramatta which were in rooms owned by John Jamieson, and the stores at Toongabbie, as government storekeeper. His job was to receive and distribute the grain, a very precious commodity. This lasted only two years because he was dismissed for ''not having discovered the constant frauds practised by repeated Forgeries of the Deputy Commissary of Parramatta's initials to obtain wheat from His Majesty's stores...''65 A description of him was given by his successor: ''He was a good man for the work he came here to do, though his sermons would be all the better for being half as long, and his h's like sheep have gone astray, but he is not sharp enough to be a match to catch rogues''.66
He moved from his temporary residence at George Barrington's and established a store of his own at Parramatta. According to his grandson, Reverend James Samuel Hassall, Rowland Hassall ''...was the first to import wax headed dolls from England and they created quite a sensation with people travelling from all parts to get them. They sold at £1 per doll. He also imported the first privately owned piano.''67 In 1804 his store was robbed, a nightsafe was removed and found later at the back of the property. Advertisements were placed in the Sydney Gazette for the restoration of the following articles which give some indication of the goods which were sold:
63 Colonial Secretary's Correspondence, Reel 6037, pp.23-24. 64 As cited in Nowland, Horrie, ''Hassall of the Early Days'', Courier-Mail, 30 July 1932 65 Hassall family Bicentenary, 1798-1998, Newsletter No.5, April 1997.
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