Rev James Samuel Hassall

http://oa.anu.edu.au/obituary/hassall-james-samuel-13964

Hassall, James Samuel (1823–1904) The death of the Rev. James Samuel Hassall, reported at the beginning of the week, removes another link in the chain that connects the early days of Australia with the present. The deceased was a native of Australia, and his mother was a daughter of the Rev. Samuel Marsden, who was the second clergyman to come to Sydney, arriving there in 1794. The Rev J. S. Hassall was born in 1823, and was a pupil of King's School, which was founded by William IV and the Duke of Wellington. He was among its first scholars, who included representatives of the well known Queensland family names of McDougall, Sutton, and Lockyer (after whom Lockyer Creek was named). In subsequent years, the Hon E. B. Forrest and other well known citizens of Brisbane were pupils in the same school. The deceased clergyman was connected by marriage with Lieutenant Oxley, one-time Surveyor-General of Queensland and discoverer of the Brisbane River. The deceased was ordained in 1818. His first charge was St Peter's, Cook's River, near Sydney. Thence he went to Bungonia, New South Wales, and afterwards was appointed to the charge of the parish of Berrima, New South Wales, and chaplain to the gaol in that town—positions which he held for twenty years. He came to Queensland about thirty years ago, and was in charge of the parish comprising Sandgate, North Pine, Caboolture &c. He subsequently settled in the Oxley district, his parish including Mount Brisbane, Cressbrook &c. When Oxley and Corinda were constituted a separate parish, Mr Hassell was appointed the first incumbent, and he remained in that position till 1900, when, owing to advancing years, he retired from active chinch work. From 1900 till the time of his death Mr Hassall resided quietly at Oxley, and the evening hours of his life were doubtless made brighter by the knowledge that he was respected and loved by the many people with whom he had come in contact during his long period of service with the Church of England.

Original publication Brisbane Courier, 1 October 1904, p 16

The following description of the home built by Rev J S Hassall, along with many descriptions and anecdotes of the gentleman, was published in "The Queenslander" of Thursday 12 May 1932:

"BRISBANE'S HISTORIC HOMES. CVI.-Matavi. By F. E. LORD. THE growth of trees—chiefly mangoes and tall pines—at the back of Matavi, situated at the top of Lynne Avenue, Corinda, is so dense that scarcely a peep of it is to be seen from the road or even its own paddock gates. A winding track through this paddock, with tall gum trees on one's right, takes one to the gate of the house enclosure, in which stands the thick growth of trees. Passing along the track under these one arrives at the house, but is obliged to pass its back wing in the course of making one's way round to the front. This overlooks winding Oxley Creek, acres of grasslands, and the suburb of Rocklea. Matavi was built for and named by the late Rev. J.S. Hassall nearly 50 years ago, and it is somewhat ap propriate that the site of his home should be near Oxley Creek—it bounds the property of 8½ acres—Lieutenant John Oxley, the discoverer of the Bris bane River, and after whom the creek is named, having been an uncle of Mr. Hassall's wife. She was the daugh ter of Captain Francis Dixon, the owner of the ship Phoenix, in which, in 1825, he arrived in Sydney, and his wife was Lieutenant John Oxley's sister, Isabella. Then in later years, I be lieve, some marriages took place be tween members of the Oxley and Has sall families. The late Rev. J. S. Has sall's father—the Rev. Thomas Has sall—was a native of Coventry, War wickshire, and came to Australia with his parents—Mr. and Mrs. Roland Has sall, who were missionaries—in the late '90's of the eighteenth century as a small child. The family had first landed, with other missionaries, at Tahiti, but being soon driven off by the natives they settled in New South Wales. The lady who became the mother of the late Rev. J. S. Hassall was the eldest daughter of the noted Rev. Samuel Marsden, who had been appointed colonial chaplain in the year 1793 by King George III. on the departure for England of the first chaplain, the Rev. Richard Johnson. MR. MARSDEN was the first to in troduce the Christian religion into New Zealand, and one of the first, if not the first, to bring merino sheep to Aus tralia. His grandson, the late Rev. J. S. Hassall, was born at Newlands, Par ramatta, in 1823, the latter being part of his father's large parish. At about the age of nine he became a pupil at the historic King's School, which had only been opened a few months before. In March, 1848, he was ordained in St. Andrew's temporary cathedral by the first Bishop of Australia, Bishop Broughton. His first parish was in Sydney, where he remained for about 18 months. Then he was sent to the Bathurst district, Bungonia, where he resided, being the centre of his parish. After staying about four years there —during which time he married Miss Dixon—he was transferred to the Ber rima district, where he remained for 20 years, coming to Queensland in 1873 He seems not to have been appointed to a settled parish on arrival, but travelled round to different ones for some years. During this time, or the greater part of it, his family resided in Ipswich. Then in the very early 'eighties he was appointed to the Sherwood parisn, to which he gave his devoted services for over 20 years. He had his home, Matavi. built in 1883, and named it after the home of one of his uncles in New South Wales. He gave up his long and well-spent life in September, 1904, and is buried in the cemetery that was attached to the original church—afterwards destroyed by fire— at Sherwood. He passes, but his memory is power. Behind him lives the good that none may stay; His name remains a beacon light, a tower By which all feebler hearts may guide their way. At the time of his death Mr. and Mrs. Hassall were living at a rented house not far from their original home, Matavi, which they had named Bun gonia. after the town of that name in Mr. Hassall's second parish in New South Wales. There were eight in Mr. and Mrs. Hassall's family—five sons and three daughters. Two of the former—Mr. Robert Hassall and Mr. Arthur Hassall—are now deceased. Those living are Mr. James C, Mr. Frederick, and Mr. William Hassall. The daughters are Mrs. Sydney H. Tooth, Mrs. Gordon Brown, and Mrs. Frank Pratten. It was in the home of Mrs. Brown that her mother, Mrs. J. S. Hassall, died in 1907. After the Hassalls left Matavi it was let for about a year to the late Pro fessor S. B. J. Skertchly, and was then purchased, about 26 years ago, by Mr. J. Beal, who was in the Government service for nearly 50 years, retiring about sixteen years ago. Mr. G. L. Beal, the present Auditor-General, is, his brother. Their father, who was of English origin but born in Sydney, was well known in business circles of older days and to the community of Bris bane in general. He came to Queens land in 1862, his son, Mr. J. Beal, of Matavi, being born in Sydney the same year as our colony was born, 1859, and now he is spending "the evening of his life"—but he is still a very hale and hearty specimen of manhood—in his secluded home at Corinda, and de votes himself mostly to the care of his garden and his large property in general. His wife died some little time ago, but a son and daughter, also a niece, keep him company in his roomy old home. While I enjoyed "the cup that cheers" he entertained me with many interesting stories of Brisbane's early days. MATAVI is of two stories, and built all of wood, the walls being formed of horizontal panels, with vertical beams on both their inner and outer sides. Three large rooms, opening on to the veranda by frenchlights, take up the front of the upper part of the house. A hall extends along them at the back and opens on to each end veranda. Off the centre of this hall runs another one, with rooms on either side of it, so the house is the shape of the letter T. The centre one of the three front rooms was originally the drawing-room, but now is used as a bedroom. It contains the main entrance doors with wide side panels, but nar row fanlight, and a fireplace with a wooden mantelpiece. Opposite these doors is the set of steps leading up from the ground to the veranda, with a gable to the roof of the house above them. These steps were originally at tached to the inner side of one of the end verandas, the pathway from the gate into the garden enclosure bring ing one directly up to them, but Mr. Beal had them moved round to the front. One large room, the living room, occupies most of the lower part of the house in front. It is a comfortable and attractive room, with its fireplace and easy chairs and its collection of aboriginal weapons, &c, round the walls. These, I understand, were mostly gifts to Mr. Beal from the late Mr. Meston when Protector of Abor igines, he, knowing that Mr. Beal would appreciate them, as his father and the family in general were always good friends to the blacks. It will not be out of place to repeat here a little story in connection with these poor creatures that Mr. Beal told me the- other day. As a lad, In the early '70's he went with his father and the late Mr. James Cowlishaw on a fishing trip up Break fast Creek. The blacks—men, women, and children—had all been driven down to the creek by the troopers at about sundown, as the custom was at that time, I understand, and as they were swimming across the creek one of the troopers said to his mate: "Shall we fire on them?" Without waiting for the other man's reply, Mr. Cowlishaw shouted to the men: "If you fire on them I'll fire on you!" But to return to the description of Matavi. its large living-room on the prnund floor opens into a vestibule, off which leads the kitchen premises, which form the lower part of the back wing of the house. On the right hand side of the vestibule, and open ing into the garden is a room used by Mr. Beal as a workroom. He has a talent for wood-carving, and showed me some pretty specimens of his work Matavi, as will be gathered from the description, is uncommon in its structure. The floor of the lower veranda is of concrete, and a wide path stretches between it and the rose garden in front, which is Mr. Beal's special pride. And there are numbers of shrubs and palms about the garden and grounds and ornamental trees as well as the bush ones. To the right of the house is quite a scrub of young gum trees, and others on the left help to give a park-like appearance to the paddock on that side. The setting of this home, with historic associations of outstanding interest, is distinctly rural. "Trees are such lovely things." says the Queensland poetess, M. Forrest."