John Molloy

The 10-month-old, only son of John and Georgiana Molloy drowned when he fell down a well, and was buried with his sister and mother, beneath St Mary's Church Busselton, as described in the article below:

Published in the "Western Mail" of Saturday 30 October 1909:

"OUR, ILLUSTRATIONS. ST. MARY'S CHURCH, BUSSELTON, THE NEW PULPIT. (See Illustrations.)

"ln this issue we give a photograph oí St. Mary's Church, Busselton, and a sketch of its new pulpit. The pulpit was dedicated by Bishop Goldsmith, assisted by Rev. H. S. Needham, rector of the parish, in the presence of a large congre- gation. The Bishop, in the course of an interesting sermon, traced the early his- tory of pulpits back to the days of the early Christians. He paid tribute to the fine qualities that the characters of the early settlers displayed, in what must have been very trying times. We owed them a great debt of gratitude in that they not only brought civilisation to this great country, but also Christianity. He also referred to the "early history of Bus- selton church. He had in his possession a letter written by tho late Rey. J. Wol- laston, which gave full particulars of the consecration of thc church, whichtook place in 1845, on which occasion no less than 73 persons were present. It was the first stone church in the country, although the Picton church, which " was built of jarrah and still stands, was erected in the year 1842, and a wooden church at Bunbury, since pulled down, in the year 1843. The service was fully choral, Mr. Eustace Cohen, A. W.A.I. A. (the designer of the pulpit), being at the organ.

"The pulpit was erected by the relatives of the late Mrs. Molloy, wife of Colonel Molloy, an early pioneer of the district. It was designed to harmonise with its surroundings, and is of solid jarrah. It is in octagonal form, with heavy angles. The floor is 2ft. 6in. above the church floor, approached by four steps. The panels in the upper portion of the pul- pit are adorned with Maltese crosses sunk into the wood, surmounted with Gothic arches, with sunk spandrils. The lower part is made up of a plain frieze supported on brackets. A. brass plate bearing the following inscription is fitted to the frieze on one side:-"This pulpit is placed here in memory of Georgiana, wife of Col. Molloy, Rifle Brigade, born in Cumberland, England, 1805. Died at Fairlawn, The Vasse, W.A.. 1843. Buried beneath this church with her two children-Mary, who died an infant, in 1830; John, her only sou, drowned at Augusta, 1837, aged 10 months." Thc woodwork is merely finish- ed with oil, no varnish having been used, and is very rich in colour. The timber was mostly cut from disused sleepers, to ensure of its being well seasoned. The work was entrusted to Messrs. Wilson and Banting, of Bunbury, under the per onal supervision of Mr. Eustace G. Cohen, A.W.A. Inst. Architects, Bun- bury, and from his design. The firm de- serves every praise for tho workmanlike manner in which they executed the task, and no account would be complete with- out mentioning the name of Mr. Hart- ness, their joiner, on whose shoulders most of thc actual toil rested. No one, who has not worked hard, seasoned jar- rah knows how trying it is and thc amount of labour involved all the time, keeping tools, etc., keen and in work-ing order. The parishioners of St. Mary's, Busselton, may well be proud of the lat-est addition to their pretty little church. "