Samuel Forsyth, O.B.E

Samuel Forsyth (1881-1960), Methodist minister, was born on 1 May 1881 at Aghyaran, Tyrone, Ireland, fifth of six children of Samuel Forsythe, farmer, and his wife, Mary Jane, née McElroy.

He married twice, Ida Rosely Nankivell and after she passed, Ida Muriel Brummit, who worked to raise money for the Kuitpo Industrial Colony.

He was a remarkable man who used his ministry for kind and generous acts of support for those less fortunate. He may be a man who brought many to the Methodist church in South Australia, who were previously of another denomination.

As a result of the Depression Forsyth was soon haunted by the tramp of single unemployed men on the dole: he envisaged a scheme to start a farm-training settlement to help them gain jobs. He personally raised £5000 by public subscription and obtained land at a low rent from the government near Willunga. In June 1930 he opened Kuitpo Industrial Colony where men could work for their board and lodging, 'thereby retaining their self-respect, and a sane outlook on life until they could find a job'. It was run on good-humoured, non-militaristic lines. His Church was dubious about it and never backed the undenominational colony, but after financial struggles it flourished and over 7000 men were helped. An employment agency was set up in the city to help 'colonists' find work. Next year Forsyth formed the South Australian Council of Charitable Relief Organizations; he was its chairman. In 1937 he was appointed O.B.E. and next year became president of the South Australian Methodist Conference. The Kuitpo Colony became a rehabilitation centre.

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'The Irish were always fighters and he cared nothing for himself and all for the cause. In his mind was his own background — six children brought up on 20 acres of ground — and here was Australia with all her millions of undeveloped acres. These men must be taught to work on the land, and at any rate to raise their own foodstuffs, develop their muscles and their characters, and be fit to send out to jobs when they again offered. The young unemployed in these depression years kept him awake at night, but did not diminish his daytime energy in raising funds to start Kuitpo and give the men a chance.

Appreciation by the men concerned is shown in this story of the official opening:— 'In the centre of the quadrangle round which the huts are built a garden was made with a cleverly constructed monument in the centre. This bore the name 'Forsyth Gardens,' which shone out when the light was turned on. The colonists' own idea it was a happy tribute to their founder; and they worked up till midnight to have it ready for the official opening.

Warm Story Of Samuel Forsyth (1952, December 20). The Advertiser (Adelaide, SA : 1931 - 1954), p. 7. Retrieved August 17, 2018, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article47529982

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Forsyth_(Methodist%29