Spalding Gaelic Church |
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Title : | Spalding Gaelic Church |
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Date of creation : | ca. 1910 | ||
Format : | Photograph | ||
Catalogue record | |||
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Description : |
Language is an important unifying factor, particular for migrant groups. In the 19th century Spalding, in South Australia's mid-north, had a significant number of Gaelic-speaking Scottish Presbyterian settlers. In 1877, 90 Gaelic-speaking Scots requested the formation of a Free Church congregation. Two years later, in 1879, they opened a church just outside the town, large enough to seat 70, on land donated by Allan MacAskill. Every six months a Presbyterian minister, James Benny, visited to take communion services. Due to ill health, his visits became even less frequent and attendance declined as families moved away and came to speak the dominant English language. The church closed in 1894. |
Subjects | |
Related names : | Benny, James, 1824-1910 Spalding Free Presbyterian Gaelic Church |
Coverage year : | 1910 |
Region : | Mid North |
Further reading : | 'Free Presbyterian Church near Spalding', Free Presbyterian, 1 April 1879, pp. 151-153 'Free Presbyterian Church near Spalding', South Australian register, 13 November 1879, p. 4 Scrimgeour, RJ. Some Scots were here: a history of the Presbyterian Church in South Australia, 1839-1977, Adelaide: Lutheran Publishing House, 1986 |