About St. John's Anglican Parish Footscray

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In 1855 Dean McCartney conducted the first Church of England service in Footscray. It was held in the Commercial Room of Mr William Powell’s Railway Hotel in Nicholson Street. By 1857 the church had built a school on the crown grant on the corner of Bunbury & Cowper Streets, and this was used for services.

At Whitsunday 1864 the foundation stone of a bluestone church was laid by Dean McCartney on the corner of Talbot and Cowper Street. In 1888 the land in Cowper Street was sold, and the now enlarged bluestone church was removed to Pickett Street. Oral history states that this was achieved by parishioners with wheelbarrows.

In 1891 the foundation stone of the present church was laid in Paisley Street, and 

the first service was held in it on 26 November of the same year. The vicar at the time was the Rev’d Henry Ford Scott. The foundation stone was laid by the Mayor, 

James Cuming, a parishioner, industrialist and noted philanthropist. The architect was 

C J Polain and the builders were locals. The bell tower was erected in 1937 to honour the pioneers of the parish whose names are listed on a board at the entrance of the church. The women pioneers were commemorated at about the same time with a stained glass window and a plaque listing their names. A wooden vicarage was constructed on the Pickett Street border of the property, later replaced by a 

two-storeyed brick house.

At its new location in Pickett Street, the old bluestone church was used by the 

Sunday School and as the parish hall. For a time it was leased, and then again 

became the church hall, and from the 1990s it was a site of outreach to 

new arrivals from Sudan, providing a community hub and welfare facilities. It is 

now the location of the African-Australian Community Centre, a partnership

of the Anglican Parish of Footscray and the Brotherhood of St Laurence. 

A redbrick hall was constructed in the 1930s between the bluestone hall and 

the church. Today a major source of parish income is derived from the hire of

these halls, newly refurbished, to community and commercial groups, and for 

private gatherings and parties. 

Throughout the district other churches began under the care and guidance of 

St John’s - 1878: land was available for a church in York Street, Yarraville; 

a bluestone building was erected and a lay-reader was appointed. In time the independent parish of Yarraville built the Church of St Luke in Somerville Road, which is now the premises of Anglicare.

1891:  a Chapel of Ease was established in Russell Street, West Footscray on 

land donated by Sir W J Clarke. The original wooden church dedicated to St 

George the Martyr, was burnt down and replaced with another wooden church in 

1918. This building in turn was replaced with a cream brick church in 1955. This 

Church, and the adjacent vicarage, was sold in 2011.

1928: The Rev’d A E Britten, vicar of St John’s saw the rapid development in North Footscray and commenced a ministry in North Footscray State School. In 1933 land 

was purchased in May Street and the Men’s Club at St John’s donated their small 

wooden hall for use as a Chapel under the dedication of All Saints in 1936. In 1947 All Saints merged with St George the Martyr to form a separate parish. The present All 

Saints Church was dedicated in 1964 and consecrated in 1985.

The William Anderson Pipe Organ in St John’s Church has been classified as significant

by the National Trust of Australia (Victoria) for historic and aesthetic reasons at Regional level for the following reasons: it retains its original mechanisms and wind system; it retains most of its original pipework; and it is a fairly intact example of a standardised organ design of its builder. The Footscray Independent on 16 July, 1887 reported that a few weeks previously the guardians of the church had decided to purchase an organ, had collected ₤120 within a fortnight and contacted Mr Anderson. The cost of the organ was ₤400, and in approximately a month it was formally opened at an event with 500 people present, reported as “indeed a musical feast” 

On 24 April, 1994 the Parish of St John, Footscray united with the Parish of St George the Martyr, West Footscray, and All Saints, North Footscray, to form the Anglican Parish of Footscray under the guidance of Fr Don Edgar OAM. During his incumbency the parish developed its multicultural character. In particular, from the mid 1990s, South

Sudanese people were welcomed and assisted to settle. They have made All Saints Church their spiritual home. St George’s congregation was enriched by the presence and singing 

of the Tongan people and, also, for a time shared their church with a Maori congregation. 

St John’s Church now includes among its congregation and parish council people from the Philippines, Indonesia, El Salvador, Solomon Islands, and India. The Church is also used by a Chinese congregation on Sunday afternoons, and a Bari service is regularly held. Current parish clergy are of Tongan and Sudanese heritage, so the Anglican Parish of Footscray well reflects the multicultural nature of the community in which it is located.