Community & Business
24 September, 2024
Clifton and District Historic Churches - St James and St John’s Church, Clifton
In the first instalment of Clifton and District Historic Churches - Clifton’s places of worship of the past and present, we explore St James and St John’s Catholic Church in Clifton.
Establishment of the Catholic Church in Clifton
The Clifton district was first settled by Europeans in the 1840s and partners King and Sibley are credited as the first occupiers establishing their run in the area.
The run was sold several times until 1853 when William Tooth purchased it from George Gammie and it became known as the Clifton Downs Run.
Other settlers followed quickly and as they established their land holdings they brought their religious beliefs from Europe with them.
Several Catholic priests travelled by horse back to visit the area twice a year but the best known in those early days was the Reverend Father Robert Dunne.
Father Dunne was Parish Priest of Toowoomba from 1868 to 1881 and he was most interested in the soon to be controversial question of land settlement and ownership.
He was passionate about persuading his parishioners to acquire farming land and at times read from the pulpit the latest Government Gazette, regarding the terms of settlement and beseeching his congregation to take up the selections.
Made Archbishop of Brisbane in 1887, Father Dunne later recalled the satisfaction of gathering his flock in those early days.
There is no doubt Father Dunne was instrumental in establishing a firm Catholic base in the Clifton district.
As farming in the Clifton district became well established the construction of the railway line through the town was the catalyst for attracting more settlers.
One such settler drawn by the railway was Irishman James Mowen who established a two roomed store cum-shanty hotel in 1869 alongside the railway line in Clark street.
When the first sale of one acre allotments went on sale in 1875 Mowen bought Lot 1 for £51 when the average price was only £12.
By the 1880s Mowen was a successful businessman, having bought more land in the town and establishing shops and rental properties allowing him to retire in 1883.
In 1884 the Catholic community began promoting the idea of constructing a church in the town.
James Mowen in 1887 donated a one acre block on which the presbytery now stands, as a site for the church.
The Brisbane Courier on October 22nd 1888 recorded,
“Archbishop Dunne consecrated the new Catholic Church at Clifton today. There was an immense congregation present from the surrounding district ........... the Archbishop reviewed his work on the Downs, referred to his efforts to settle population on the land.“
The timber church served its purpose but soon could not house the growing congregation.
With a continued influx of settlers in the district during the 1890s, the church committee took the decision that, instead of adding to the church they would build a new one.
St James and St John’s Church a monument to James Mowen
To be buried beneath the alter of a church is a privilege normally reserved for royalty but directly under the alter of St James and St John’s church in Clifton lies the grave of James Mowen.
When he died in 1897 Mowen left a considerable sum of money to the Catholic Church with direction in his will that a monument be built above his grave.
The executors of the will, John Logan, John Gillam, and William Dalton, with the approval of the Parish Priest, Rev Father J. Horan, decided that the memorial to be erected should be a church, and that James’ body would be exhumed from the Clifton cemetery and finally laid to rest on the site of the new church.
The new church was opened in April 1900 with the grave of James Mowen strategically placed below the building, directly under the alter.
There is no doubt James Mowen would be delighted with the beautiful church above his grave that serves as his monument to this very day.
Further extensions to the church took place after the arrival of Monsignor Michael Morrissey McKenna in 1935.
He devoted his attentions to enlarging and beautification of St James and St John’s Memorial Church thereby making it one of the largest country churches in the diocese of Toowoomba.
The Clifton Courier at the time added, “... it is also one of the most beautiful.”
One of the most striking and beautiful features of the church are the leadlight windows.
They were added as part of the extensions of 1936 and celebrate the memory of many of the pioneer families of the district and include such names as Corbett, Dwyer, Donaghue, Gleeson, Hegarty, Logan, McGovern, Meara, O’Halloran, Pauli, Sullivan and Taylor.
St James and St John’s Memorial Church has played an important role in Clifton for nearly 150 years and the church congregation is proud of the history of their beautiful place of worship.
Thank you to Helen Gillam for her kind assistance in compiling this article.
