The thesis is divided into two parts, Part 1 provides the essential background to the thesis, and Part 2 considers the contributions made by the Launceston Wesleyan Methodists.
Part 1
Chapter 1 It will be necessary for the background chapter to be substantial to convey an understanding of the people who were Wesleyan Methodists. This chapter represents a reference text for understanding the Launceston Wesleyan Methodists 1832-49. The background will commence with the founding of the Wesleyan Methodist Society with its roots and developing theology in the Evangelical Revival, Arminianism, the German Pietist movement and other influences. Its progress into a society which incorporated a respectable, affluent, middle class in the early nineteenth century will then be charted. To understand the behaviour and ethics of the Launceston Wesleyan Methodists, John Wesley’s own economic views will be explained in all their limitations of the period in which they were formed. It will be shown how connexional economic teaching changed after Wesley’s death in 1791, finally reaching an accommodation with the temporal world and moving to the understanding that a wealthy philanthropic stewardship element was necessary for the survival of the Society. Spirituality and economics became one and the stewardship had a duality attached to it. The formation of the Wesleyan Methodist Missionary Society (WMMS) will be discussed, with its taking of Wesley’s economic theory to the higher dimension of consecrated wealth, the necessity for influential benevolent Wesleyan Methodist laymen, and the mind shift of the Wesleyan Methodists from the poor to the missionary outreach.
Chapter 2 will discuss the Evangelical influences which supported early Anglican chaplaincy into Port Jackson / Sydney, and which was followed with the introduction of the Wesleyan Methodists. The foundation of the early Wesleyan Methodist Society is discussed with reference to some important members. The difficulties of the mission will be highlighted with reasons for its failure, and the chapter will take the outreach to Hobart, Van Diemen's Land, which had its own penal and emancipist problems. This chapter will end in 1824 just on the commencement of the Launceston Mission.
Part 2
Chapter 3 will discuss Lieutenant Governot Arthur’s support for and collaboration with the Wesleyan Methodists. The early development of Launceston will be described and the type of society into which the Wesleyan Methodists came; its penal background, its economic potential, and its future as a trading port, with strong merchant interest and connections will be considered. The first failed Wesleyan Methodist mission will be discussed, as also the successful Wesleyan Methodist establishment of 1834. Specific references will be made to the emerging Wesleyan Methodist elite, such figures as Isaac Sherwin, John Gleadow, Henry Reed, Theodore Bryant Bartley and Philip Oakden. An understanding will be highlighted that the development of Launceston and Wesleyan Methodism were to run in tandem.
Chapter 4 discusses the social composition of the Launceston Wesleyan Methodist Society and the egalitarian response of the elite to the large penal element in the Society. The strategising of the Wesleyan Methodist Society is examined with its various institutions and rituals. This examination leads through to the topics of revival, enthusiasm and consecration of wealth. There is a short discussion on the self-help ethos in other Launceston churches and inter-denominational benevolence. The power of the Wesleyan Methodist elite is demonstrated by discussion of their struggle with the Rev. Joseph Orton over usage of the liturgy and their subsequent success will point to a subtle shift in colonial Wesleyan Methodism, which issued out of the global missionary experience. The emergence of John Crookes, later to be a strong member of the elite, is introduced and the topic of consecration of wealth is extended by demonstrating the support shown by the Launceston Wesleyan Methodists for the new Port Phillip mission.
Chapter 5 initially establishes the growing status of the Wesleyan Methodist elite by land and property ownership, jury involvement and philanthropic and civil involvement. Individual commercial interests of the Wesleyan Methodist elite are examined, as well as a discussion of the
second rung Wesleyan Methodists. The chapter moves into a discussion of Wesleyan Methodist involvement in banking, with the crowning achievement of Philip Oakden in founding the Anglo Imperial Bank, the Union Bank of Australia.
Chapter 6 centres on the Spiritual Diary of Launceston Wesleyan Methodist, Henry Jennings. The chapter begins with a discussion of the evolution of spiritual diary writing. Henry Jennings’ diary is discussed in relation to two main dialogues with a third lesser dialogue. The two main dialogues centre around Jennings’ spiritual advancement and his temporal financial concerns. The discussion of the third and lesser dialogue involves Jennings’ proselytising and its resultant successes and failures. An attempt has been made to include examples of other diaries to reinforce the discussion.
Chapter 7 traces the temperance and teetotal movements with their British roots to early formation in Launceston, Van Diemen's Land. The Wesleyan Methodist involvement in the Teetotal Society is discussed with particular emphasis on the Wesleyan Methodist president, Isaac Sherwin, and the egalitarian and secular nature of the Society is also highlighted. The important feature of this chapter is to show that the Teetotal Society was a body which provided a political training ground. This was a political involvement that tried to influence the issue of public house licences and consequently the retail alcohol trade. John Crookes’ rise to greater status is shown through his philanthropic involvement alongside other Wesleyan Methodists in the 1840s. This status was to provide a background for Crookes’ later political role in Chapter 8 with the anti-transportation saga.
Chapter 8 initially raises the entry of Wesleyan Methodists into the world of politics in Van Diemen's Land, based on precipitating factors which challenged their rights. Grievances such as discontinuance of the assignment system, the introduction of probation gangs, the labour market, quit rents and the economic depression of 1841-44 are shown to be contributing factors. The chapter stresses the growing understanding of
the Wesleyan Methodists that they had to act for themselves and be involved in the political stirrings and influences of the day. The strong and definitive role of the Wesleyan Methodist contribution to the establishment of the London Agency is discussed along with the firm aims of the Agency in the reform of the transportation system, removal of duties on English grain and representative legislature. The call for the total abolition of transportation is shown to have been accelerated by growing irritation with the probation gangs and the associated perceived moral dangers. The political presence of the Launceston Wesleyan Methodists within the anti-transportation movement is extracted from the overall involvement and highlighted. The chapter concludes in 1849 with the fragmentation of the Wesleyan Methodist elite group, but later defining political victories are detailed briefly for a continuum. A chart of mature electoral political positions for the Wesleyan Methodists is illustrated to show their final political progress and involvement. A biographical appendix explains and defines the movements of the Launceston Wesleyan Methodist group, to give an understanding of why the group dispersed, and to answer any queries as to later movements.