Townsville Baptist Church Archive
A Baptist Association conference on missions in November 1887 resolved to establish Baptist Churches at Townsville, Charters Towers, Mackay, Gympie, Croydon and other populous places. The foundation meeting for the Baptist Church in Townsville was held on 27 January 1888, under the organisation of Reverend T Vigis (Rosewood parish, Ipswich, Qld) while he was holidaying in the north. While there, Vigis also conducted the first two Baptist services in the town, one in the morning and another in the evening of Sunday 29 January 1888.
At the half-yearly meeting of the Queensland Baptist Association in mid-June 1888, however, it was lamented that there was no one available to send to Townsville and, without a church there, local Baptists were drifting towards other denominations. An arrangement for Baptist worship in Townsville was deemed a necessity and though there was money available for a church building, securing the services of a suitable minister was difficult. By 24 June services were being held in the new Oddfellow’s Hall, which was secured for a twelve-month term. From April 1889 until November 1890, Rev Thomas Bree-Wood (variously Breewood, or Bree Wood) was preacher in Townsville. In April 1891, Rev Frederick Buckingham of Emerald Hill, Victoria, accepted the pastorate of Townsville, where he remained until 1896.
Vigis accepted the charge of Charters Towers in February 1889.Archive Location: 161L-163L
Detailed Listing:
BCR/1 Baptist Church register 1888-1914 (actual register dates listed indicate register was in use from 19 February 1913 to 13 May 1924). Pastor E.S. Moulton (and successor, William Griffiths). Also enclosed: between p189-90, two loose notepaper pages with information regarding repeal, 1917; stitched and glued in to p.10 - “The Baptist Association of Queensland Constitution,” p47-55.
BCR/2 Visitors book 1950-1962
BCR/3 Letter book 1898-1905
BCR/4 Accounts book 1891-1906
BCR/5 Accounts book 1919-1928
BCR/6 Ledger book 1912-1918 (enclosures to 1921)
BCR/7 Ledger book Stuart Baptist Sunday School 1962-1965
BCR/8 Commonwealth Savings Bank Passbook, Stuart Baptist Sunday School 1955-1958
BCR/9 Townsville Central Baptist Church Constitution BCR/10 Minute Book - Building Committee 1955-1959
BCR/11 Minute Book - Church meetings 1888-1900
BCR/12 Minute Book - Church meetings 1901-1905
BCR/13 Minute Book - Church meetings 1912-1917
BCR/14 Minute Book - Church meetings 1917-1925
BCR/15 Minute Book - Church meetings 1925-1940
BCR/16 Minute Book - Church meetings 1955-1960
BCR/17 Minute Book - Church meetings 1960-1965
BCR/18 Minute Book - Church meetings 1965-1971
BCR/19 Minute Book - Deacons' meetings 1898-1903
BCR/20 Minute Book - Deacons' meetings 1948-1955
BCR/21 Minute Book - Deacons' meetings 1955-1959
BCR/22 Minute Book - Deacons' meetings 1959-1962
BCR/23 Minute Book - Deacons' meetings 1962-1968
BCR/24 Minute Book - Deacons' meetings 1967-1972
BCR/25 Minute Book - Deacons' meetings 1972-1976
BCR/26 Minute Book - Mission Committee May-July 1957
BCR/27 Minute Book - (draft) Stuart Ladies' Union 1957-1959
BCR/28 Minute Book - Stuart Ladies' Union 1957-1959
BCR/29 Minute Book - Women's League 1924-1934
BCR/30 Minute Book - Sunday School 1961-1971
BCR/31 Minute Book - Sunday School 1971-1972
BCR/32 Minute Book - Youth council 1958-1961
BCR/33 Correspondence 1947-1950
BCR/34 Correspondence 1952-1961
BCR/35 Correspondence 1961-1967
BCR/36 Correspondence 1962-1964
BCR/37 Correspondence - miscellaneous 1952-1958
BCR/38 Correspondence - Baptist Union of Queensland 1956-1960
BCR/39 Correspondence - Area Council 1956-1969
BCR/40 Correspondence - Evangelistic Council 1957-1958
BCR/41 Correspondence - Townsville Baptist Repertory Society 1957-1958
BCR/42 Annual reports 1949-1965
BCR/43 Annual reports 1963-1978
BCR/44 Townsville Baptist Church Golden Jubilee SouvenirBCR/45 The Townsville Baptist, vol. 1 no. 1, 1913 - vol. 3, no. 34, 1915 and vol. 3, no. 100, 1921
