Before Charles Strong: Broad Kirk Ministers in Victoria and Tasmania

Abstract

The paper explores the presence and influence of Broad Kirk Church of Scotland Ministers John Service (1833–1884), Peter Sinclair Menzies (1839–1874), and John Stobbs (1840–1882) in the Presbyterian Church of Victoria and Tasmania during the 1860s and 1870s, immediately before the arrival at the Scots’ Church, Melbourne of the Broad Kirk Minister, the Rev. Charles Strong (1844–1942), with whom all three had various associations. All four were also disciples of John Caird (1820–1898) and Norman MacLeod (1812–1872). Extensive new material is presented to supplement the account of C. R. Badger, the only current biographer of Strong, who touches on Service, Menzies, and Stobbs in a cursory manner.