Church History
The Newland Memorial church history begins in 1839 when the Rev. Ridgway William Newland arrived on the south coast with a small community of people from the Hanley district of North Staffordshire, England. He had purchased 560 acres of land at Encounter Bay (or Yilki, as it was known to the aboriginal population) in the new colony of South Australia and the new settlers began to build a community on the coast near what was then a small whaling settlement. Tents were erected and the first services were held in one of these.
By 1846 a chapel, 28′x19′ built of limestone with French doors opening on to a verandah had been built. It was a building with a thatched roof and a depiction of it can be seen in one of the stained glass windows of the present building. It was a proud moment for Newland when for the first time he preached from the pulpit of that little chapel.
At first the chapel was lit by whale oil lamps and tallow candles and the smell was anything but pleasant. Later, kerosene was used but any puff of wind would set the lamps flaring up and services were interrupted while they were attended to.
In 1850, members of that congregation formally formed themselves into a Congregational Church which continued until the union of the Congregational, Methdist and Presbyterian churches in 1977 formed the Uniting Church of Australia.
In 1867 a decision was taken to provide a place of worship in the rapidly developing Victor Harbor township. This had been foreseen by Newland before his death by accident in 1864 and it became a reality in 1869 with the opening of the new church there. This building was named the Newland Memorial Church in honour of the founder of this enterprise on the South Coast. This building is now part of the Church Hall. In the intervening two years there had been services held either in the dining room of the Crown Hotel or in a wool store. Fifty years later there was a need to extend the building and these extensions were completed and opened in 1919.
The 1920’s saw a great expansion in Victor Harbor and on at least one occasion there was an overflow congregation of 50-60 people on the steps listening to the service. Seeing the need for a new building, the congregation undertook the task with some urgency and the bulding that we have today was opened by Sir Henry Newland, grandson of the original pastor on the 22nd. October 1927.