Benjamin Glennie Diary (1848-1860)

Background

Benjamin Glennie accompanied Dr. W. Tyrrell, first Bishop of Newcastle, to New South Wales in 1848. After being appointed Deacon at Morpeth, Glennie was transferred to the Moreton Bay settlement to replace the Reverend John Gregor who had drowned in suspicious circumstances at Nundah on Brisbane’s outskirts. Despite experiencing great difficulties, Glennie was able to increase the Anglican congregation in Brisbane and, as well as conducting regular services in Ipswich, he made a wide-ranging pastoral tour of the Darling Downs.  Following his ordination as a priest in 1849 Glennie was appointed to Drayton and between 1850 and 1860 he became responsible for the entire Darling Downs district. Travelled vast distances every year on foot or horseback, Glennie established numerous congregations and embarked on a large-scale building program for the Anglican Church. In 1863 he left the Darling Downs following his appointment as first Archdeacon of Brisbane and by 1877 Glennie was training the first local candidates for holy orders. Retiring in 1886, Glennie died in Brisbane in 1900 and although he was not the colony’s first Anglican clergyman he was acknowledged as the pioneer of the Anglican ministry in Queensland. His legacy also lives on through the foundation of The Glennie School in Toowoomba in 1908.

 

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