United Welsh Church

History of the United Welsh Church, presented by members of the congregation and community, on the 140th anniversary of the church building, Sunday 4th October 2026

“A religious community exists at Blackstone which, on account of the novelty of its composition, operation and government, deserves more than a passing notice.”

So stated a Queensland Times correspondent on Tuesday, 19th October, 1886 in the introductory paragraph of his  report on the opening of the Union Welsh Church which was ready for occupation on the 1st October 1886. It would seem that this “religious commonwealth” and its “pretty, well finished  little church”, to further quote the correspondent, has indeed been worthy of more than a “passing notice” as here we are 140 years later sitting amongst that same Church fellowship in the same building which is essentially the same as that which was dedicated in October 1886. Externally, it has changed a little in character, but the interior has remained virtually intact for those 140 years.

Whilst today we don’t have the 500 people who reportedly attended the opening tea meeting and concert, we can capture something of the spirit of that early congregation as we take the time to reflect on the stories of those original Welsh settlers here in Blackstone and of all of those since that time and also reflect on our connections to them. Each has played an integral role in shaping the history of this United Welsh Church and the local community and we celebrate with gratitude and joy what we have today and what has been.

The Welsh fellowship in 1886 was described as a “religious commonwealth”, a term which bears some explanation. 

For those who are not familiar with this Church, it needs to be said that its name is the United Welsh Church. It is completely independent of all denominational affiliations and has been a united body, a commonwealth, since its inception in 1883. It could be described as a Non-Conformist Christian fellowship in the Welsh tradition. It is the only remaining Welsh Church in Queensland; others had also been established in some of Queensland’s mining towns. Moreover, it is one of only three Welsh churches in Australia.

In the 1880’s, Blackstone was a flourishing little township with a flow of Welsh immigrants arriving to work the coal seams and many of them wished to worship together in their first language, Welsh. Thus it was that in 1883  Primitive Methodists, Presbyterians, Baptists, Congregationalists, Wesleyan Methodists and Anglicans came together to form a new church.

It would not have been easy and early records acknowledge that there were ups and downs but they also reveal the pride of the early Church members in the fact that they were united. At the sixth Anniversary of the Church in 1889, we are able to read comments such as, “Our Church is a very broad one.”; “unity is important. We should all be united spiritually in this world.”; “ the idea of a  united congregation is successfully carried out here in Blackstone, and that much good has been the issue – a result which, we trust, will widen and strengthen as time goes on.”

And we are here today to testify to the fact that this has certainly been the case. 

Services were first held in a Wesleyan Methodist Church in Newtown which was empty at the time and an agreement was reached to the effect that the Welsh people could use it so long as they cleaned it regularly and maintained it by undertaking necessary repairs. As numbers attending church increased, a new  home was found in a cottage on Blackstone Hill, lent by Mr Lewis Thomas, the principal coal owner in the neighbourhood and himself a sturdy Welshman. This was preferable to the people owing to the fact that it was much easier to walk to there rather than to Newtown. Mr Lewis gave the building free of charge and ensured that it was set up with seats suitable for worship. 

The size of the congregation continued to grow and accommodating all who wished to attend was becoming something of a problem. Mr Thomas was approached for permission to enlarge the building. He, instead, suggested that they should build a new church and moreover, he offered some land on which to build and which would be for the Welsh people “A hwn I fod yn eiddo tra rhed dwr” – as long as water flows. Those words were written in Welsh on the Church deeds. The area is about half an acre and includes the Church yard, the allotment next door, the soccer field and the land down to railway line at the back.

The architect of the building was Mr Samuel Shenton and the builders were Messrs. Worley and Whitehead who also built the National Hall in Booval, now the Cambrian Centre. To finance the project it was necessary to borrow the sum of 300 pounds from Lewis Thomas. The cost of the original building was 425 pounds, but other items, such as fencing, brought the total cost to 488 pounds 14shillings and one penny.

A Building Fund was opened and contributions to this fund initially amounted to 161 pounds 10 shillings; all male members had previously pledged themselves to contribute at least one Pound towards the effort; many, however, made higher donations, even 5 pounds which in those days of small wages was an exceptionally fine contribution. Other methods of fundraising were bazaars and tea meetings and members could be allotted a family pew for which a quarterly charge was made, this charge being made until the Church was paid for. Church membership at the time was about 80 people, with a Sunday School attendance of around 90.

Within six months, the Church was built, with it being described by an early secretary of the Church as “a handsome structure of our own”. It was a single walled building which finished at the back doors and without the front vestibule that you passed through today.  The stained glass windows in the current back doors were presented to the Church by the Blackstone St David’s Society in 1985. The front windows were louvred and, as you can see, there is a continuous open – fretwork ventilation system running the full length of the church walls. 

It was a fairly basic building; we do not know about the seating but they were not the pews that you are sitting on today. However, it was an adaptable space. Newspaper descriptions of the tea meetings, concerts and services held up until 1889 at least suggest that tables and seating would be set up in here and remember that they would be catering for numbers of 200 to 300 people and then following the food, the building would be put in readiness for the concert, public meeting or service that was to follow.

However, the Queensland Times correspondent in 1886 did state that “there was a tastefully-constructed pulpit (not the one we see today), furnished with cushions and hangings situated at the northern end of the building” and for the opening weekend “ a piano was kindly lent by Beale & Co”.

At the Church Anniversary Tea Meeting held on 23rd July 1891, at which 300 people were present, the Treasurer was pleased to announce that the debt on the Church was cleared. Quite an achievement! 

Feeling confident, the members then made the decision for improvements to be undertaken. In the Queensland Times of the 6th September 1892, there is a detailed report of a grand celebration of three services to mark the reopening of the Church after it closed for alterations and repairs. This time, the work was supervised by well known Ipswich architect, George Brockwell Gill who had also worked on Lewis Thomas’s home Brynhyfryd a few years earlier.

According to the newspaper, the congregations were large, with ‘ the holding capacity of the building being taxed to the uttermost.” A new wing was added, forming a T , to be used as a vestry, Sunday School and a place for holding small meetings. It was to be furnished with some of the old seats from the Church. The walls were painted in a delicate grey colour, with the ceiling in cream and sienna and the walls had stencilled borders and a frieze.

A new pulpit of cedar, with a cedar pediment was added and, below the pulpit, a rostrum was constructed to make the Church resemble as much as possible the chapels in Wales. This is where the Choir is sitting today. The rostrum was to be used especially by the deacons and elders as was the custom in Welsh chapels.  

It was up to this rostrum, known affectionately as “the Big Seat”, that Sunday School children would come once a month during a service to recite Bible verses before the Deacons. This practice continued into the 1930’s with stories being told that it was not uncommon for boys, in particular, to be reprimanded by the Deacons for their choices of the shortest verses in the Bible and for frequent repetition of verses!

What we see today is the work of a few decades later when the rostrum rails were swung across the church; previously, the aisles went straight through to the back doors and there was no raised platform. Removable staging was erected for anniversaries when there were choirs and an orchestra. Hen roosts were also a feature on those occasions.  At some stage, the men must have become tired of all the erecting and pulling down and a permanent raised area was constructed.

New pews, the ones we are still using, were installed. They are of Bunya pine with beech and cedar panels at the ends. The pew, pulpit and rostrum rails were varnished while the hand rails and newels were French polished. The aisles were carpeted and, according to the Queensland Times , two rows of ‘very artistic lamps’ were a feature.

The whole cost was estimated to be around 400 Pounds. To quote the 1892 correspondent , “The building is now one of which the Blackstone people may well be proud and we congratulate them on the enterprise and love for their church which they have displayed.”

This is very much the church we have today, with new carpets, electric lights rather than gas lamps but still on the same bars and a new seat in the pulpit which was donated by Mr. J. Reid in honour of the 50th Anniversary of the Church Fellowship in 1933.

In the Jubilee History of the Church, written in 1933 by Mr. Lewis David Lewis, a Church trustee, he states, “on the 16th February, 1913, the death of the greatest benefactor of this district is recorded; that of the Hon. Lewis Thomas who undoubtedly, through his generosity in the early days, assisted greatly in the establishment of this Church in Blackstone and also in making it a permanent institution.”

Whilst this is certainly true, it is important to also acknowledge his brother, Thomas Thomas who played an integral role in the foundation of the Church as a fellowship. Thomas managed Aberdare Collieries on behalf of his brother and some years later became the overseer of all of his brother’s properties. He was one of the founders of the United Welsh Church and on the first board of trustees, whilst also officiating in the Church, without accepting renumeration, until it was in a position to have an ordained minister. He was highly respected and greatly liked by the community. It has been said that he greatly encouraged his brother, Lewis, in his acts of philanthropy in the Ipswich community, from which many benefited. However, it must be said that, for someone who lacked formal education it would seem that Lewis Thomas had a real thirst for and love of music, poetry, education and faith, some would say typical of a Welshman.

Lewis Thomas lived in his magnificent home, “Brynhyfryd” on the hill at the top of Thomas Street and there are several features of that home in this Church which serve as a constant reminder of the Thomas family. Firstly, the beautiful glass doors which stand at the front entrance to the Church. These are one of the sets of etched glass doors which graced the interior of “Brynhyfryd”. They were removed by the then owners of the home, Rylance Collieries, prior to their  demolition of “Brynhyfryd” in the 1930’s and given to the Church. A group of tradesmen from the Church then designed and built the arched vestibule in 1937 to accommodate them. Crossing that vestibule, you walked across tiles which also came from the Thomas home and surrounds of one of “Brynhyfryd”’s  cedar fireplaces have been converted into a combined Welsh pioneers/WW2 memorial in more recent times. Then there is the piano which was donated to the Church by one of Lewis Thomas’s great-granddaughters. Mrs Bailey and her family wished it to be back here, close to its original home.

With the Welsh people’s great love of singing and the spoken word, accommodation had to be made for choirs and performers and mention has been made of the removable staging and this raised area. 

Mr Shillito from Ipswich praised the Welsh people of Blackstone for the excellent quality of their entertainments. He remarked that “when he came to Blackstone, on any occasion, he did so with the fullest expectation of hearing some of the best musical talent of West Moreton and he could say that he was never disappointed.”

At the same celebration, a visiting preacher, Rev. J.M. James said:  “Welshmen were, as a rule, religious and, whatever might be said about his brains, no one could say anything against the quality of a Welshman’s heart.” 

The members of the Welsh Church certainly loved their music with all their hearts and took it all very seriously.

As we know of the 19th Century, reports in newspapers were very detailed and could also be very blunt. Reading them from our modern perspective, they can be very humorous as well. Here are two examples taken from Queensland Times articles on concerts in this church in the late 1880’s:

1886: referring to a lady’s solo; ‘her choice of song was not a happy one. It did not give her sufficient scope to display her excellent contralto voice and we know that she can sing a lot better then she did on Saturday.” At the same concert; “The Huntsmen’s Chorus” highly pleased the audience, though at times the chorus was not up to time.”

1888: “The singing was of such a character that handkerchiefs were freely used throughout the building, and the chairman remarked that after that beautiful singing, he saw himself smaller than ever.”

It was not only on special occasions that the singing was of a high standard, in ordinary services, too, the congregation sang in parts  and it is said that the singing in church services could be heard at the top of Silkstone Hill. One of the earliest appointments made in the fledgling church was the appointment of a Blaenor y Gan, precentor, whose role it was to be responsible for the music of the church and to lead the congregational singing at every service. 

Up until 1888 there was no musical instrument in the Church but it would seem that  a very determined effort to raise money for an organ was undertaken. An organ, worth fifty pounds, was purchased in mid 1888 but, imagine their disappointment when it was all but destroyed by the 1893 flood , the waters of which were almost up to the top windows of the church.

Reminders of the great choral tradition of the Welsh and this Church in particular include the old organ. We are not sure when it was purchased but what appears to be this organ is pictured in a photo of the early days of the Church and it was played every week until 1986 when an electric organ was donated to the Church. The current organ is the second since 1986 and I think its days are numbered, so these modern organs have certainly not given the lengthy service of the older pump organ. 

There is also a simple wooden box which houses a conductor’s baton that is symbolic, not only of the part played by music in the life of this Church, but also of the heart and soul of the people and their dedication to music. This baton was presented to Mr. W.D. Jones by the members of the Church Choir in recognition of his long years of service as precentor and conductor of the choir which was a fine choir, achieving great success in eisteddfodau. The baton bears a number of small silver plaques in commemoration of some of those successes. Highly respected and much loved by members of the Church, he served as musical leader for 53 years, was also Deputy Conductor of the Blackstone-Ipswich Cambrian Choir for a time and also musical director of the St David’s Society Choir. Thus, providing inspiration and training to several generations of choristers in the community.

Throughout the decades there has always been a loyal body of men and women who have rendered service to the Church in renovating, reconstructing and in countless other ways in improving the church property. A very active Ladies Guild has been tireless in organising functions to fund such works. From minutes of meetings and newspaper reports, it would seem that food and singing have always been high priorities in these endeavours. And there were, of course, the decorations such as those described at a tea meeting in 1943 when tables “were decorated with beautiful peach blossoms in tuile puffings, in tonings of pink, orange and green.”

Major changes to the Church building occurred in 1920 when the single lined building was clad with champfer boards “to uplift the appearance of the building to meet the standards of the time.”  (Emrys Jones) and again in 1975 when, with the coming of sewerage to Blackstone, an extension to the vestry was necessary to house two toilets. Then, in more recent times, there was the major construction of a ramp to the rear of the building to, once again, meet new standards, but also to make life a little easier for all.

Of ongoing concern since 1886 has been the fences! Look at the photos of the early church and look at the fences today – picket fences to simple rails, without wire or palings. That is for a reason: floods.

A Queensland Times article of the 28th January, 1887 reads: “All Thursday night and Friday a continual downpour of rain took place and, on Friday, the Bundamba Creek overflowed its banks in such a short space of time that the people living on the flat, near Mr. Lewis Thomas’s railway and the Bundamba Bridge were compelled to hurriedly leave their homes and seek shelter for the night wherever they could find accommodation. The Welsh Union Church fences and some water tanks from the adjoining homes were completely carried away.” In 1974 the Church Minutes stated that there was no church on the 27th January owing to the flood. Men were rescued by helicopter from the Big Tree outside. Waters rose to a few centimetres above floor level. Members of the Church were overwhelmed by the support given by friends and societies locally, and from interstate and overseas. This was also the case a few years ago when many of you here today contributed in various ways to the replacement of our fence line.  Therefore, we have no wire or palings to let the waters flow through and the battens are on hinges, in the hope that they will lift up as the waters surge to allow a flow through. Another well recorded flood was the one in 1893, as mentioned earlier. So nothing much changes. After all, we are on a flood plain.

This is a Queensland heritage listed building and one of the criteria for registration is that the place has to demonstrate a strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group. The statement for this Church building states that “ as a venue for church services, social events and eisteddfodau, the place has been closely associated with the social, cultural and spiritual life of Blackstone and the wider Queensland community since 1886.”

If these walls could speak, or maybe it is more appropriate to say “sing” , they would sing with “hwyl”, a Welsh term meaning great spirit and feeling, of church services, Sunday school, prayer meetings, weddings, funerals, eisteddfodau, gymanfa ganu, concerts, public meetings and addresses, Anzac services, drama club presentations, bowls club, working bees, gymnasium, movie nights, and the singing of the Cambrian Choir of today, the list could go on, to sing of fun and laughter and all the features of a well-balanced community, ‘a broad church’, as envisioned back in 1886 for ‘as long as water flows’. 

Well, the water still flows across this site and the Welsh church is still here so I think we’re meant to be here, just as the Welsh people of 1886 would have hoped.

In the words of the Psalmist, as shared by a speaker at the Anniversary service in 1889, “The Lord hath done great things for us, whereso of we are glad.”