Missions W-X-Y-Z
| Name | Abstract |
|---|---|
| Wandering Brook (1944-1973) |
Saint Francis Xavier Mission had an unhappy staffing record with the Sisters. It was primarily desgined as an orphanage for mixed descent children under removal orders, which was its major source of revenue and the cause of its eventual demise. |
| Weipa (1898-1919) |
Weipa became the first branch mission of Mapoon in a string of roughly equidistant missions along the West coast of Cape York under the direction of British Moravian Rev. Edwin Brown until 1919. Its purpose was to prevent recruiting for the trepang and pearling industry in the area. |
| Wellington Valley (1832-1843) |
Wellington Valley was the first mission in Australia to employ ordained Germans. It was founded by the Anglican Church Missionary Society in 1832 with the financial support of the NSW Colonial Government. Unfortunately, its history was marred by internal strife, first between the Englishman William Watson and his co-labourer Johann Handt, and then between Watson and Handt's successor, Jakob (James) Günther. After Watson was dismissed from Wellington Valley in 1840, he and his wife began a new, rival mission nearby, known as Apsley. The original mission closed in 1843 and is generally considered to have been a complete failure, since it made no lasting conversions. Handt and Günther remained in Australia, Handt working for a time as a missionary and chaplain in Moreton Bay, and Günther becoming a parish priest. |
| Yorke Peninsula (Point Pearce) (1867-1915) |
A citizen initiative responding to mining around Port Pirie, established by Moravian Pastor Julius Kühn, and later involving Francis Gillen. This mission achieved what many others aspired - to engage Aboriginal people in productive work with a financial benefit. |
| Zion Hill Mission (1838-1848) |
This was the first mission in what later became Queensland. It was intensively staffed yet surprisingly harmonious, and functioned to facilitate the settlement of Moreton Bay. Some of the Zion Hill missionaries themselves became pioneer farmers of the emerging state of Queensland, imprinting their names on the modern Brisbane map: Rode Road in Chermside and Wavell Heights, Zillman Water Holes, Zillmere, and Zillman Road in Hendra, Gerler Road in Hendra, Franz Road in Clayfield, Wagner Road in Clayfield, Nique Court at Redcliffe, Haussmann Courts and lanes in Meadowbrook (Loganlea) and Caboolture. They are remembered as the first free settlers of Queensland, producing the first free-born settler children in Queensland. |