- As mentioned in one last issue, we now give a biographical account of the life of the late Rev David Milne, Tatiara's grand old man.
The Rev Milne was born in Rotherhithe, London, on August 27,1827, and was the second son of Mr George Milne, a working cutler in Stepney. These particulars were obtained from the baptismal record of the Scotch Church, St Vincent, Stepney, a copy of which is held by Mrs Milne. His early life was spent at public schools, but as was customary in those days, he was early sent to work, utilising the evenings for advancement in education. Mr Milne tried first the trade of bookbinding, but not suiting him, he next attempted the printing, and must have spent several months at it, for (as we know) he was conversant with the technical terms of the trade appliances. This trade interfered with his health, so he had to leave it, selecting for life that of a shoemaker, for which he served his time.
His young life showed a tendency towards the Church, and from 15 years of age he was an attendant at the Methodist Church, being converted at 18. He became imbued with the spirit of Christianity, and in his spare time visited the Ragged Boy's School as a teacher and preacher of the Gospel. For several years he carried this out, and at 23 he was married to Miss Phoebe Sarah Taylor, of Lambeth Walk, London, in December 1850.
With his wife he decided to emigrate to the Golden Land Australia, and set sail in the Shackamaxon (Mrs Scown snr being a fellow passenger of his) and arrived at Port Adelaide in January 1853. They at once went on to Adelaide, taking the car of those days, the bullock dray, over horribly boggy roads, and spent the first night in Adelaide at the Black Horse Hotel in Leigh Street, now demolished. He at once opened in trade of shoemaker, and later had a general store in King William Street, spending his after hours in preaching and visiting the Hills district. In 1858 he left for Uraidla, there to open in shoemaking, taking into partnership, Mr Wm. Radford, a companion in Christian work. Three years of happy life were spent here, and then the wife died (March 1861) leaving four children alive, 3 dying in infancy. The family then were — Mrs Thos Driver (Phoebe), Summertown; Mrs Thos Farrow (Teresa), one time of Nth Leeor, Victoria; Edward William, of Bordertown; and Mrs Andrew Marshall (Sarah Ann), who died near Bordertown.
After the death of his wife, Mr Milne felt that it was his duty to go and preach the Gospel, and he accepted a position of missionary under the Bush Mission, and made his first trip to the South East in December 1861, riding his horse through from Adelaide to Port McDonnell. Whilst in this district, he had the misfortune to sprain his foot, and Mr Cook, of Kingston, conveyed him back to Adelaide in the barque "Swallow." A part of this vessel may now be seen at Kingston.
On his return to Uraidla, he was married in February 1862 to Grace Bray, daughter of Catherine Bray, a widow with four daughters and one son, the father dying in Cornwall, England. A fortnight after the ceremony he left his wife with the care of his four children, and arriving in Adelaide he was again conveyed in the Swallow to his work, this time to Kingston. He then took on what he termed his round trip, starting from Kingston and working to Mount Gambier, then Penola, Narracoorte, Padthaway, Tatiara, on to Wellington and Adelaide, the trip taking three months. He thus journeyed over his district four times a year. His diary gave him as visiting the shepherds hut, the splitters camp, the shearers shed, etc, preaching and teaching the gospel of the Lord Jesus. After three years of these trips using Uraidla as a working centre, he found that that town was too far away from his work, and taking his wife and family settled in Kingston, building what is now known in that town as Vine Cottage.
Five years in all he was with the Bush Mission, two years being spent with Kingston as a centre. This organisation then closed up, the composers recognising his sterling worth by presenting him with a large illustrated Family Bible as a token of esteem of his services on their be half. Mr Milne then decided to form a church at Kingston, and adopted the Congregational, preaching in the old school room near the police station. He was ordained in this room by the Revs F W Cox and C Manthorpe in 1866. He labored at Kingston for 7 years, building the church now held by the Church of England denomination, yet continuing his trips through Robe, Narracoorte and Tatiara, Mount Gambier then being well served. Finding the Tatiara becoming well settled, and with the pioneering blood well in his veins, he came to these parts, and with his wife and family landed here in February 1873 to establish the Congregational movement.
He saw the first settlement of the Tatiara with such men as Messrs Adamson and Wiese. In his early trips he used to preach in what was known as the Green Room of the Woolshed Hotel (premises now held privately by Messrs C. Lewis and Connell), the landlord supplying him with a washstand as a pulpit. After a time the landlord protested against the services being held in his house, and the rev. gentleman then preached in a room at the police station.
A school being required in the district, he stirred among the settlers, and a wooden building was erected on the site now occupied by the school residence. It was used on week days as a school and on the Sunday for Divine service. This place was afterwards taken by the Education department. Messrs Thos Adamson and A G F Wiese then associated with him in the building of the present Congregational Church, which was erected in 1880, the Rev W. Roby Fletcher, then leading Congregational preacher of the State, performing the opening ceremony. When Mr Milne came to the Tatiara, he abolished the round trip with the exception of Padthaway.
He first met the Lawson family on his first trip through the South East, and the loving friendship was continued through life, Mr Milne paying his last visit to the station in July of this year. He continued as Pastor of the Bordertown church until 1894, four years previously to this date accepting an appointment under the Parkin Mission Board to make preaching and visiting trips throughout the Desert from Frances to Murray Bridge, and his name is revered throughout all these parts as a friend of the settler, one who gave advice willingly and was ever ready to cheer on the efforts of the mighty fighters of the then virgin country.
In 1894, the time he closed his pastorate in Bordertown, he found his double task too heavy, and thinking the local church would get on better with a younger man, resigned, but held his appointment under the Board. The Rev Pearse, who takes the Anniversary services here on Sunday, followed him. Mr Milne retained the Parkin appointment until 1902, when he felt that he was too old, and that his life of usefulness had ended.
From this period until 1906 he practically rested then he carried out a long cherished wish of going to England to see the people of his district. Disappointment availed him as he only saw one face of the days of his youth. However, a happy time was spent, and he and Mrs Milne returned in October same year, thus spending 6 months away from their home of adoption. We might mention that Mr Milne's wish was to return home to see his four sisters whom he had left 54 years before. Since his return two have crossed the bourne.
After relinquishing his charge, he urged on the congregation the necessity of obtaining a manse, and after a big fight gained his purpose, and the premises one time occupied by the National bank was secured. Both buildings are freehold and out of debt. Whilst in church work Mr Milne started churches at Pooginagoric and Mundalla, the latter charge being afterwards relinquished in favor of Cannawigra.
Apart from church work, Mr Milne was a strenuous worker in the interests of the district, and was a member on hundreds of deputations to the district council and to ministers of the various governments. He was a striver in securing the railway to the district. Privately, he was a travelling encyclopedia, a man of reference, for the settlers of the huge district, as he had to carry out the land transactions, arrange for loans, and goodness knows what, and not one instance is recorded where his judgment was at fault. He was one of the workers in the Institute movement, and was the first to urge such a building for Bordertown. His suggestion was seized on instantly, and with such men as Messrs Adamson, Boothby, Wiese, Scott, Watson and Cleggett, an institute soon became an accomplished fact. He adhered to the institute, and when a couple of years ago his fellow trustees hesitated over the erection of a new building, he ridiculed their timidity and urged faith in the people and the district. Constancy of purpose
gained the trustees in favor, and we have now one of the few fine Institutes in South Australia. When the foundation stone was to be placed in position, the committee unanimously resolved that the honor should be his, and on May 24th of last year he performed the ceremony in the presence of an immense number of people. At the opening of the building he was present, and all speakers referred to the pleasure it had given them to see Father Milne present and his desire consummated.
Need we speak further of his life? A book could be written and then many important items left out. The life was revered wherever felt, and the people showed their expressions by love and the showering of gifts. Mr Milne received three illuminated addresses and heavy purses of sovereigns from the people, and a host of smaller donations. Even when leaving the London Ragged School for Australia, the inmates marked his kindness of heart and presented him with a copy of Calmen's Bible-Dictionary. The book is now a much-prized relic in the home of his son, Mr Herbert Milne, to whom he handed it on.
Mr Milne's outside hobby was gardening, and his home about a mile from the township testifies that he was an expert at his recreation. Ever practical, his gardening shows of this order, the plots being filled with recognised market topping fruit trees and vines, and vegetables of the choicest. Blooms were also cultivated, giving a cheeriness to the home. Mr Milne loved his garden and could always be found caring and tending. Just before his illness he pruned all the trees and with his fork dug around each.
The rigours of his early life's work — the riding through miles and miles of country in nature's grandeur in all weathers, the distances travelled in (as Mr J B Makin once remarked in a public testimony to the old gentleman) the "hob-nailed express" visiting the settlers — had no effect on his physical life; rather, it hardened him as the sturdy oak, and sickness was unknown to him. Even within the last year of his life he invariably walked the distance to and fro to worship and also took a class in the Sunday school. He frequently filled the local pulpit, and at times journeyed over his old country — Frances to Coonalpyn — preaching and renewing friendships of the pioneer days. The youngest to the oldest all experienced a pleasure in meeting Father Milne, and the much loved figure now lost will long remain a monument in the brain of the people of the Tatiara and Border Downs.
The family by the second wife now living are — Mr George Milne, Bordertown; Mr William, Hergott Springs ; Mrs Jenner, Renmark; Rev David, of Sedan; Frederick Louis, Bordertown; Alfred Ernest, of Bordertown; Mrs Gilbert Ferguson, Glencoe; Herbert, Bordertown; Arthur Horace, Adelaide; Clement, Adelaide; Ethel Catherine, Bordertown; Percy Bray, Parkside, There are 47 grandchildren and 2 great grand-children.
Rev David Milne. (1910, October 7). Border Chronicle (Bordertown, SA : 1908 - 1950), p. 3. Retrieved April 29, 2022, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article212440436
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1827 - 1910 (82 years)
