Gunning & District Historical Society

John Alchin Junior: Jerrawa to Illabo  Article by Garry Smith The Reverend Benjamin Hurst who baptised John Alchin into the Methodist Church in 1853 John Alchin Junior (1853-1916) was born at Jerrawa near Dalton on 15 October 1853. He was baptised by Methodist Minister Benjamin Hurst of the Goulburn District on 30 October 1853. John Alchin was the first-born child of John and Martha (nee Johnson) Alchin. John’s parents lived their married lives in the Dalton area. John Senior was a farmer, recorded on the electoral rolls for Yass Plains and Yass at Oolong Creek, Jerrawa and Dalton from 1859 until his death at Dalton in 1901. John Alchin Junior did not receive a formal education. He grew up in the Dalton area and became a labourer. On 7 February 1876, at the age of twenty-three years, John married Sarah Ann Atkins at Dalton. Sarah Ann Atkins was the daughter of John and Emma (nee Plumb) Atkins and was born at Moreton Bay on 18 August 1855. Emma Plum Atkins marr...

Keith Brown, Ann Darbyshire and Garry Smith inside the Gunning Uniting Church (Photograph by Malia Smith) As a descendant of the Alchin Family of Gunning, Dalton, Jerrawa and various other places, I was pleased to visit the Uniting Churches at Gunning and Dalton in early March this year. Malia and I were warmly welcomed by Keith Brown and Ann Darbyshire and given access to both churches. It was a rewarding opportunity to see the interior of both places of worship. Robert & Lucy Bayley Window Of particular interest was the stained-glass window in the Gunning church dedicated to Robert and Lucy (nee Waters) Bayley. It is always gratifying to find such an artefact that has such relevance to my own family history research. Having the opportunity to examine the architecture and interior fittings of both churches underlines the simplicity of these churches but yet makes clear the ethos of the Wesleyan/Methodist approach to the “business” of worship. The contrast ...