A Field of Treasure
Taken from a History written by Auxiliary Captain Jim McKenna and the Corps History Book

“The Kingdom of Heaven is like treasure hid in a field”
( Matthew 13:44 )

The Eaglehawk area owes its existence to the fact that the precious metal gold was found in the Sandhurst Hills. Its name comes from the finding of a nest of an eaglehawk mother and her chicks. Thousands of people flocked to the area and the types of dwellings were many and varied, a modern health inspector would see this sort of township in their nightmares! Yet it was from this that the modern town grew. The Salvation Army, which was a young movement in Australia, found a challenge in the squalor and sin of the goldfields, and in 1883 “opened fire” in Bendigo. Soon the need was felt for our work to extend to Eaglehawk and on the 26th February 1885, the foundation stone of a new building was laid. In May of the same year, Captain James Bray took charge of the new Corps.

Eaglehawk was, at this time, a veritable hive of industry. Gold was as attractive as ever and people still lived in all sorts of dwellings, even tents and humpies. It is said that there was a pub and church on every corner. There was a great “west country” influence with men and women from the tin mines of Cornwell and Devon dominating. They brought with the religious fervour of the “Chapel”. This probably accounts for the large number of Methodist chapels. Also, they brought a great love for singing. This must, to some extent, account for the popularity of the Army.

The hall was built on land owned by The Sandhurst Mutual Permanent Investment and Building Society, with the Army taking full possession of it on the 18th June 1896. It is believed that the hall was the first wholly owned and built for The Salvation Army in Australia, with three walls constructed from brick and the back wall constructed from weatherboards, allowing for expansion if it was ever needed. It, along with the Brunswick Corps, is the only two Corps in the Australia Southern Territory that still remain in their original buildings.

At one time the hall is said to have accommodated over one thousand people, with some people arriving up to an hour early to get a seat, whilst others sat in the window frames. In the 1940’s the hall was divided into sections with the area of the platform becoming the quarters (home) for the officers. Further renovation works were conducted over the years, with a major renovation being undertaken in 2004, where the hall was completed gutted and rebuilt, with new offices, toilets, storeroom, kitchen and worship area.

As mines began to close for one reason or another and the miners began to move out, the Corps became a small one. However, it always remained an effective spiritual force in the district. Because of the scarcity of officers, the Corps was closed between 1924 and 1929.

Big Names

Many big names in Salvation Army circles are associated with Eaglehawk. Names like Captain Thomas Scotney, who was the father of Commissioner Scotney who was Territorial Commander of the Australia Eastern Territory; Captain William Shaw, who, with the rank of Colonel, was in charge of The Salvation Army War Service Department in Melbourne during World War Two; Lieutenant Ernest Briggs, known to many a serviceman of the Second A.I.F. as the “P.K. Kid”; Lieutenant-Colonel Lucille Turfrey who went on to be the Training Principal of the Army’s Officer Training College in Melbourne and then later served in the same role in Russia after the Army’s return in the early 1990’s.

Eaglehawk has given its share of full time Salvation Army officers. Some names include Frank Beasy; Eva Bassett; Fred Fischer; W. Kirkham and many more. In the War Cry article dated 6th September 1952, the heading of “Saved at Harvest Time to Sow and Reap” could be found over the report detailing the retirement of the now Brigadier Eva Bassett.

When Eva Bassett ‘as a girl in her teens’ attended her first Salvation Army meeting with her girlfriend in Eaglehawk, she little realised that this was a gateway to a life of service for God and others. It was on Harvest Festival Sunday she yielded her life to God at the Penitent form. Soon she became a soldier and shortly after moved to Swan Hill where she became treasurer and later entered Training College in Melbourne. In 1911 she began her officership at a Rescue Home in Brunswick. After much service in the social work in Australia she sailed in 1926 to India to become Matron of a new Rescue Home in Bombay. She was on homeland furlough at the beginning of World War Two in the Pacific and, being unable to return to India, was appointed pro-tem to The Haven as Matron, remaining there for ten years until her retirement. She died at Christmas in 1957.

Major Janet Wearne gives credit for her conversion to her mother, a Salvationist for forty years. The feature of the home life to which she looked back thankfully, was the family altar, which instilled a reverence for divine things and a firm belief in God. She was for forty years, an active officer until her retirement in 1936. The War Cry reported that in that time she had had only two social appointments and that she was a Corps Officer for rest of her service.

There is story that says that the wife of the Governor of a Pacific Island was walking the deck of the ship carrying her from Australia to her husband’s appointment. She was attracted by two orphaned children who were travelling in the care of an uncle to the same destination. She became so interested that she went to their cabin each evening to listen to their prayers. One sentence puzzled her and she asked, “What do they mean by ‘God Bless Adjie and Cappie?’”

The uncle explained that Adjie was short for Adjutant and that the Adjutant was Janet Wearne and he then went on to tell the story –

A young woman and her husband had been converted in the country town in which the Adjutant and her assistant were stationed. The father became sick and the Lassie Officer looked after him till he passed away. Soon came Farewell Orders and they moved to another town. The young widow, feeling depressed and dispirited, followed. She was frail and a great deal of the care fell on the Adjutant who continued to look after them after the mother’s death. Then the uncle came to take them away. Thus the experience of the Governor’s wife. This was the hallmark of Janet Wearne’s service in all of those field appointments, 38 in 34 years. She died at Eaglehawk after attending a Watchnight Service, and a New Year’s Day picnic.

Much of the information gathered here are the memories of the people of Eaglehawk. Mrs. Kirby (nee Watkins), was a Junior Soldier in 1903 when, at the age of eight, she stood up in beautiful white “anniversary” dress to say a recitation about the collection. “I stood like a statue”, she remembers. She needs no prompting to give her testimony in the meetings in 1972. Her mother came to the Army first then her father became converted. She remembers that when she was a girl there were three soldiers with only one of something. One had one leg; another had one arm and her father, one eye. She used to live the Biorama ran by the Army’s own film company. Crowds used to attend. The films were mainly comedy. Captain Bennett held a junior sewing class for Self Denial. A lovely big band with Ensign Baker, a woman officer, as leader. Barracks packed to the door – one hundred and fifty on the platform – Welsh and Cornish people who loved singing. Then the mines closed and people moved out.

There is the story of a time when the Corps got to a very low ebb and the Divisional Commander considered closing it down. The Officers prayed about it and one day a man came looking for a meal. During the conversation he said, “I’m a Salvationist, you know? I’m looking for work as a miner”. The Officer was an opportunist and suggested he sleep in the hall. In weeks his family and three other miners and their families had moved in. the Corps remained open during the depression.

For many years the Door Sergeant was a Brother Reade, a miner who was well known in the district. He is remembered for his testimony, which was always expressed in Scripture quotations. On Christmas Day, he used to take a collecting box around the family parties picnicking in the White Hills Gardens.

Envoy Gardiner

This man of God is remembered with love and affection by the Corps and with great respect in the country areas where he conducted a door-to-door business and did much collecting for Appeals.