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y separately published work icon The Grace of Goodness : John Saunders Baptist Pastor and Activist, Sydney 1834-1848 : a Documentary Biography single work   biography  
Issue Details: First known date: 2014... 2014 The Grace of Goodness : John Saunders Baptist Pastor and Activist, Sydney 1834-1848 : a Documentary Biography
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'Rev John Saunders (1806-1859) was the pioneer Baptist pastor in Sydney from 1834 to 1848. As well as established the first Baptist Church at Bathurst Street in 1836 he became a prominent activist in the religious and moral life of the colony. A leading figure in the temperance movement at a time when alcohol was still a major scourge, he was also a courageous and outspoken critic of the treatment of Aborigines by many British settlers at the fevered time of the trial of white men for the Myall Creek murders. Henry Reynolds called his sermon on this theme 'one of the most eloquent presentations of humanitarian doctrine' from that period.' (Source: Back cover)

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Works about this Work

‘The Grace of Goodness’. John Saunders: Baptist Pastor and Activist, 1834–1848. A Documentary Biography : Review Kate Hunter , 2016 single work review
— Appears in: Australian Historical Studies , vol. 47 no. 1 2016; (p. 187)
— Review of The Grace of Goodness : John Saunders Baptist Pastor and Activist, Sydney 1834-1848 : a Documentary Biography Ken R. Manley , Barbara J. Coe , 2014 single work biography 'Baptist minister Rev. John Saunders is probably best known for his fiery sermon in 1838 during the Myall Creek trial, in which he scorched the NSW squattocracy for their barbarous treatment of local Aboriginal peoples. If you are not familiar with the sermon, ‘The Grace of Goodness’ is worth reading for this alone. But beyond Saunders’ humane and liberal views on the treatment of local peoples, this volume of his collected writings traverses several key issues of the colony in the 1830s and 1840s. Leading church historian Ken Manley and researcher Barbara Coe describe this book as a documentary biography, and they have produced a valuable and lively volume. Saunders was a generous correspondent with family and with the press. His writings are presented thematically, showing Saunders’ deep concern particularly with temperance and education in the colony. Manley and Coe have ensured the texts are richly and carefully annotated and each section is placed usefully in context. There is wonderful detail in Saunders’ writings on immigration and the long sea journey, religious family life and the preoccupations of siblings, and associational and public life in mid-nineteenth-century Sydney. The appendices offer strong genealogical information on Saunders’ family, and delightfully, a detailed list of those who subscribed to the building fund for the Baptist chapel on Bathurst Street and their occupations, from pastoralist Henry Dangar to servants and convict shoemakers. ...'
‘The Grace of Goodness’. John Saunders: Baptist Pastor and Activist, 1834–1848. A Documentary Biography : Review Kate Hunter , 2016 single work review
— Appears in: Australian Historical Studies , vol. 47 no. 1 2016; (p. 187)
— Review of The Grace of Goodness : John Saunders Baptist Pastor and Activist, Sydney 1834-1848 : a Documentary Biography Ken R. Manley , Barbara J. Coe , 2014 single work biography 'Baptist minister Rev. John Saunders is probably best known for his fiery sermon in 1838 during the Myall Creek trial, in which he scorched the NSW squattocracy for their barbarous treatment of local Aboriginal peoples. If you are not familiar with the sermon, ‘The Grace of Goodness’ is worth reading for this alone. But beyond Saunders’ humane and liberal views on the treatment of local peoples, this volume of his collected writings traverses several key issues of the colony in the 1830s and 1840s. Leading church historian Ken Manley and researcher Barbara Coe describe this book as a documentary biography, and they have produced a valuable and lively volume. Saunders was a generous correspondent with family and with the press. His writings are presented thematically, showing Saunders’ deep concern particularly with temperance and education in the colony. Manley and Coe have ensured the texts are richly and carefully annotated and each section is placed usefully in context. There is wonderful detail in Saunders’ writings on immigration and the long sea journey, religious family life and the preoccupations of siblings, and associational and public life in mid-nineteenth-century Sydney. The appendices offer strong genealogical information on Saunders’ family, and delightfully, a detailed list of those who subscribed to the building fund for the Baptist chapel on Bathurst Street and their occupations, from pastoralist Henry Dangar to servants and convict shoemakers. ...'
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Last amended 26 Jul 2016 15:08:40
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