6o ADELAIDE AND VICINITY The Builders to "make known the great need of a priest in their midst," and through them a petition w;is sent to Archbishoj) Holding in Sydney. As an outcome, the Very Rev. W. B. Ullalhorne, I);D., visited the tlock in June, 1840. Writes the venerable gentleman : — " A very large room was given us by a liberal Protestant, where I erected a tem|X)rary altar, where, surrounded by crockery, hardware, and miscellaneous articles, I preached my first public sermon in the capital of South Australia." After organising the Catholics to collect the means to erect a place of worship. Dr. Ullathorne returned to Sydney. " The Rev. Mr. Benson was duly appointed by the Vicar Apostolic, and left Sydney by the brig Dorset, February 14, 1841, for his mission in South Australia. He was a quiet, delicate gentleman, and scarcely ever left the city. He hired a wooden building which stood near the corner of Topham and Waymouth Streets, and lived in a small slab hut in rear of his temporary chapel. The building will be remembered by old colonists as having previously served for a time as a police court. Father Benson's health completely gave way during the heat of January, 1843. He returned to Sydney in the following April, and afterwards left for England, and died at Wolverhampton in 1868. at the ripe age of "j^i" Thus Dr. Ullathorne and the Rev. Mr. Benson founded the Roman Catholic Church. Mr. I). McLaren, besides his assistance to the Wesleyans, was practically the founder of the first Baptist Church. The congregations first met in the School Society's building in the park lands, but after the Wesleyans vacated the chapel in Hindley Street they took charge of it. The Rev. George Stonehouse arrived in 1845 to take control. The Rev. Ralph Drummond, described as a divine of the John Knox stamp, was the first minister of the United Presbyterian Church. He arrived in June, 1839, and commenced service in a small building in Angas Street. So earnest in his work was he, that to meet scattered members of his Church he frequently walked to the F"inniss, to Strathalbyn, and Mount Barker. He died in 1872, at the age of 80 years. The first minister of the Established Presbyterian Church of Scotland was the Rev. Robert Haining. who landed at Port Adelaide in 1841. He held his opening services in Trinity Church, North Terrace- a happy arrangement suggestive of true Christian union. The congregations subsequently met in Hindley Street, but in 1844 an edifice was erected in Grenfell Street. Mr. Haining died at Glenelg in 1874. The.se, in their order, were the first Churches established in South Australia. In after years various other denominations were founded. Magnificent places of worship have lx:en erected in recent years. According to the census of 1891, the number of |)ersons (over a thousand) representing different denominations were:— Church of England, 89,271: Wesleyan, 49,159; Roman Catholic, 47,179; Lutheran, 23,328; Presbyterian, 18.206: Baptist, 17.757; Hible Christian, 15,762; Congregational, 11,882; Primitive Methfxlisi. 11,654; .Salvation Army, 4,356; Church of Christ, 3,367; and Confucian.s, etc., 3,884.
