Ven. Canon W. H. Coombs,
INCUMBENT of St. George's Church, Gawler, Canon of Adelaide, and Rural Dean, born at Marlborough, Wiltshire, England; educated at St. Bees' College, and ordained by Bishop Bloomfield at St. Paul's Cathedral, London. Arrived in South Australia in 1846, as missionary of the Society for Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts to Gawler, Lyndoch, and the northern districts. The Rev. Canon Coombs may be regarded as one of the pioneers of Gawler, and his ministrations in connection with that town extend over thirty-eight years. His kindly disposition, combined with liberal opinions, have secured him a large number of friends, and his intellectual and bodily vigor is such that many young men may well envy his capacities for work. In movements of a political or philanthropic character, either for the benefit of the many or the individual, he is ever ready to counsel or succour those in distress. He still officiates at St. George's, and it is the desire of the residents of the Modern Athens that he may long be spared to conduct the duties of the church with which he has been so long and honorably connected. Three of Stuart's exploration parties, on their departure and return, attended divine service in this church, when special sermons on their behalf were preached by the incumbent. It may not be out of place to mention that St. George's accommodates 400 worshippers, and that upwards of 4,000 children have been baptized, and some 800 couples married in it. It has several memorial windows of very elegant designs, the principal one containing Colonel Gawler's crest and motto, with a suitable inscription underneath. The splendid silver communion service, presented by that Governor to Canon Coombs for the use of the congregation, is still regarded as an interesting souvenir of by-gone days. Several important additions and alterations have recently been made to this church, at a cost of upwards of £2,000.
