, Broughton's residence upon his arrival in Australia, pictured in 2009 In 1829, after being appointed
Archdeacon of
New South Wales by Prime Minister
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, Broughton arrived in Sydney on the convict ship
John. He was unenthusiastic about taking up the role in Australia and was reluctant to accept it, writing in his journal as he approached Sydney that "the expected termination of our voyage...occasions no sensation of joy". He moved into
Tusculum, a villa in
Potts Point, and was given positions on both the colony's
Executive Council and
Legislative Council. Broughton would go on to have a significant impact on politics in New South Wales until his retirement from the legislature in 1843, particularly in the development of its immigration and land policy, and used his experience at the East India Company to become one of the most knowledgeable figures on the colony's economy. Broughton's theology placed him somewhat outside the norm in Australia, where most
Anglicans were
Evangelical in their beliefs. The colony's chaplain
Samuel Marsden at one point said that Broughton's churchmanship made him "perhaps too high a churchman for our mixt population". At the time of Broughton's arrival in Sydney, then part of the
Diocese of Calcutta, the city had a population of 10,000 and was home to two churches:
St Philip's and
St James'. The Anglican church had long held a privileged position within the colony, but had begun to attract greater criticism, while the influence of the Catholic and Presbyterian churches had begun to grow. In the 1820s, the Church and School Lands Corporation had been set up to take control of one seventh of the uncleared land in the colony in order to generate income for the church. But the corporation had struggled to generate an income from its lands. Upon his arrival in Australia, Broughton learned that the Church and School Lands Corporation's charter had been suspended, and that the Anglican church's influence was waning and that the quality of church education was low. The church was reliant on funding received from the government to maintain and grow its presence in the colony.
Education reform and appointment as Bishop Education within the colony quickly became a substantial concern for Broughton. In 1830 he issued a plan to establish King's Schools in Parramatta and Sydney;
the school in Parramatta proved successful, while the school in Sydney quickly failed. In 1831, the Irish liberal
Richard Bourke had been appointed the Governor of New South Wales. Bourke wished to establish a new model of education, modelled on the
Irish National schools system, in which the three major churches (the
Church of England, the
Presbyterian Church and the
Catholic Church) would be treated on more equal footing. These state-funded schools would allow Christians of any denomination, with students receiving religious education directly from their respective denominations' ministers one day each week. Broughton fiercely opposed the policy and believed that the Church of England should continue to be given special status and government support in educating the colony's children. In 1834, Broughton made a trip back to England to lobby for his position at the
Colonial Office. The
Secretary of State for War and the Colonies,
Lord Glenelg, eventually approved Bourke's educational policy, while also supporting his proposal for the establishment of a new
Diocese of Australia. Broughton at first threatened to refuse the bishopric unless Bourke's government abandoned its education reforms. But Broughton eventually accepted the position of Bishop, under the condition that he would not be associated with the new education policy. Broughton was appointed the first
Bishop of Australia and was consecrated by the
Archbishop of Canterbury,
William Howley, at
Lambeth Palace on 14 February 1836. He was
enthroned by Samuel Marsden on 5 June at
St James' Church. Upon his return to Australia, despite Lord Glenelg's approval of Bourke's education policy, Broughton directed Anglican clergy and congregants to advocate against the proposed system. The fierce backlash prevented Bourke from enacting his planned reforms. It was not until 1847 that Broughton was forced by the dire financial position of the Anglican church's schools to allow the establishment of a parallel state-run educational body.
Church Act of 1836 Soon after Broughton's return to Australia, Bourke passed the
Church Act of 1836, subsidising clergy and religious buildings in the colony. While his church stood to benefit from the Act, Broughton opposed Bourke's efforts at reform, which would allow for funding of all denominations on equal footing. He believed that the Anglican church, being the sole true religion, should be the sole recipient of government support. He also protested throughout his time in Australia against the government's recognition of Catholic bishops. While the Church of England received the largest sum of money under the new Church Act, it lost its semi-official status as the colony's established church. The Act enabled Broughton to recruit a large number of new clergymen, who were offered stipends to immigrate to Australia. The number of clergymen in Australia would quintuple between 1836 and 1850, driven in part by an increasing oversupply of priests within Britain. In the 1840s, Broughton supported the establishment of a grammar school and short-lived theological college to train Australian men for the priesthood. The Church Act also allowed for the establishment of a significant number of new church buildings; about 100 new churches across Australia were dedicated or consecrated by Broughton during his time as bishop. Despite his long-standing difficulties walking and his frequent use of a cane, he travelled extensively throughout the colony, consecrating church buildings across New South Wales. In 1837, Broughton began the construction of
St. Andrew's Cathedral, which would not be completed until after his death.
Church government and later life , including a cast of his tomb at
Canterbury CathedralBroughton supported the establishment of a number of other bishoprics in Oceania in the 1840s, including in
New Zealand,
Tasmania,
Melbourne,
Newcastle and
Adelaide. In 1847, after three new bishops were consecrated in a ceremony at
Westminster Abbey, Broughton became Bishop of Sydney and
Metropolitan of Australasia. This growth of the Australasian church increased the urgency of resolving unanswered questions of ecclesiastical government, the application of canon law, and the relationship between church and state. Broughton was also concerned by the poor discipline of his clergymen after a number of scandals and incidents of misconduct. In 1850, Broughton held a meeting of Australasia's bishops in Sydney to decide the church's governance structure. The meeting, which was held at Tusculum, was not a formal assembly and had no power to issue decrees. But the bishops reached agreement on a number of principles, including for education, church government and clerical discipline. One of their decisions was that the church should establish
synods of bishops and priests at the provincial level and for each diocese, supported by conventions of
laymen that would hold little decision-making authority. The recommendation provoked backlash from the laity, who regarded the meeting of the bishops as evidence of "episcopal tyranny" and "clerical supremacy". Broughton sailed to England on 16 August 1852 to discuss the future of the Australian church and to gain the British government's support for his proposed church constitution. He became ill on the journey and died in London of
bronchitis on 20 February 1853. He was buried at
Canterbury Cathedral, becoming the first priest since the
Reformation to be buried in the cathedral. ==See also==