Listen to this podcast of historian Dr Paul Roe relating how right from the preparation of the first fleet of prisoners to be sent to Australia, God had his hand on its establishment. Ex-slave trader, John Newton the author of the hymn Amazing Grace was responsible for getting Richard Johnson appointed clergyman to the new colony.

On 24 October 1784, Richard Johnson received a Royal Warrant that appointed him ‘Chaplain to the settlement of New South Wales’. He took up his appointment with the First Fleet at Portsmouth. As Chaplain to New South Wales, he was required to be the guardian of public morality.

On 3 February 1788, he conducted the first religious service in the Colony under trees at Sydney Cove. He continued to hold regular services on a Sunday, weather permitting, prior to the construction of a wooden building five years later that was used for church services.

Apart from some assistance after 1791 from James Bain, Chaplain to the New South Wales Corps, Johnson undertook all the religious duties in Sydney for six years, until the arrival of the Reverend Samuel Marsden on the William on 10 March 1794.

On 10 June 1793, Johnson commenced construction of a temporary church in Sydney town, which he funded from his finances. The first service was held in the new building on 25 August 1793. The construction of the temporary church cost Johnson sixty-seven pounds.

A monument now stands in Richard Johnson Square on the approximate site of the temporary church.

The position of the temporary church was near the present ‘Richard Johnson Square, on the corner of Hunter and Castlereagh streets in Sydney. It was built of strong posts, wattles, and plaster, and was covered with a roof of thatch.