DID you know that the Anglicans were the first to have a church building in Scottburgh, although the Crookes Brother had previously provided a Methodist chapel in Renishaw?
Prior to the nave of the Anglican Church being built as early as 1925 and the chancel in 1936, services were conducted alternately in the private homes of a Mr Fynney and a Mr Guy every month.
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The presiding clergyman at the time was the Reverend AEG Tomes, who had the parishes of Umkomaas, Park Rynie and Scottburgh under his wing.
He used to travel between the three parishes on pushbike or on foot, wearing his Cambridge blazer and boater.
A member of the South African Mounted Police, Major Arthur A Wood, came to live in Scottburgh in 1919 and worked at the court house in Umzinto.
He travelled to and from work on horseback daily.
He was the first chairman of the Scottburgh Health Committee and worked tirelessly towards the erection of a church hall which was built in 1926 and was later dedicated as St Paul’s Church, Scottburgh.
At the same time the Methodists, with the assistance of the Crookes family, were building a church in the same street.
The Henrietta Crookes (Methodist) Hall was built some years later and proved a popular meeting place for various institutions.
A Catholic church hall was built some time later on the corner of Galway and and Arbuthnot Streets, and fell under the control of the Marianhill Monastery.
Should you have any historic photos and news that you would like to share, email them to vanisham@dbn.caxton.co.za
(Source: Scottburgh’s Photographic Journal)
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