Search Result
100640
Surname: Lynch
First Name: Rev. Dean John Thomas
Ship: -
Date: 1853 8 June
Place: Dungimmon, Co. Meath, Ireland
Source: MM
Details: Death of Thomas Lynch aged 73 in Ireland. Father of Rev. Lynch, Catholic Dean of West Maitland
6528
Surname: Lynch
First Name: Rev. J.
Ship: -
Date: 1843 18 February
Place: Maitland
Source: MM
Details: Chairman of St. John's Total Abstinence Society
16533
Surname: Lynch
First Name: Rev. J.T.
Ship: -
Date: 1845 19 April
Place: Muswellbrook
Source: MM
Details: Placed the first stone of the Roman Catholic Chapel
6767
Surname: Lynch
First Name: Rev. John Thomas
Ship: -
Date: -
Place: -
Source: -
Details: Subscription for erection of St. John the Baptist Church.
7554
Surname: Lynch
First Name: Rev. John Thomas
Ship: -
Date: 1843 29 April
Place: West Maitland
Source: MM
Details: Additional subscription for the erection of St. John the Baptist Church, West Maitland
7594
Surname: Lynch
First Name: Rev. John Thomas
Ship: -
Date: 1843 6 May
Place: Wollombi
Source: MM
Details: Celebrated Mass for the first time in new chapel dedicated to St. Michael.
211010
Surname: Lynch
First Name: Rev. John Thomas
Ship: Cecilia 1838
Date: 31 January 1938
Place: Maitland
Source: The Newcastle Sun
Details: On July 15 1838, there arrived in Sydney Harbor, aboard the ship Cecilia, seven young priests from Ireland – Fathers Rigney, O Reilley, Mahoney, Lynch, Brennen, Fitzpatrick and Slattery. Of these, Edmund Mahoney and John Thomas Lynch were at once appointed to the newly established mission in the Maitland district which had been pioneered by Father Christopher Vincent Dowling, who had been transferred to Newcastle. They both took up residence in East Maitland, where had been established the stone church of St. Josephs, the first Roman Catholic church in the north. Father Lynch devoted his attention to the rapidly expanding town of West Maitland and one year after his arrival he had constructed a small chapel in what is now Horse Shoe Bend. It was constructed of rough slab walls with the cracks filled in with plaster, shingle roof and a brick floor. In this little building Father Lynch carried out the services of his church. He was a powerful man and a fine horse man. His work carried him through the trackless bush far into the interior, ministering to his scattered flock. He rode horse back to each of the new settlements, through Branxton, Singleton, Muswellbrook, right on to the tablelands, and back along the coast by way of Port Macquarie, Kempsey and Taree. For many years he was the only priest in this huge district. On October 8. 1840, Bishop Polding, who was visiting the Hunter River district, laid the foundation stone of a new church to be known as St. John s, on a site at Camp bells Hill. The building was not proceeded with, and some four years later Dean Lynch had the stone removed and re-laid nearer the centre of the township. In two years the church was built, and on November 8, 1846, the Dean conducted the opening and blessed The Church of St. John the Baptist (now St. John s Cathedral.) * * * It was a great day for the Catholic community of the Hunter River district and they came from all parts. A procession formed at the old chapel in the Horse Shoe Bend and marched to the new building. Dean Lynch took keen interest in all matters of local Importance, He was a prominent member of various committees, especially that of the Maitland Hospital. In 1849 he took an active part in building the new hospital at Campbells Hill, He was a keen temperance advocate at a time when the community sadly needed one, for we learn from the Press of the forties that In the Hunter River district there is a lamentable frequency of accidents, some fatal, plainly traceable to drunkenness. The Dean was instrumental in forming total abstinence societies modelled on Father Matthew s Societies in Ireland. The first was formed in 1841, and was known as St. Johns. It used to meet in the Temple of Concord at the Horse Shoe Bend, West Maitland. Admittance was threepence and the evening s entertainment consisted of an earnest address by the Dean, followed by musical Items. The principal entertainer was Edward Fanning, who besides being a fine singer, was the leader of the first band established In this district. Dean Lynch established similar societies in Newcastle, Singleton, Muswellbrook and Wollombi. St. Patrick s Library, in connection with St. John s Church, was founded by the Dean In 1848, and in many other ways he did good service for the advancement of education in the Maitland district. For 24 years he laboured in West Maitland and the surrounding districts, and early in 1862 he was transferred to Armidale (with the title of Vicar Foran). Some years later he was raised to the dignity of Monsignor, and officiated in some of the suburbs of Sydney, and finally at Campbelltown, where he died In 1884. His burial-place is at the rear of the Church at Lewisham, Sydney, one of the old type of pioneers of religion, who were called upon to undergo hardships and difficulties in the early days of the Colony, his memory will ever remain with the Catholic community of West Maitland.