Ebenezer Church Plaque

Ebenezer Church, constructed in 1809, is the oldest church of any denomination still used for public worship in Australia. (See the church website.) For many years the names of its founders, one of whom was Paul Bushell, have been commemorated on a wall plaque in the entrance porch of the church. (See pages 277 & 278 of my book Paul Bushell, Second Fleeter.)

That original plaque named Paul Bushell's wife as Elizabeth Brown, an incorrect reference to his second wife, Isabella Brown, who he married in 1822. Paul Bushell's wife in 1809 was actually Jane Sharp, who died in 1820.

The original plaque also omitted William Jacklin's first wife Mary Cardell. Jacklin married his second wife Elizabeth Connell in 1811.

An updated version of the plaque was unveiled on 18 June 2011 and at last I was able to view it for myself when I visited Ebenezer last week. The wording on the new plaque left me wondering. Was it primarily designed to tell us that Bushell and Jacklin married twice, unlike the other men? At least one of these second wives was not a founder of the church. I don't have the details for Elizabeth Connell's possible role, but Isabella Brown was about eight years old when the church was constructed in 1809. It just goes to show how much thought and background sleuthing is required for even the simplest of well-intentioned tributes to our forebears.