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Three allotments were purchased by the Church of England at the first public auction of lots in the town of Sunnybank on 26 May 1887. Totalling ¾ acre (0.3 hectare), the three lots cost £20/15/-, almost 12% above the upset price of £6/5/- per lot. It was another 30 years before a church was built on the site. Anglicanism was the ‘state religion’ within the British empire, although technically there was no established religion in Australia, and the concept of a state religion has been long debated. Nevertheless, there was in many local communities a social convention that Anglican congregations brought greater respectablity, associated with the idea of “the Church of England”. Anglican congregations were dispersed in a broad church movement with Liberal and Evangelical factions, which often (but not necessarily) socially aligned with the division between High Church (emphasis on ritual) and Low Church (emphasis on scripture).
Citations
The Queenslander, Saturday 4 June 1887; The Brisbane Courier 24 April 1918.
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