Howard Henry Nolan (1865 – 4 July 1931) was an

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Aus ...

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

minister. From 1908 until 1911 he was Conference Secretary of Foreign Missions and in 1928 and 1929 was elected as Secretary of the

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

Conference of

Methodist Church of Australasia The Methodist Church of Australasia was a Methodist denomination based in Australia. It existed from 1902 to 1977, when the Uniting Church in Australia was formed. It did missionary work in Australia through two organisations: the Methodist Overse ...

Early life

Nolan was born in

Richmond, New South Wales Richmond is a historic town in northwest Sydney in New South Wales, Australia. Richmond is in the local government area of the City of Hawkesbury and is part of the Sydney metropolitan area. It is located 19 metres above sea level on the alluvia ...

to Sara Susan (born Holme) and the Rev James Adams Nolan. His father was a

minister and in 1885 president of the NSW and Queensland Methodist Conference. Sarah Susan Nolan worked for women's suffrage and served as president of the Women's Christian Temperance Union. He was the older brother of Percy Nolan. Nolan attended

Newington College Newington College is a multi-campus Independent school, independent Uniting Church in Australia, Uniting Church Single-sex education, single-sex and Mixed-sex education, co-educational Pre-school education, early learning, Primary school, primar ...

in the early 1880s.

Architecture

Upon leaving Newington, Nolan served articles training to be an architect. Whilst he was stationed at

Singleton, New South Wales Singleton is a town on the banks of the Hunter River (New South Wales), Hunter River in New South Wales, Australia. Singleton is 202km (126 mi) north-north-west of Sydney, and 70 km (43 mi) north-west of Newcastle, New South Wales ...

as the minister he designed the new Methodist parsonage.

Ministry

In 1888, Nolan chose service to the church over

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and construction, constructi ...

and became a student at the

Wesleyan Theological Institution The Wesleyan Theological Institution was from 1863 until 1914 an Australian Methodist theological college located firstly in Silverwater, New South Wales and from 1881 at Stanmore, New South Wales. History At the Methodist, Methodist Conference of ...

which was then based in the grounds of Newington College. After ordination, his first station was

Croydon, Queensland Croydon is an outback town and locality within the Shire of Croydon in Queensland, Australia. It is a terminus for the Normanton to Croydon railway line, which operates the Gulflander tourist train. In the , the locality of Croydon had a pop ...

, from whence he went to

Rockhampton, Queensland Rockhampton is a city in the Rockhampton Region of Central Queensland, Australia. In the , the population of Rockhampton was 79,293. A common nickname for Rockhampton is "Rocky", and the demonym of Rockhampton is Rockhamptonite. The Scottish- ...

Townsville, Queensland The City of Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. With a population of 201,313 as of 2024, it is the largest settlement in North Queensland and Northern Australia (specifically, the parts of Australia north of ...

and

Bundaberg, Queensland Bundaberg () is the major regional city in the Wide Bay-Burnett region of the state of Queensland, Australia. It is the ninth largest city in the state. The Bundaberg central business district is situated along the southern bank of the Burnett ...

. In 1895, he volunteered for service in

Fiji Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...

and remained there until 1907 when for health reasons he returned to Bundaberg. He then went to Brisbane and served in

Toowong, Queensland Toowong ( ) is a riverside suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the , Toowong had a population of 12,556 people with a median weekly household income of $1,927. Geography Toowong is situated between Mount Coot-tha an ...

. In 1912 he was transferred to

and continued to serve in that state at South Sydney Mission,

Homebush Homebush is a suburb in the Inner West of Sydney in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located 12 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the Municipality of Strathfield. The name o ...

Lewisham Lewisham ( ) is an area of southeast London, England, south of Charing Cross. It is the principal area of the London Borough of Lewisham, and was within the Historic counties of England, historic county of Kent until 1889. It is identified in ...

, and Willoughby. He was elected Secretary of the NSW Conference in 1928 and in 1930 he became a

supernumerary Supernumerary means "exceeding the usual number". Supernumerary may also refer to: * Supernumerary actor, a performer in a film, television show, or stage production who has no role or purpose other than to appear in the background, more common ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nolan, Percy 1865 births 1931 deaths Australian Methodist ministers People educated at Newington College Wesleyan Theological Institute alumni 20th-century Australian Methodist ministers