Rev. James C. Leonard BA (1825 – 15 August 1891) was the first Congregationalist minister of

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

, Western Australia. He was headmaster of two private schools in

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

; near

Gawler Gawler, established in 1839, is the oldest country town in the state of South Australia. It was named after the second Governor (British Vice-Regal representative) of the colony of South Australia, George Gawler. It is about north of the st ...

and at Angaston.

History

Leonard was born in England, a son of John Leonard of

Paddington Paddington is an area in the City of Westminster, in central London, England. A medieval parish then a metropolitan borough of the County of London, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965. Paddington station, designed b ...

. Rev. Leonard brother-in-law to Rev. T. W. Charlesworth, Ph.D. He was educated at

London University The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degr ...

, where he qualified BA, and left for

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

aboard the emigrant ship ''Will Watch'' with his wife and a small family, arriving in February 1852. He preached his first sermon at the Independent church,

, on 29 February 1852. His wife Mary Ann Leonard, née Rose (1830 – 14 April 1852) died a few months later. He married again, to Anne Douglas, née Smithers (c. 1815 – 26 April 1908), widow of Captain Harrison Douglas (1818 – 30 June 1852), on 26 April 1854 and without waiting for a replacement (it took four years), moved in 1856 to Bentley, in the hills near

Gawler, South Australia Gawler, established in 1839, is the oldest country town in the state of South Australia. It was named after the second Governor of South Australia, Governor (British Vice-Regal representative) of the colony of South Australia, George Gawler. ...

, where, on top of his clerical duties, he ran a farm. He left the ministry in 1861 to conduct a school in Bentley; and in 1869 took over E. P. Nesbit's boys' school at Angaston.

Family

A brother, J. H. Leonard, was a professional painter in oils, based in London, and Rev. Leonard assisted him by finding a market for his work in

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

. Professor Read, vicar of Mitcham, South Australia, was a brother-in-law, but details are hard to come by. Read was in 1878 allowed to resign rather than face a tribunal over a morals issue. Leonard died after a long illness; his remains were interred at the Angaston cemetery with those of his wife. His children included: *James Leonard Jun. ( – ) was in 1878 a clerk with the

Bank of South Australia BankSA, formerly known as the Bank of South Australia, the State Bank of South Australia and the Savings Bank of South Australia is the largest bank in South Australia. It is a subsidiary of Westpac. History The Savings Bank of South Austra ...

at Georgetown. He married Florence Joice Gason on 6 August 1878, and transferred to Gawler in 1880. but was soon proven insolvent and was forced to resign. He died before 1908. *Mary Ann Emily Elizabeth Leonard (12 September 1856 – 1886) married Henry Player (1853–1923) on 7 February 1877. * Joseph John Henry Leonard (c. 1863 – 19 November 1929) was born in

. He was admitted to the civil service as a cadet in 1879, and posted to the Colonial Architect's office. A self-taught artist, he achieved some success as a newspaper illustrator in Adelaide and Sydney. He signed his work in various ways, including "Leo" and "J. H. Leonard", so may be confused with that of his perhaps more illustrious uncle. Mrs Leonard had three children from her marriage to Douglas: a son, born 3 January 1852, who may have died in infancy, and two daughters: Mary Douglas (c. 1844–1875) and Anne Douglas, who married (veterinarian) Dr J. W. Horton ( – 26 July 1903) and had at least four children. Rev. Leonard's sister Annie Leonard married Rev. T. W. Charlesworth (c. 1823 – 15 December 1879) in Perth on 5 March 1854. They moved to South Australia, living at Sandy Creek, Keyneton, and Angaston, where he practised

homeopathic medicine Homeopathy or homoeopathy is a pseudoscientific system of alternative medicine. It was conceived in 1796 by the German physician Samuel Hahnemann. Its practitioners, called homeopaths or homeopathic physicians, believe that a substance th ...

. Their son James B. E. Charlesworth (18 October 1856 – 11 August 1929) was a first-class cricketer.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leonard, James C. 1825 births 1891 deaths Australian Congregationalist ministers Clergy from South Australia Australian headmasters Alumni of the University of London English emigrants to colonial Australia Heads of schools in South Australia