The paddlesteamer Williams, built in Scotland in 1854 for the Hunter River service. Image from the State Library of Victoria
Gloucester via Newcastle in the mid-1800s
Church histories aren't everybody's cup of tea. The theological debates and schisms that exercised many of our European ancestors are almost forgotten in the 21st century, and it's hard to grasp the central role that the church, in its various denominations, occupied in society not all that many generations ago. Today, accounts of the various doings of the churches may seem dust-dry and irrelevant and, as a result, it's tempting to leave church histories sitting unread on shelves. Now and then, despite this disinclination, I do pick up church histories and occasionally I'm rewarded with some…