The history of the original St-Mary-In-The-Valley Anglican Church is sketchy and confusing, but according to records I was able to access it was built by Thomas Buckingham Junior and completed either on 16th May 1871 or 16th August 1871 and was consecrated by Bishop Hale on 29 March 1874. I suspect the completion date is wrong, and would more likely be some time closer to 29 March 1874, as it is unlikely that the Church would have been left unused for over two years, and also unlikely that services would have been held in an un-consecrated church.
The present Church was constructed in 1963, the Foundation Stone laid by the Administrator of the Diocese The Venerable Brian MacDonald on Sunday 30th June 1963.
The churchyard cemetery has tombstones dating from the 1870's to the late 2000's, and memorial walls with plaques as recent as late 2011. The churchyard is appoximately 3,000 square meters in area, and the cemetery occupies appoximately 2,500 square meters of that.
I have included photos of two graves and headstones which I found of interest.
The first is the grave of Ellen Salter. The headstone reads as follows:
In Loving Memory
of
Ellen Salter
Who Departed This Life
19th May 1878
Aged 22 Years.
A patient sufferer gone to rest.
Also of
Burnice and Herbert.
The second is the grave and headstones of Percy John Saw and others of the Saw Family. The original headstone, made by Perth Marble Works, reads as follows:
Sacred To The Memory
Of
Percy John Saw
Who Died May 12 1897
Aged 12 Years
And
George R Saw
Died June 20 1897
Aged 4 Months
The newer tablet reads as follows:
In Memory Of
Percy John Saw
Born 28.2.1885 - Died 12.5.1897 Aged 12 Years
Son Of William Edward and
Frances Amelia (nee White) Saw
Bertram Edward Saw
Born 20.4.1887 - Died 5.5.1887 Aged 15 Days
Kitty Saw
Born 1893 - Died 1893 Aged 1 Day
George Reginald Saw
Born 10.2.1897 - Died 20.6.1897 Aged 4 Months
Stella Mary Saw
Born 30.12.1899 - Died 1901 Aged 4 Months (an error here)
J. Saw
Birth And Death Unknown
Children of Frederick John and Hannan Catherine (nee White) Saw
As I usually do when I find a cemetery, I placed a new cache, GC3BJ14 WanAus 211 - LKA St Mary-In-The-Valley Kelmscott nearby.
St-Mary-In-The-Valley Anglican Church Kelmscott also has a magnificent pipe organ, the oldest known Pipe Organ in Western Australia.
The organ was built circa 1751 in England as a chamber organ, the builder is unknown. It was enlarged in 1813 by the addition of a Swell and Pedal organ.
Located in 1969 at St Mark's Anglican Church, Eccles, Kent, UK, by Dudley Bastian, at that stage the organ was two-manual/pedal. It was shipped to Australia in 1971, and restored in 1973 by Dudley Bastian. Swell division and Pedal pulldowns were removed and put into storage in the church. At some stage after installation (originally at the rear of the church) the organ was moved to it's current position at front left of altar.
This is the oldest organ in Western Australia and among the oldest in Australia. This instrument was originally thought by some to be by one of the early English builders such as Father Smith or Snetzler, but later opinion is that it is of early 19th century origin built into an 18th century English case. Whatever its origin it has been altered, albeit probably more than 100 years ago.