THE FIRST BISHOP OF GIPPSLAND.

The choice of these eight good men and true fell upon Canon Arthur Wellesley Pain, of St. John's, Darlinghurst, Sydney. Born in 1842 at Felmersham, Bedfordshire, England, he was educated at St. Catherine's College, Cambridge, where he took his B.A. Degree in 1866, and was made a Deacon that same year in the Norwich Cathedral. He became curate of Holbrook, Suffolk, and was Ordained to the Priesthood the following year.

Coming to Australia for health reasons Mr. Pain was appointed in 1868 Incumbent of St. Paul's, Cobbitty, with St. Thomas's, Narellan, N.S.W. In 1871, he married Miss Annie Bisdee Thorne, eldest daughter of the late George Thorne, Esq., of Rose Bay and Castle Hill. This gracious gentlewoman was a true helpmeet to him, and one who was loved by all Gippslanders who had the privilege of knowing her.

To Mrs. Pain were given eight children, two became clergy men, and one a Medical Missionary. In 1885 Mr. Pain was appointed Rural Dean of East Sydney; in 1893, Examining Chaplain to the Archbishop. In 1897, he was elected Canon of St. Andrew's Cathedral.

In 1899, he paid a visit to the homeland and completed his M.A. degree at Cambridge. He was consecrated in St. Andrew's Cathedral on Whit Tuesday, the 20th May, 1902. The degree of D.D. was conferred on him by his University in 1903 .

Light and Life   Chapter 9   Arthur Wellesley Pain, 1841-1920   First Bishop Of Gippsland, 1902-17

Arthur Wellesley Pain, the youngest of the 11 children (nine sons and two daughters) of Joseph Pain, 1797-1860 and Mary (Odell) Pain, 1795-1864, was born at Felmersham, Bedfordshire, England, on the 21st August, 1841.

He was educated at Bedford Grammar School and, after a short time helping his father on the family farm at Felmersham, at St. Catherine's College, Cambridge University, where he graduated B.A. in 1866. Later he obtained his M.A. — in 1899 — and was awarded a D.D. (jure dig) in 1903.

He was ordained Deacon on the 27th May, 1866, and Priest on the 16th June, 1867 by the Bishop of Norwich, the Right Reverend John Thomas Pelham. It was for this reason that the present Bishop of Norwich, the Right Reverend Maurice Wood was invited to visit Gippsland to share in our celebrations during 1977 of the 75th Anniversary of the establishment of the Diocese of Gippsland.

A. W. Pain's only appointment in England was the curacy at Holbrook, Suffolk, in the Diocese of Norwich. He suffered from poor health and his doctors advised him to leave England and to seek a warmer climate. He left for Australia on board the "Sobraon", a vessel of 2,200 tons, on Thursday, 10th October, 1867, and arrived at Sydney on Tuesday, 7th January, 1868 after a voyage of 89 days.

His first appointment in Australia was as the incumbent of the Parish of St. Paul's, Narellan (Cobbitty) following upon the death of the Reverend Thomas Hassall, who had served there for 41 years — 1827-68. There were two centres in the Parish of Narellan and two churches — St. Paul's Cobbitty and St. Thomas', Narellan. He conducted his first service in his parish, in St. Paul's, Cobbitty, on Good Friday, 10th April, 1868.

On the 13th April, 1871 he married Miss Annie Bisdee Thorne.

As well as administering to a large district he took an interest in diocesan affairs, and in the early 1870's was appointed Clerical Secretary of the Synod of the Diocese. He was Rural Dean of Camden from 1872 until he left the area in 1883. He soon became noted in Synod for his unparalleled knowledge of ecclesiastical law.

In 1878 he sustained an injury which left him with a limp for the rest of his life. He was kicked by a horse, which suddenly took fright as he was feeding it late one night.

In April 1883 he accepted the appointment to the Cure of Souls in the Parish of St. John's, Darlinghurst, where he remained until he was called to be the first Bishop of Gippsland in 1902. While at Darlinghurst he was Rural Dean of East Sydney 1885¬1902, Chaplain to the Bishop of Sydney 1893-1902 (Archbishop of Sydney from 1897), and Canon of St. Andrew's Cathedral 1897-1902.

He had been very much involved in the establishment by Miss Badham of the Sydney Church of England Girls' Grammar School, Darlinghurst, 1895. He was also a member of the com-mittee to investigate the work of the Church of England Mission to Seamen, Sydney.

He was consecrated Bishop on the 20th May, 1902 in St. Andrew's Cathedral, Sydney, and enthroned as the firsh Bishop of Gippsland on the 10th July, 1902. The 75th Anniversary of his enthronement was celebrated at a special service in the Cathedral Church of St. Paul, Sale, on Sunday, 10th July, 1977.

Bishopscourt, Sale, the construction of which had commenced the previous year, was dedicated by Bishop Pain on the 5th May, 1904. In some respects this new Bishopscourt was similar to an earlier building for which Bishop Pain had been responsible — the Rectory at Cobbitty built in 1871. Both are two-storied buildings; both were free of debt when completed, the Rectory costing £1,035 in 1871, and Bishopscourt £3,500 in 1904; and both buildings are orientated so that the four corners of each building point to the cardinal points of the compass. This orientation ensures that each wall of the buildings receives the rays of the sun at some time during the day throughout the year.

In 1906 Bishop Pain was offered the See of Bendigo, Victoria, but to the relief of his people in Gippsland he declined, having decided that his duty was to stay with them.

In 1910 he was away from the Diocese on a visit to England. One object of the journey was to attend the World Missionary Conference held in Edinburgh, in June. He visited the town of Sale in Cheshire, with whose council, the municipal council of Sale, Gippsland, had been in touch during the previous year.

By 1917 he was in his 75th year and his health had begun to fail. He resigned the See on the 10th July, 1917, but continued to administer the diocese until his successor had been appointed. He preached his last sermons at St. Paul's, Sale on the 14th October, 1917 and left Bishopscourt on the 20th October.

He retired to a small cottage near the railway station at Beecroft, a suburb of Sydney, and called his home "Felmersham" after the Bedfordshire village where he was born. From here he applied himself to his work as Honorary Secretary of the Church Missionary Society.

Early in 1919 he developed a most painful malady which forced him to abandon all active engagements. His illness — a cancer in the right cheek bone — lasted about 18 months, during the last few months of which he was unable to speak. All communication was by writing.

He died on Friday, 14th May, 1920, and was buried in South Head Cemetery on the 17th May, 1920, after a service at St. Andrew's Cathedral.

The Pain Family.

Arthur Wellesley Pain, 1841-1920, married in Sydney in 1871, Miss Annie Bisdee Thorne, 1842-1920, the eldest child of George Thorne, 1810-91 and Elizabeth Ann (Bisdee) Thorne, 1821-1910. George Thorne had come to Australia from Bristol in 1841.

There were nine children of the marriage: The Reverend Allan Franklyn Pain, 1872-1947.

Dr. Ernest Maynard Pain, 1873-1913, who became a medical missionary in Egypt. He died of meningitis in the Church Missionary Society Hospital in Old Cairo, 12/2/1913.

Arthur Clifford Pain, 1874-1918, killed in action in France.

Mary Allison Pain, 1878-1957, who married Thomas Samuel Holt, 1878-1961.

Ethelwynne Theodore Pain, 1879-1976, who married George Hatfield Hall, 1888-1963.

Annie Rosalie Pain, 26/5/1881 - 27/5/1881. Lived one day.

Elsie Gertrude Pain, 1882-1968, who married Dr. Henry Dela-hunt Matthews, 1885-1956. Both served in the mission field in China.

Margery Bisdee Pain, 1885-1901, died of pneumonia, aged 16.

The Reverend Kenneth Wellesley Pain, 1889-1959.