When the Salvation Army commemorates the 125th anniversary of this event next weekend, two of their great-great-grandchildren will be marching with the band. Allison Rudd looks at the Salvation Army's beginnings, and the Wilkinson family connection.
Down at the Exchange Plaza in Princes St, at the base of the ornate, wedding cake-like monument to William Cargill, Otago's first superintendent, lies an altogether more modest memorial - a plaque which marks the place where the Salvation Army began its work in New Zealand.
Next weekend, Logan and Eden Bracegirdle, of Wellington, will see it for the first time and come face to face with their past. With the other members of the National Youth Band the pair will lead a commemorative march from the Exchange to the Octagon, following exactly the same route their great-great-grandparents did many times all those years ago.
The Victoria University students have only learnt in recent years about their family's long army connections - five generations on their father's side and six on heir mother's. But Dunedin's significance is not lost on them.
Logan (21) said the historical importance had not quite sunk in yet. ‘‘I think I'm only going to realise it once I get there".
It was ‘‘really cool'' to have a personal link back to the army's first day, Eden (18), said. ‘‘It makes you feel good to see God moving through the generations, and it is great to have that family connection. Being in Dunedin will be a special occasion".
What may also be thought-provoking for the Bracegirdle siblings is that they are about the same age as the first two officers sent from England to New Zealand. Captain George Pollard was only 20 and Lieutenant Edward Wright 19 when they sailed from Gravesend in January, 1883.
The Salvation Army church was founded in London by William Booth and his wife, Catherine. William was a full-time Methodist preacher, but resigned in 1861 to follow his heart as a travelling evangelist. Even though the couple had four young children (they were to eventually have eight) and little chance of financial security, Catherine fully supported his decision.
In 1865, the Booths opened a mission in London's poverty-stricken East End. Unlike most other churches, the Booths embraced the poorest and neediest in society, including alcoholics, criminals and prostitutes.
They were not only interested in saving souls but offered practical assistance - beds for the homeless, healthcare for the sick, food for the hungry, support for unmarried mothers, and training and work for the unemployed.
In 1878, William renamed the organisation The Salvation Army, after his eldest son, Bramwell, objected to being called a volunteer and declared himself ‘‘a regular or nothing''. Military-style terminology and dress were adopted. Churches were known as corps, fortresses or citadels, members as soldiers and ministers as officers. William became the first general.
The 19th-century Salvation Army was remarkable for three things: its rapid global expansion; its radical notion that men and women were equally capable of preaching, teaching and assuming positions of responsibility; and its ‘‘soup, soap and salvation'' approach, which focused on physical and spiritual needs.
The movement has a Presbyterian woman to thank for its presence in New Zealand. Arabella Valpy was the unmarried daughter of one of Dunedin's richest and most prominent businessmen, William Valpy, who, among other enterprises, founded the Otago Daily Times.
Arabella had read of the Salvation Army's work and in 1882 sent William Booth £200 to ‘‘rescue the perishing souls in this respectable and highly favoured city''.
New Zealand was in the grip of a depression. The heady goldrush days were over and rampant unemployment had led to poverty, boredom and social unrest. William Booth was won over.
When Pollard and Wright reached Melbourne in late February, they were met by four officers and a small band of enthusiastic soldiers. Pollard identified three as likely to make good officers - Bro Burfoot and his wife, and a young labourer called Bro Bowerman.
Pollard immediately commissioned the trio as officers and promoted Wright to captain as well. The band of five then sailed for Port Chalmers, via Bluff.
Pollard and Wright's plan was a simple and audacious one. Pollard would begin in Dunedin and Wright in Auckland, and both would work their way towards Wellington.
Dunedin was ready and waiting for the army. The local newspapers had for weeks been carrying news items about their impending arrival. Advertisements were also placed inviting people to meetings at the Temperance Hall at ‘‘7, 11, 3 and 7'' on that first Sunday.
Who placed the advertisements? Miss Valpy perhaps, although in his 1963 book Dear Mr Booth, John Waite records the army already had other friends in Dunedin.
Pollard was welcomed at Port Chalmers by Alexander Falconer, organiser of the Port Chalmers Seamen's Mission, and taken to his house for a meal. True to their plan, Wright and Bowerman immediately sailed for Auckland.
In his memoirs, Alfred Wilkinson recalls that thousands squeezed into the Temperance Hall for the first meetings. The army's strange ways - its very public open-air meetings, its uniforms, the bonnet-wearing Mrs Burfoot, its songs setting religious words to popular tunes of the day, and its simple, straight-forward sermons - must have struck a chord with Dunedin people.
Elizabeth Westlake told her daughter Lila she and a group of friends who already attended other churches decided to go to the Salvation Army meeting on the Sunday afternoon to hear ‘‘the good-looking Englishman [Pollard] with lily-white hands''. Lila later wrote: ‘‘The girls went in amusement but were converted at that meeting".
Alfred's memoirs record that both he and Elizabeth became officers before the end of 1883. As was the norm in those days, life was tough, opposition was stiff, money was tight and living accommodation was basic. Officers spent a short time at each of their appointments, sometimes only a matter of weeks. One Salvation Army commentator joked the army moved officers on before they ran out of sermons.
Alfred and Elizabeth married at the Christchurch barracks in 1888. They served at Palmerston (East Otago), Timaru and Lyttelton before being sent to New South Wales, Australia in 1889. For the next five years they held various appointments until Alfred's health broke down and they resigned from officership. They settled in Christchurch.
Alfred and Elizabeth had four daughters, Elizabeth (Lizzie), who died aged 2 years and 8 months, Lila, Eva and Jessie. Eva and Jessie both became officers and both married British officers.
Jessie married Cuthbert Bracegirdle. Their son was Paddy Bracegirdle, their grandson is Wellington graphic designer Selwyn Bracegirdle and their grandchildren are Logan and Eden Bracegirdle.
Despite their young age, both Logan and Eden are uniformed soldiers like their forebears. Eden said she never felt pressured to become so.
‘‘You have to be a uniformed soldier to be in the National Youth Band, but I felt that banding was my place to be".
It was also nice to see young people wearing a uniform, she said.
‘‘How we view the uniform has changed. Not everyone wears it any more. But it still makes a declaration. It says we are the Salvation Army. It is such a strong witness".
Logan said after reading the family memoirs he was impressed with the energy and commitment shown by his great-great-grandparents and their contemporaries.
‘‘The army was very public in the way it preached the Gospel. It was very in-your-face. It is very different times we live in now. We are not so visible. We hold our church services inside".
But for a short time on Saturday, that will change. The years will fall away, and, just like that first memorable day, the army and the Bracegirdle siblings will be on the march again.
