David John Garland

Canon David John Garland

David John Garland (1864–1939) was an Anglican clergyman and a military chaplain in Queensland, Australia. As senior army camp chaplain in Queensland from 1914 to 1917, Garland experienced the World War I both at home and at the front. He was one of the originators of the now annual Anzac Day ceremonies. Described as an "overpoweringly energetic with a distinctive flair, if not genius, for organisation", he played a pivotal role in the Queensland experience of the war, and was a central figure in a variety of committees and organisations established to aid the war effort and support or commemorate serving or returned soldiers.[1][2]

Early life

Canon David John Garland, as a young man

David John Garland was born in Dublin on 4 October 1864, the son of James Garland and his wife Mary Ann (née Saunders).[3] He studied law and immigrated with his parents to New South Wales.[4]

Garland entered the Church of England ministry in 1889. He served as a deacon in Grafton, Quirindi and Narrandera in New South Wales. In 1892 he was sent to Perth where he was ordained as a missionary priest. In 1892 he married a widow, Mary Hawkins, nee Hadfield, and they had one son, David James Garland. From 1900 to 1902, he was canon of Perth.[4]

In 1902 Garland became rector of Charters Towers, a canon of St James Cathedral, Townsville, Queensland and was appointed archdeacon of North Queensland in 1903.[2] Garland was a crusader for religious education in schools and devoted much energy to the Bible in State Schools League in Queensland.[2] From 1907 to 1913, Garland was rector at Holy Trinity Anglican Church at Woolloongabba in Brisbane.[5]

World War I

Canon David John Garland, in uniform

At the outbreak of war Garland was in Brisbane, and served as chaplain to soldiers in training camps, as they prepared for active service overseas. He also organised the provision of Bibles and prayer books to Queensland soldiers at the front.[2] As a Senior Army Chaplain, Garland worked tirelessly in the training camps in and around Brisbane and further afield.[6]

In 1915 he founded the Soldiers Help Society. He also travelledQueensland as honorary organising secretary of the Queensland Recruiting Committee, preaching to encourage greater enlistment.[2] He was an ardent supporter of conscription, co-founded the Compulsory Service League, served on the Executive of the National Council for the Referendum and founder of the Universal Service League.[6]

Garland is perhaps most remembered as an architect and originator of Anzac Day ceremonies.[2] In Queensland on 10 January 1916, Garland was appointed the honorary secretary of the Anzac Day Commemoration Committee of Queensland (ADCCQ) at a public meeting which endorsed 25 April as be the date promoted as “Anzac Day” in 1916 and ever after. Devoted to the cause of a non-denominational commemoration that could be attended by the whole of Australian society, Garland worked amicably across all denominational divides, creating the framework for Anzac Day commemorative services.[7] Garland is specifically credited with initiating the Anzac Day march, the wreath-laying ceremonies at memorials and the special church services, the two minutes silence, and the luncheon for returned soldiers.[8] Garland intended the silence was used in lieu of a prayer to allow the Anzac Day service to be universally attended, allowing attendees to make a silent prayer or remembrance in accordance with their own beliefs. He particularly feared that the universality of the ceremony would fall victim to religious sectarian disputes.[9]

Through this period, Garland was an active correspondent with his fellow priest and army chaplain William Maitland Woods. Garland’s letters detailed his everyday duties as archdeacon and later canon in the Anglican Church. He detailed his involvement in the Anzac Day Commemoration Committee, and the establishment of Anzac Day in Queensland. He also wrote of his efforts in recruiting with varying degrees of optimism or despondency, depending on how the conscription debate was leaning. Both men exchanged news of their families, in particular their sons, who were on active service.[6]

The wartime letters cease in August 1917, with Garland’s news that he would be joining Woods in the Middle East, having been appointed representative of the Church of England in Australia to inquire into the "moral and social" needs of the Australian men in Egypt. With a large sum of money at his disposal, Garland had been placed in charge of the Church of England Fund for Soldiers at the Front.[6] Garland travelled to Egypt and served 1918-19 in the Middle East where he founded eight clubs for Australian troops, and was the first chaplain to celebrate the Eucharist in the Anglican chapel of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre following the expulsion of the Turks from Jerusalem. In addition he raised funds for memorials and hospitals, and for soldiers’ hostels and care of soldiers’ graves at home and abroad.[2]

Later life

Upon his return to Queensland in 1920, Garland became rector of Ithaca and continued a diverse and illustrious career of community involvement, including presidency of the New Settlers’ League from 1926.[6] He was awarded an O.B.E. in 1934.[2]

Garland died on 9 October 1939 and was buried on 10 October 1939 in Toowong Cemetery.[2][10]

Legacy

The State Library of Queensland holds various collections of Garland’s papers. In 2015, the State Library digitised his First World War letters.[11] This collection consists of letters received by Garland from Australian army soldiers, nurses and chaplains serving abroad during World War I, as well as carbon copies of his replies. Also included are letters from his colleague The Reverend William Maitland Woods regarding the discovery, evacuation and transportation to Australia of the Shellal Mosaic. Transcriptions of the digitised letters are also available. Some of Garland’s letters are also part of the OM74-101 Maitland Woods Papers 1915-1916.[2][12]

The Canon Garland Memorial Society was established on 9 July 2013 at the Holy Trinity Anglican Church at Woolloongabba, Brisbane. The society seeks to honour David Garland's role during the Australian centenary commemoriations of World War I.[13]

In April 2016, a memorial to Garland was unveiled at Kangaroo Point in Brisbane.[14]

References

  1. ↑ Mansfield, Wendy M. "Garland, David John (1864–1939)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. National Centre for Biography, Australian National University. Retrieved 17 February 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Hamilton, Robyn (14 October 2015). "Digitised@SLQ: Letters of army chaplain David John Garland". SLQ blogs. State Library of Queensland. Retrieved 17 February 2016.
  3. ↑ Ancestry User: csibbing. "David John Garland 1864–1939". Ancestry.com. Retrieved 17 February 2016.
  4. 1 2 Unidentified, Canon David John Garland, John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland, retrieved 17 February 2016
  5. ↑ "Holy Trinity Church". Canon Garland Memorial Society. Retrieved 17 February 2016.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 Hamilton, Robyn (8 May 2014). "The Reverend William Maitland Woods – Army Chaplain A.I.F.". SLQ blogs. State Library of Queensland. Retrieved 17 February 2016.
  7. ↑ "The "Architect" of Anzac Day". Canon Garland Memorial Society. Retrieved 17 February 2016.
  8. ↑ Mansfield, Wendy M. Garland, David John (1864–1939). Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University.
  9. ↑ perkinsy. "The Anzac Day Silence, Religion and Garland". Stumbling Through the Past. Retrieved 2016-02-17.
  10. ↑ "Deceased info". Brisbane City Council. Retrieved 17 February 2016.
  11. ↑ Canon David John Garland Papers, 1915-1918; 1934, 1915, retrieved 17 February 2016
  12. ↑ Woods, Maitland (1915), Maitland Woods Papers, 1915-1916, retrieved 17 February 2016
  13. ↑ "About Us". The Canon Garland Memorial Society. Retrieved 17 February 2016.
  14. ↑ http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-04-22/memorial-unveiled-architect-anzac-day-david-garland/7349512

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