St Andrew’s Presbyterian Church

Gray Street, Hamilton, Vic

First organ, see: Wangaratta. Holy Trinity Anglican Cathedral.
Present organ, built 1909 Geo Fincham & Son;
rebuilt & enlarged 1965 Geo Fincham & Sons Pty Ltd.
2 manuals, 31 speaking stops, 9 couplers, electro-pneumatic action.

St Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, Hamilton – exterior
(photograph by John Maidment [24 May 2006])


Historical and Technical Documentation by John Maidment
© OHTA, January 2022

The site of the church was granted in 1854. The first church was opened in 1858 and was enlarged in 1877.

St Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, Hamilton – interior showing organ with stencilled pipes
(early photograph from the Uniting Church Archives [2006])

The present church was opened in June 1909. It was designed by prominent Ballarat architect George William Clegg (born 1870) and the builder was E. Tuxen. Built in bluestone, it has a prominent tower and spire (at 130 feet, the tallest of the three in Hamilton, with elongated belfry stage and corner pinnacles). The nave has double transepts, a raking floor and interior focussing on choir and organ. The transept roofs are supported internally on stencilled iron columns. The porches have tiled floors. The windows have sandstone dressings and carved bosses. Cost was not spared in producing a superbly finished and detailed building.

Fittings include superbly polished blackwood pews, the font and a side table (at the rear of the church) with cherub heads - these are likely to have been carved by Robert Prenzel, the renowned wood carver, who also did work in the area at Christ Church and St Michael’s, Tarrington. The building contains an extensive collection of stained glass. The earliest ornamental glass probably by William Montgomery (1850-1927) in the style of Ferguson & Urie who were no longer in business by 1908. The use of scrolls with texts is typical of Presbyterian requirements.¹

The first organ was built by Bevington & Sons 1845, installed in 1896 and is now in the Lady Chapel of Holy Trinity Anglican Cathedral, Wangaratta. The present organ was built by George Fincham & Son and opened in June 1909 by W.F.G. Steele, organist of The Scots Church, Melbourne, who was also responsible for its design.²

The 1909 specification follows:

3 composition pedals to Great
3 composition pedals to Swell
Balanced swell pedal
Mechanical action to manuals
Tubular-pneumatic action to pedal
Detached drawstop console³

St Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, Hamilton – organ case
(photograph by John Maidment [24 May 2006])

The organ was rebuilt and enlarged in 1965 by George Fincham & Sons Pty Ltd. The façade pipes were originally stencilled but this was painted out at the time of the rebuilding which saw the original mechanical action converted to electro-pneumatic and a new detached console installed together with numerous tonal additions.

Compass: 61/30
Electro-pneumatic action
Detached stopkey console⁴

1 From notes for a tour ‘Hamilton Churches and Organs’, 28 April 2012, researched by John Maidment

2 Hamilton Spectator, 7 June 1909, p.3

3 Specification from E.N. Matthews, Colonial Organs and Organbuilders (Carlton: Melbourne University Press, 1969), p.218 with corrected nomenclature

4 Specification noted John Maidment 1966