The Free Presbyterian Church of Victoria, also known as the Free Church of Australia Felix, was an Australian Presbyterian denomination founded in Melbourne, Victoria in 1846 as a result of the Disruption of 1843 in the Church of Scotland.
Founding
The first Presbyterian minister in Melbourne, James Forbes and one of his three elders at Scots' Church, Melbourne adhered to the position also adopted by those who withdrew from the 'Synod of Australian in connection with the Established Church of Scotland' and formed the Presbyterian Church of Eastern Australia in New South Wales on 10 October 1846. Forbes and his elder withdrew from the Presbytery of Melbourne of the Synod and organised a distinct body on similar lines to the Presbyterian Church of Eastern Australia, although spelling out the constitution afresh rather than simply adhering to the existing constitution. There was no difference of principle between the two bodies.
Forbes gave up his handsome stipend (£200 from the government plus £150 from the congregation), the church, school and manse he had erected, and commenced afresh. He issued his Protest on 29 October 1846 and submitted it to the Presbytery of Melbourne on 17 November, the date of the organising meeting of what the minutes call The Free Presbyterian Church of Australia Felix. The first service was held in the Mechanics' Hall (where the Athenaeum now stands) on 22 November 1846 with about 200 people crowding the building.
John Knox School
The building of John Knox Free Presbyterian Church, Swanston Street was opened 8 May 1848 on the corner with Little Lonsdale Street and with frontage to that street. The John Knox School began in the building on 3 July 1848 with T.J. Everist as teacher. Within a year there were 120 students and an adjoining brick building came into use in August 1850. The congregation erected a two-storey manse next door to the church in Swanston Street late in 1850. The Rev William Miller was inducted as the next minister 1851-1865 (not to be confused with a contemporary Rev William B. Miller). The church was reconstructed in 1863 and re-opened by Rev William McIntyre 26 July of that year. Since 1879 it has housed the Church of Christ congregation.
Additional educational facilities were also provided. Chalmers Free Church School began on 4 June 1850 under George McMaster, an experienced Scottish teacher, using purpose-built leased premises at what is now 257 Spring Street between Lonsdale and Little Lonsdale Streets. It was a small co-educational school but Forbes had a vision for a college for boys which would provide ‘teachers for our common schools’ and be ‘the first step towards the training of a Colonial ministry from among the Colonial youth.’ He personally sought and obtained the assistance of Miss Mure of Warriston in Edinburgh, to guarantee the salary of a rector and so make the project viable. Forbes, W.M.Bell and John McDonnell bore the initial financial responsibility.
When McMaster transferred to the Knox Free Presbyterian School in October he was replaced by George Knox until May 1851. At that point the students were transferred to Knox and the Chalmers' premises stood empty waiting for the arrival of the rector from Scotland. The Academy opened in the Chalmers premises 6 October 1851 with Robert Lawson (1826–69) as rector. The Academy moved to the south-west corner of Spring and Little Collins Streets in 1852, and the Chalmers’ premises were let to an unrelated minister, Rev. William B. Miller. The school moved to East Melbourne in 1854 where it soon adopted the name Scotch College. Forbes died shortly before the opening. Of recent years Scotch College, now located in Hawthorn, has rediscovered its founder. In 2002 the first stage of the impressive buildings of the James Forbes Academy (drama/music) was opened.
Later Church Expansion
Forbes sought to obtain additional ministers for the Free Church. He apparently offended the Irish Church by some critical remarks on some individual Irish ministers who had not stood with him in 1846, so assistance came chiefly from the Free Church of Scotland. Thomas Hastie came from Tasmania in January 1847 and was settled at Buninyong and The Leigh, while Rev J.Z. Huie became minister at Geelong in the same year. Schools were established in both parishes. There was little other help until the explosion of population following the discovery of gold in 1851, the year of Forbes' death.