Roland St John

Born at Boggabri NSW on 16 December 1914, 'Roley' was one of eight children of the Revd Canon Frederick de Port St John, a Church of England parish priest in rural NSW, and his wife Hannah Phoebe Mabel (Pyrke). Roland's uncle Revd Harold B St John was also a Church of England parish priest. Roland's younger brother was Edward St John QC MP. Their grandfather Henry St John was a pioneer of Rawdon Island NSW and a nephew of Revd Ambrose St John, who converted to Roman Catholicism with his friend and colleague Cardinal John Henry Newman. Henry St John was a great-great-grandson of the 10th Baron St John of Bletso.[2]

Educated at Armidale High School, Roland gained the degrees of BEc (Syd) and BA (Qld) by part-time studies and was an Associate of the Australian Society of Accountants. In accounting exams in 1952, he topped Australasia in Final Auditing with a mark of 94%. After working at Bank of NSW branches in several country towns he was transferred to the Bank's head office in Sydney. At the outbreak of war in 1939, he enlisted in the University Regiment. When the war extended to the Pacific in 1941 he volunteered for the 2nd AIF and served in Irian Jaya and New Britain, reaching the rank of Captain before returning to civilian life in 1946.[3]

At the age of 32 he was appointed by Archbishop Reginald Halse to be Diocesan Registrar, Brisbane, at a time when the diocese had been in a 'perilous financial position' for some years.[3] In his history of the Church of England in Queensland Dr. K Rayner wrote:

A member of a well-known New South Wales clerical family, St John brought to his new position both a thorough knowledge of church affairs and also the financial and administrative ability of rare quality. He recognised what many businessmen on church committees had not realised, that even in its business affairs the church could not always use the same methods as commercial enterprises, because its aims were different.

"We must remember that the Church is a Church and not a business. In the long run, its success – as a Church – will depend on its spiritual strength, rather than its financial resources. If the first is healthy, there will be little difficulty about the latter."[4]

This implied no mandate for inefficiency in managing church affairs, and the announcement in 1956 of the complete elimination of the deficiency accounts of the diocese, which had totalled more than £40,000 in 1946, was a remarkable demonstration of the skillful handling of the financial affairs of the church by the registrar.[5]

In his history of the Church of England in Brisbane, Dr J C Holland wrote of St John:

His 28 years as registrar show how a layman could come to exercise diocesan influence as great as that of any diocesan bishop. ...He was universally respected and even admired, rather than loved. His encyclopedic knowledge of both Diocesan organisations and intimate parish details, together with a reputation for having brought the Diocese back from serious debt, gave him credibility, stature and the voice of authority, as well as the capacity to use his knowledge to further the policies which he believed were right... Halse had come to rely on him immensely and trusted his judgement...and was happy to refer difficult situations to him, and not only of a financial or administrative kind.

His reports on serious and potentially contentious matters ...show a mind capable of great clarity about the issues.

When [Archbishop] Strong arrived [1962] there were differences of opinion over policy and style. ...Whereas Strong leant on the Holy Spirit, St John was more pragmatic and politically nuanced....The tension between Strong and St John was never satisfactorily resolved...At times, Strong recognised the great ability that St John had. He praised as 'outstanding and remarkable' an address that St John gave to Diocesan Synod in June 1967... No doubt St John too recognised the great ability that Strong had and his spiritual integrity, and publicly they put forward, as much as possible, a united front.[18]

Yet nothing could take away the enormous contribution [St John] made to the diocese over 28 years. He had knowledge of every department of diocesan life. He carefully and thoroughly stewarded the diocesan finances. ...He readily listened to troubled clergy and he offered leadership to the wider Australian Anglican church. He had a zeal to see the work of the church in the Diocese of Brisbane's progress and expand. At St John’s last diocesan synod, [Archbishop] Arnott spoke of his selfless devotion to the diocese and...it will be for his selfless devotion to his Lord and his Church that he will be principally remembered.[19]

Roland married Margaret, daughter of Archdeacon Reginald Massey, in 1949. They had a happy family life with their five children: David, Paul, Philippa, Nigel, and Julian. Margaret's early death in 1972 after a long illness was a deep grief to him. At a time when his work responsibilities were at their height, he became a single parent. In 1976 he married a widow with children, Marjorie Richardson (1924-2008).[20]

St John's Cathedral dedicated a stained-glass window to Roland and Margaret in 1976. (St Alban's Anglican Church, Quirindi NSW, has stained-glass windows dedicated to Roland's parents.[21])

On retiring as Registrar he took up an administrative position with a firm run by a family he had known from the church. In 1981, after he had retired entirely, he and Marjorie moved to Toowoomba. He read history, appreciated the arts, and loved music. He collected oriental ceramics and china though he had little money to spend on them. In his latter years, he painted in watercolour.

In his book of memoirs Memories at Sunset he wrote of his childhood in Uralla and recounted anecdotes about people he had met during his lifetime. But they were not an autobiography: 'They do not speak of my good fortune in having godly, impressive and understanding parents…Nor do they refer to my marriage to two wonderful women…They do not mention the many joys and occasional sorrows of bringing up a large family'. These remained personal matters.[22]

He died on 3 October 1991 aged nearly 77. In a tribute, the Primate of Australia, Dr Keith Rayner, said: "The Diocese of Brisbane and the whole Australian Church owed a tremendous amount to Roland's dedicated service and the acumen with which it was carried out. When he became Registrar he inherited a very difficult administrative and financial situation in Brisbane and he achieved a remarkable amount in turning this around."[23]The Toowoomba Chronicle published an obituary "'Tireless church worker' dies at 76".[24]

The Thanksgiving Eucharist was at All Saints' Church, Toowoomba. Bishop Adrian Charles spoke of Roland's meticulous attention to detail, which was of such value when the Church Canons (laws) of the Diocese were being produced; and his great work and influence beyond the Diocese in the national General Synod and in production of the constitution of the Anglican Church in Australia and the Church's prayer book. He also spoke of Roland's genuine love for things in the country and said that Roland felt that meeting country people made the difficulties of the Registrar's job seem worthwhile.[25]

The General Synod's Standing Committee formally recorded the following minute on 24/25 October 1991:

That this Standing Committee record its thankfulness to Almighty God for the life service and witness of Roland Tyrwhitt St John, formerly Registrar of the Diocese of Brisbane from 1946 to 1974, member of the General Synod from 1950 to 1974, and the Standing Committee, its Finance Committee and the Long Service Leave Board; for his representation of the Anglican Church of Australia at the Toronto Congress and the Anglican Consultative Council at Limuru and Dublin; for his outstanding work in re-establishing the financial stability of the Diocese of Brisbane; for his contribution to the establishment of the Constitution of this Church and the Long Service Leave Fund and his vigorous contribution to its debates on a wide range of subjects; and convey to his widow Marjorie and their children their sympathy and assurance of their prayers for them at this time.[26]