Joseph Gill, champion of the Army

Joseph Gill was a wool buyer, business man and owner of substantial sheep runs in the Collector area near Goulburn. He had migrated from Bradford, a wool manufacturing town in Northern England and prospered. When he died in 1926, the bulk of his estate valued at 489,372 Australian pounds was left to The Salvation Army. 

Why the Army?

We do not know what prompted this generous gift. There is no record of previous giving to the Army and living at Collector, he does not seem to have had close knowledge of the Army – the nearest corps being 30 miles away at Goulburn. There is a story which perhaps some reader can confirm that he was impressed by the cheerful, Christian living of a young Salvationist who was working as a maid in the station homestead. Whatever the reason, he left Winderradeen station and other assets to the Army, subject to various other bequests. His nieces were left 40,000 pounds and churches in Goulburn and Collector 1000 pounds each. Other friends and employees were mentioned and some were specifically bequeathed jewellery and clothes.

Winderradeen Station

The chief asset, Winderradeen Station consisted of 14,537 acres (almost 6000 hectares) with another 26,116 acres held on leasehold. The station carried 25,000 sheep as well as 400 cattle. The entrance, clearly marked, can still be seen on the eastern side of the Federal Highway, approximately midway between Goulburn and Canberra. Much of the land was bordered by Lake George, a remarkable body of water which shrinks and expands from time to time. At one stage the government proposed to exchange some land from the estate for other land nearby but the station manager strongly advised against the idea saying that much of the exchange was land under water. The property continued as a working sheep station for some years and the Army benefited from the income especially during the depression years of the early 1930s. Both General Edward Higgins and General Evangeline Booth stayed there before it was sold in 1937.

Equal Shares

Mr Gill's will required that the estate should be divided in equal shares between the branches of The Salvation Army at Melbourne, Sydney and Goulburn. This restricted the Army's use of the funds especially with regard to Goulburn. At that time, Canberra was being developed and the money could have been spent on developing the Army’s work in the Australian Capital Territory but legal opinion advised against this. It had already been held that Sydney and Melbourne need not be rigorously defined as the city centre but could be taken to include the suburbs and surrounding areas but any further extension was thought unlikely to receive the court's approval.

Major Works

Thus the capital became available for major building works. In Goulburn, a large brick building on a hill above the town was erected for use as a boys' home*, later converted to facilities for senior citizens. For years, one of the sights of the district was the march on Sunday mornings down the hill to the Army hall. In Melbourne, the Gill Memorial Home for Men was built and in Sydney a residence, named after the station, was provided for elderly women. Both these were located in the city centre in keeping with Mr Gill's wishes.

International Repercussions

In 1932, General Higgins met at Winderradeen with the senior officers of both territories. At this conference the General agreed to the continuation of the two territories subject to certain financial rearrangements. Because of the world-wide economic depression, the two Canadian territories had been amalgamated and a similar proposal was facing Australia. However, the funds from the Gill estate were becoming available and the General agreed to an allocation to each territory from the Gill monies and a corresponding payment to the Assurance Company in England. Although the Sydney training college was closed for several years and one rather than two War Crys was published, Australia was able to maintain two territories. It might thus be argued that not all of the results of the Gill estate have been beneficial for while Canada has been a unified territory since depression days, The Salvation Army in Australia has remained territorially divided.

By George Hazell

* Around 35,000 children were cared for by The Salvation Army in Australia between 1890 and the early 1980s. Whilst the recent Royal Commission into Intuitional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse has highlighted significant failures in The Salvation Army’s management of children’s homes, for many young people they were places of caring, education and opportunity. Anyone needing to make a complaint is invited to contact The Salvation Army’s Centre For Restoration: (02) 92669781