Fassifern's fighters

The Salvation Army in Fassifern has produced its fair share of outstanding Salvationists.

John Charles Tunstall Sr arrived in Australia from England in 1883 and settled in Coochin Coochin. His father, James Tunstall, was a lay-preacher with William Booth in England. so it was only natural that John Charles Tunstall Sr and his family became Salvationists.

His son, J. K. Tunstall, remembers riding to and from Salvation Army meetings in a horse and buggy: I can remember us all in the sulky. Mum and Dad and myself sitting in between and the little ones on the floor under the seat in the bitter cold weather nearly freezing, getting home at one and two o’clock in the morning!

Most of John Charles Tunstall Sr’s 10 children remained in The Salvation Army and many of them went on to become officers (the Tunstall name is very common on Salvation Army circles, even today.)