The first followers of John Wesley were expected to attend Anglican services, but their own preachers travelled from place to place, which is why their work was said to be in "circuits". By the time Victoria was being settled, they were becoming more a separate denomination, but still saw themselves as missionaries. Read "Campfires at the Cross" by Heather Le Griffin, which details tells how the first two Wesleyan ministers were officially appointed to Port Phillip, following visits from Rev Joseph Orton from Tasmania. And to save time, let me cheat and quote from some of my work-in- progress with others on the history of the Highton Wesleyan / Methodist / Uniting Church, St Luke's [Sneak Preview!]. > It has been said that the first ordained clergyman to lead a church > service in the Port Phillip District was the Rev Joseph Orton, a > Wesleyan, but this ignores the services conducted at Sorrento by > the Anglican chaplain, the Rev Robert Knopwood, during the brief > settlement there in 1803-4. Orton had recently been appointed > District Chairman for Van Diemen’s Land, and Henry Reed and others > persuaded him to visit Port Phillip to survey the effect of white > settlement on the aborigines. He held two services in Melbourne on > 24 April 1836, the second an open-air service in the afternoon, and > used the Book of Common Prayer on both occasions – applying the > Wesleyan rule that > > Whenever Divine service is performed in England on the Lord’s day > in “Church-hours” [i.e. the Anglican church], the officiating > Preacher shall read either the > Service of the Church, our venerable Father [Wesley]’s abridgement > of it, or, at least, the Lessons appointed by the Calendar. > At the 11 a.m. service > > … on the premises of John Batman [,the] liturgy was read by Mr > Orton, the responses were led by James Simpson, Esq. The tunes were > raised by Dr Thomson, afterwards of Geelong [and a Presbyterian]..... >> > Orton returned to Hobart, but as a result of his pleas the Rev > Benjamin Hurst and the Rev Francis Tuckfield and their wives sailed > from England in November 1837, with two other Wesleyan ministerial > couples bound for Van Diemen’s Land and Sydney. Hurst was to be > superintendent of the Mission in Port Phillip, but his health > suffered on the voyage, and the Tuckfields crossed Bass Strait > before him – Sarah Tuckfield, like so many pioneering wives, > already pregnant with their first child. In 1839 there was a small > but flourishing society of lay Wesleyans to welcome them, two of > whom, Edward Stone Parker and James Dredge, both local preachers, > had been appointed by the British Colonial Office as assistant > Protectors of the Aborigines. The Wesleyan cause in Port Phillip > was linked from the beginning with concern for mission, which > though it was expressed as bringing the gospel to unbelievers also > demanded justice and practical care. > In those 10 years, Orton had visited Melbourne again in April 1939. > He found that “the Methodist Society had swelled to the number of > thirty members”. Tuckfield and Hurst were travelling over a large > area to hold services, and Orton himself came to Geelong in early > May, and conducted a service in David Fisher’s barn by the Barwon > (now Faggs Mitre 10 extension), at which the singing was led by > Caroline Newcomb. In October 1840, deferring his longed-for return > home to England, he was appointed to Melbourne to take charge of 80 > members, 4 Leaders and 7 Local Preachers. The first Quarterly > meeting of the newly-independent Melbourne Circuit was held in > January 1841. Orton died at the age of 47 on his voyage home in 1842. > > Geelong Wesleyans record that “the first sermon in this place” – > that is, by an ordained Wesleyan minister - was preached by the Rev > Francis Tuckfield on 28 July 1838. His congregation met in Dr > Thomson’s parlour at “Kardinia”, and on other occasions in Fisher’s > barn... > > These were the ministers and leaders of the earliest Wesleyan > community in Geelong. Later, in 1841, the Rev Samuel Wilkinson > joined the Circuit, and by February 1842 the Geelong Wesleyans had > their own little church in Yarra Street. As they could not get an > ordained minister of their own, they appointed the layman James > Dredge as a hired Local Preacher, after he had resigned his > appointment as Assistant Protector. Dr Alexander Thomson provided > him with a rent-free cottage. Dredge’s health failed and he > returned to England, dying on the voyage like Orton. He was > succeeded by the Rev William Lowe in 1846, the Rev W Cox Curry in > 1847, and then in 1848 by the Rev Francis Tuckfield after the > gallant failure of Bunting Dale. Tuckfield was the first minister > of the new Geelong Circuit, which began in that year with a total > of 134 members, and included the Barrabool Hills. He was followed > by Rev Frederick Lewis (1850), with the Rev William Lightbody > assisting him in 185[2], and Rev Richard Hart from Sierra Leone in > 1853. It was assserted in 1914 that the first Wesleyan service in > Highton was conducted in 1853 in the Windmills’ house by Frederick > Lewis. At the moment I have lent out my copy of Dawn Peel's recent book on the year 1857 in Colac, and find I can't even remember its name correctly, but someone may be able to tell you what she says about the Wesleyans there. Good hunting! Marion