1018/1887 CHATFIELD, PERCY G MACKANESS, AMELIA C SYDNEY
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MARRIAGE.
The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : Wednesday 13 July 1887
CHATFIELD-MACKANESS.-July 9, at St. Philip's Church, Sydney, by the Rev. J. D. Langley, Percy Garraway, second son of Captain C. S. F. CHATFIELD, of Ryde, to Amelia (Millie) E., second daughter of the late James Mackaness, of St. Leonards.
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The Sydney Morning Herald, NSW : Saturday 10 July 1937
GOLDEN WEDDING
CHATFIELD-MACKANESS.-July 9. 1887, at St, Philip's, Church Hill,Sydney by the Rev. J D. Langley, Percy G. son of Captain and the late Mrs, CHATFIELD, of Ryde, to Amelia E., daughter of the late James and Mrs Mackaness. of St. Leonards. North Sydney. Present address; Aeolus, North-road. Ryde.
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The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : Tuesday 20 July 1937)
MR. AND MRS. P. G, CHATFIELD, well-known residents of Ryde, were recipients of numerous congratulations recently on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of their wedding. They were married at St. Philip's Church, Church Hill, and have resided at Ryde ever since. Mr. Chatfield was for many years an alderman of Ryde Council, and has been Mayor on several occasions.
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The Australian Women's Weekly (16 October 1937)
BIG DAY for 1500 Married COUPLES
Wedding Commemoration Service at St. Philip's Church
Over 1500 married couples who have taken their marital vows within the walls of St. Philip's Church, Church Hill, Sydney, have been invited to attend a special wedding commemoration service on Sunday, October 17.
The longest-married couple who will attend the Service will be Mr. and Mrs. CHATFIELD, of Ryde, who celebrated their golden wedding in July this year.
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ST. PHILIP'S CHURCH. Meet Mr. and Mrs. Chatfield. I was married 50 years ago in St. Philip's Church," said Mr. Percy Garraway Chatfield in a special interview with The Australian Women's Weekly. "It seems no time! To look back on 50 years is nothing to look forward to that number of years, one feels is a life-time." "We both feel as young and as happy to-day as we did 50 years ago," said Mrs. CHATFIELD, who looks remarkably young for her age. "There were no trams, no telephones and no electricity, when we were married at St. Philip's. "It's almost impossible to believe that the church in its surroundings to-day is the same one we were married in." "I well remember my wedding day," said Mr. Chatfield. "I arrived from the New England district to be married, to find my family and home in quarantine and the yellow flag waving outside. "The policeman who patrolled the house questioned me as to whether I lived there, but, not wanting any delay with my wedding, I denied all association. "Consequently I was running round trying to borrow clothes, and ended in being married in odds and ends collected around the neighborhood."
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11,000 Weddings
The Chatfields' wedding ls one of 11,000 which have been celebrated in St. Philip's Church since 1807. St. Philip's, "The Church of Romances," averages 250 marriage ceremonies a year, and is as fashionable and popular to-day for weddings as it was in the dim past of 1809, when Rev. William Cowper arrived in Australia from the Old Country as its first rector. Mr. Cowper found himself in a strange world. He was horrified to find that among the convicts, and even a certain number of officers, the ceremony of marriage was looked on as quite unnecessary. Governor Macquarie, upon his arrival the following year, dealt with this matter in one of his characteristic proclamations. In this he expressed his "high disapprobation of such immorality, and his future resolution to repress it." Among the convicts, at least, the Governor's manifesto had an effect, with the result that the Rev. William Cowper was kept busy at St. Philip's Church reading the marriage service. To cope with the rush, as many as six couples had to be married at the one service, and it is recorded in the register books that eighteen couples were married in one day. One of the Rev. Cowper's sons subsequently became Premier of N.S.W. Early registers of St. Philip's Church are in the keeping of the Registrar-General, but the first entry in the register at St. Philip's Church was in 1826. Most of the signatures in this register were in the form of an "x," for few of the parties could sign their names.
