Biography

Alfred Robertson Fitchett (1836-1929 was a preacher, teacher and scholar noted, and at times reviled for his liberal views. Born at Grantham, Lincolnshire, son of William (a hairdresser and Wesleyan lay preacher) and Hannah(ne’e Hubbard) Fitchett, he emigrated to Victoria, Australia with his family in 1849

He worked on the Ballarat goldfields and at sea. In 1856 he married Mary Anne Wilson who died five years later, and in 1864 Theresa Martha Williamson.

After attending Melbourne University he was ordained a Wesleyan minister in 1863 and sent to Wanganui, New Zealand where his preaching was described as ‘cultured and unconventional’.

From 1867-1870 he was Minister of Trinity Methodist Church in Dunedin and after six years in Christchurch, returned to Trinity in 1876. In 1876 he published a paper which supported Darwin’s views on evolution and argued against a literal acceptance of Genesis, which caused a lot of controversy in Dunedin.

In 1879 he resigned as a Methodist Minister and was soon ordained as an Anglican Priest and appointed to All Saints. He became the first Dean of St Pauls Cathedral in 1894.

Renowned in Dunedin, he gave classes in classical languages and held the chair of Classics at Selwyn College for twenty years. For many years he wrote as ‘Civic’ for the Otago Daily Times. He was still Dean of St Paul’s when he died 19 April 1929.

Abridged from Southern People: ref A E J Fitchet