The case of the ‘cultivated man’: Class, gender and the church of the establishment in interwar Australia∗

∗ I am grateful to Patricia Curthoys for research assistance and to David Hilliard and John Ingleson for comment.

Abstract

This article argues that the cultural significance of the Anglican Church is greater than historians have acknowledged. The career of John Stoward Moyes, Bishop of Armidale 1929–64, shows that a prophetic churchman could wield considerable authority in his local community, particularly in the divisive interwar years. One of a group of ‘social gospellers’, Moyes saw himself acting as a force for unity and cohesion. Analysis of his relationships with labour suggests the class contradictions inherent in this aspiration, while analysis of his perceptions of manliness and his pastoral role, particularly in relation to women, shows the different ways in which gender could act to both modify and reinforce such contradictions.

Notes

∗ I am grateful to Patricia Curthoys for research assistance and to David Hilliard and John Ingleson for comment.