New Jerusalem Settlement - Site

Statement of Significance

The site of the settlement represents a unique religion and way of life in Western Australia at the time. The cemetery, the site of the remains, and remains of dwellings are the visible remains of this community are of exceptional significance in representing the unique settlers.

Physical Description

The settlement included properties north and south of Wogolin Road immediately adjoining to the east of the Wickepin townsite. The cemetery was on Joynei"s property originally. The church and school (Yarling School Res. 14051 1555) buildings are marked by debris on the site. One of the dwellings still remain, in a derelict state

History

James Cowley Morgan Fisher (1832-1913) Left his Bristol home at 14, illiterate, deserted the Esperanza for the Victorian goldfields in 1852 and settled in Nunawading as a charcoal burner. He had two sons before his wife died, and he remarried Emma Kefford with whom he had another 4 sons and 5 daughters. His mother in law Rhoda Kefford was the founder of an Australian movement of the New Church of the First Born, based on Swendenborg's principles (First established in England in the 1780s). By 1863 Fisher was the leader, ousting others, and preaching the restoration of Israel to a hundred followers. "The Nunawading Messiah" as he was known, was prosecuted by one of his followers for allegedly obtaining money falsely by representing himself as the Messiah, the law suit failed, but unwelcome attention focussed on Fisher's alleged polygamy. During all of the debacle, Fisher continued to serve on the school committees and Roads Boards in Nunawading in 1871. Boyning Gully was surveyed in 1892 by Oxley. In 1901, 9,600 acres were taken up and divided into individual farms of 500 to 1000 acres in size (a descendant claims that properties were 160 acres in size, and available at between £1-2 an acre). Each individual ran their own affairs. In 1901 the settlement was established by the Fisher family, Rintels, Joyners and Izods, who travelled from the eastern states on the same ship. JCM Fisher and his sons Sol, Jack and Sam, with their wives and families, together with other families who settled in 1902 were the Ruitels, Peters, Morgans, Fisher, and Ebsurys in 1903. Other families included the Swinbanks, Richters, Schultz, W Butler, Jensen, Watson, Rahaley and Noble. Eighteen families of about sixty people comprised the settlement, with a claim that most of them were in some way related, they did all follow the same faith. Most of the Boyning Gully settlers came from around the basin and Croyden in Victoria. They bought all their belongings and livestock, and settled both sides of the Wogolin Road, building a community church (Tabernacal) and school. The Church was purpose built, and services were held on Friday nights. Central to their philosophy, school was taught in the church. The elders were the first teachers, until teachers were introduced, and the government built a school. The cemetery was on Joyners property. There have been many claims of various activities at the settlement, from Fisher's polygamy, and dealings with the females of the fraternity where it has been claimed it was a duty of the females to kiss and fondle the leader. When he died, a vigil at his grave side lasted for 3 days waiting for him to arise from the dead. Without the evangelical leadership, the fraternity started to break up, with outside marriages, and increased population. In 1906, the Director of Agriculture Mr Chaplin accompanied the Minister for Lands, Mr NJ Moore, on a tour of the Narrogin district, and an entourage visited the settlement and were lobbied by the community for the railway from Narrogin to the settlement. Various community members were actively involved with the developing town of Wickepin, and Sol Fisher was the Chairman of the Roads Board, and represented Wickepin at the Paris Exhibition. W (Bill) Butler was a respected businessman and secretary of the New Jerusalem Progress Association, and Schultz lobbied for schools in other areas. In 1966 Mrs Bertha Fisher, the third wife of JCM Fisher (married when he was 78) died, the last of the pioneers of the New Jerusalem settlement.

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