, image = George Town - St. George Church 11.jpg , imagesize = 250px , pushpin map = Malaysia Penang George Town central , pushpin label position = none , map caption = Location within George Town's

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

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Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

, location = 1 Farquhar Street
George Town,

Penang Penang ( ms, Pulau Pinang, is a Malaysian state located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia, by the Malacca Strait. It has two parts: Penang Island, where the capital city, George Town, is located, and Seberang Perai on the Malay ...

, churchmanship = , membership = , attendance = , website = , former name = , bull date = , founded date = 1818 , founder = , dedication = , dedicated date = , consecrated date = 1819 , cult = , relics = , events = , past bishop = , people = , status = , functional status = Active , heritage designation = National Heritage Register , designated date = 1996 , architect =

William Petrie William Petrie (1747 – 27 October 1816) was a British officer of the East India Company in Chennai (formerly Madras) during the 1780s, and was Governor of Prince of Wales Island (Penang Island) from 1812 to 1816. An amateur astronomer, Petrie he ...

, Robert N. Smith , architectural type = Neo-Classical and

Georgian Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group ** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three scrip ...

Palladian Palladian architecture is a European architectural style derived from the work of the Venetian architect Andrea Palladio (1508–1580). What is today recognised as Palladian architecture evolved from his concepts of symmetry, perspective and ...

, style = , groundbreaking = 1816 , completed date = 1818 , construction cost = 60,000

Spanish dollars The Spanish dollar, also known as the piece of eight ( es, Real de a ocho, , , or ), is a silver coin of approximately diameter worth eight Spanish reales. It was minted in the Spanish Empire following a monetary reform in 1497 with content ...

, closed date = , demolished date = , capacity = , length = , width = , width nave = , height = , diameter = , other dimensions = , floor count = , floor area = , dome quantity = , dome height outer = , dome height inner = , dome dia outer = , dome dia inner = , spire quantity = , spire height = , materials = , parish = , deanery = , archdeaconry = Upper North Archdeaconry , diocese =

Diocese of West Malaysia The Diocese of West Malaysia is an Anglican diocese which covers the entire West Malaysia. The Diocese of West Malaysia (DWM) was founded on 8 April 1970, as DWM together with Diocese of Singapore split from Diocese of Singapore and Malaya. As ...

, province =

Church of the Province of South East Asia The Church of the Province of South East Asia is an autonomous member of the Anglican Communion, created in 1996 with the four dioceses of Kuching, Sabah, Singapore and West Malaysia. There are approximately 98,000 Anglicans within the pro ...

, presbytery = , synod = , circuit = , district =

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Rt Rev The Right Reverend (abbreviated The Rt Revd, The Rt Rev'd, The Rt Rev.) is a style applied to certain religious figures. Overview *In the Anglican Communion and the Catholic Church in Great Britain, it applies to bishops, except that ''The M ...

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Dr Stephen Soe Chee Chenghttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2npL0WUUgA approximately 1 hour and 7 minutes into the video , provost-rector = , provost = , viceprovost = , rector = , dean = , subdean = , precentor = , canon = , canonpastor = , prebendary = , priest = , asstpriest = , honpriest = , curate = , minister = , assistant = , seniorpastor = , pastor = , chaplain = , archdeacon =

Venerable The Venerable (''venerabilis'' in Latin) is a style, a title, or an epithet which is used in some Western Christian churches, or it is a translation of similar terms for clerics in Eastern Orthodoxy and monastics in Buddhism. Christianity Cathol ...

Soong Hoe Pin , deacon = , deaconess = , reader = , organistdom = , director = , organist = , organscholar = , chapterclerk = , laychapter = , warden = Mr Ho Yik Tuck, Mr Jaya Paul Dhas , flowerguild = , musicgroup = , parishadmin = , serversguild = , logo = , logosize = , embedded = , landscape = St. George's Church is a 19th-century

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

church in the city of George Town in

. It is the oldest purpose built Anglican church in

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...

. The church lies within the jurisdiction of the Upper North Archedeaconry of the

History

After the

British East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...

took possession of the island of Penang in 1786, the spiritual care of the colonists was effected by

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a Minister (Christianity), minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a laity, lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secularity, secular institution (such as a hosp ...

s attached to the EIC. Early religious services were held at the chapel of

Fort Cornwallis Fort Cornwallis is a bastion fort in George Town, Penang, Malaysia, built by the British East India Company in the late 18th century. It is the largest standing fort in Malaysia. The fort never engaged in combat during its operational history. ...

and later at the Court House located opposite the present church building. Proposals for the building of a permanent

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Chris ...

were submitted as early as 1810 but was only acted upon after the passing of the East India Company Act 1813 (Charter Act) whereby the EIC received a 20-year extension of its charter. Approval was obtained in 1815 to build the church based on the architectural plans drawn up by Major

Thomas Anburey Thomas Anburey (active late 1700s) was a British explorer and writer who wrote a disputed narrative of his travels in North America in the 1770s-1780s. Arnburey sailed from Cork in 1776 in charge of Irish recruits of the 47th Regiment. He serve ...

but the church was eventually built on the plans drawn up by the Governor of Prince of Wales Island (as Penang was known then),

, and modified by Lieutenant Robert N. Smith of the Madras Engineers. Smith was a colleague of Colonel James Lillyman Caldwell, the chief architect of St. George's Cathedral in Madras, and the architecture of St. George's Church is believed to be based on the cathedral itself. Amongst those consulted on the building of the church was the Rev.

Robert Sparke Hutchings Robert Sparke Hutchings (11 April 1781 – 20 April 1827) was an England, English clergyman who initiated the founding in 1816 of Penang Free School, one of the oldest English-medium schools in Southeast Asia, in Penang in present-day Malaysia ...

, the Colonial Chaplain of Prince of Wales Island. Hutchings would later be instrumental in setting up the

Penang Free School , motto_translation = Strong and Faithful , streetaddress = Green Lane, , city = George Town , state = Penang , postcode = 11600 , country = Malaysi ...

. The building was completed in 1818 while Hutchings was still away in Bengal and church services were officiated by a Rev. Henderson. The church was consecrated on 11 May 1819 by the Bishop of Calcutta,

Thomas Fanshawe Middleton Thomas Fanshawe Middleton (28 January 1769 – 8 July 1822) was a noted Anglican bishop. Life Middleton was born in Kedleston in Derbyshire, England, the son of Thomas Middleton, Rector of Kedleston and educated at Christs Hospital. He then we ...

. The first significant event that took place in the church after its completion was the wedding of the Governor, William Edward Philips to Janet Bannerman, the daughter of his predecessor, Colonel John Alexander Bannerman on 30 June 1818. The building was significantly damaged during the

Japanese occupation of Malaya The then British colony of Malaya was gradually occupied by the Japanese between 8 December 1941 and the Allied surrender at Singapore on 16 February 1942. The Japanese remained in occupation until their surrender to the Allies in 1945. The ...

and a lot of her interior fittings were looted. Services were not to be held in the church until repairs concluded in 1948. Currently Bishop Dr Stephen Soe Chee Cheng is the Suffragan Bishop of the Area Diocese of Northern Peninsula with the Diocese of West Malaysia: Vicar of St. George’s Church Penang, the Oldest Anglican Church in South East Asia.

Architecture

The church is built with a combination of Neo-Classical,

and English Palladian architecture styles. Built entirely by Indian convict labour, it was built of brick on a solid plastered stone base. The Church features a portico of

Doric columns The Doric order was one of the three orders of ancient Greek and later Roman architecture; the other two canonical orders were the Ionic and the Corinthian. The Doric is most easily recognized by the simple circular capitals at the top of col ...

. The original roof was flat but was converted to a gable in 1864 as the original flat roof was found to be unsuitable in the tropical climate. The apex of the roof is topped by an octagonal shaped steeple. A memorial pavilion was erected in 1886 in memory of Captain

Francis Light Captain Francis Light ( – 21 October 1794) was a British explorer and the founder of the British colony of Penang (in modern-day Malaysia) and its capital city of George Town in 1786. Light and his lifelong partner, Martina Rozells, were th ...

during the Centenary Celebrations of the founding of modern Penang. In 2007, the church was declared one of the 50 National Treasures of Malaysia by the

Malaysian federal government The Government of Malaysia, officially the Federal Government of Malaysia ( ms, Kerajaan Persekutuan Malaysia), is based in the Federal Territory of Putrajaya with the exception of the legislative branch, which is located in Kuala Lumpur. Malays ...

. It underwent a major restoration in 2009.

References

External links

*
Penang Sentral Global Website

Anglican Diocese of West Malaysia: St George's Church, Penang
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint George's Church, Penang Anglican church buildings in Malaysia Churches completed in 1818 19th-century Anglican church buildings Churches in Penang Palladian Revival architecture Tourist attractions in George Town, Penang

History

Architecture

See also

References

External links