became the first Christian minister settled as such in Melbourne, which was then a settlement of a few huts and two weatherboard houses that served as hotels. Within 18 months the population increased from a few hundred to 3000. Presbyterian beginnings in Melbourne On Saturday 3 February 1838 a meeting of members and friends of the Church of Scotland was held with James Clow in the chair. It was resolved to build a church and that £300 be raised in order to obtain the matching grant available under the Church Act. This is regarded as the official birthday of Presbyterianism in Victoria and of the beginning of Scots’ Church. A committee of James Clow (treasurer), James Forbes and Skene Graig (secretaries) was appointed to collect subscriptions and to take the steps to obtain a church site. The sum of £139.19.0 was subscribed on the spot. Forbes continued the afternoon service each Sunday in the Pioneers Church on William Street on the corner of Collins Street begun by Clow on 31 December 1837. This communal building had been opened in February 1837 but soon after the land on which it was built was reserved for the Church of England. In April 1838 the Bishop indicated it would not be available for use by others once a resident priest arrived. The Presbyterians resolved to provide their own facilities so Forbes held services in Craig and Broadfoot's store in Collins Street until a temporary timber building called Scots Church was opened in July 1838 on the adjoining site owned by David Fisher. The location was between where the Winfield building now stands (adjoining the old Rialto) (Lot 14 Section 2). It was essentially a large room with a fireplace able to hold about 60 people. The temporary building also served as the Scots' Church School, which was begun on 26 November 1838 with Robert Campbell as teacher. He had come to Australia with Forbes and was a Scots' elder from 1839 until 1842. The school prospered and soon had 80 pupils. The school relocated to new brick premises in September 1839 on the part of the site on the corner of Collins and Russell Streets which adjoins the present Baptist Church and on which Georges department store was later erected. The number of students was soon 150, a third of them girls, and two aboriginal children were among those who received prizes at