St Stephen's Anglican Church - Former

A foundation stone records: 1921 - St Stephen's - Erected by - W J Cartwright - To the Glory of God, and in memory of - Rev R Cartwright, 1st Incumbent Liverpool NSW -  1819 - 1836 - And Driver B R Cartwright AIF - Died on service 2nd Sept 1915.

Information board records: St Stephen's Church of England - Memorial Church, Bagdad - The first Church of England services in the Bagdad area were conducted in the nearby home of Mr. Dommischenz. Later, the land for this church was donated by Mrs Blair of Temora Station. A small wooden church building was erected on the land and opened for worship on January 1, 1888. It served the local church needs until it was demolished in 1921. - The current building was entirely paid for by Mr & Mrs W J Cartwright as a memorial to their son, Driver Bernard Cartwright who was drowned off Gallipoli when the ship "Southland" was torpedoed on September 2, 1915, and to the memory of Mr Cartwright's grandfather, the pioneer Anglican Minister, the Rev'd Robert Cartwright. - The Foundation stone was laid on January 12, 1921 by Mr W J Cartwright and the new church was consecrated by the Right Rev'd Dr. Lewis Radford, The Bishop of Goulburn on June 8, 1921. Rev'd J Hirst, the local minister at the time suggested the name St Stephen's, as appropiate. St Stephen being the first Christian martyr. - The church, designed by Mr A McDonald, architect of Temora, was built by Messrs D W Smith and Thos. Sinclair. The internal fittings were donated by local families. - Sunday March 20, 1938 the Bishop of Wangaratta lead a Pilgrimage to this church to celebrate the memory and work of the Rev'd Robert Cartwright, the first Anglican minister to conduct a service in the Canberra region.