Peerage Record – 47400

     Lydia Woodruffe Gunther was born NSW BDM index no. V18381505 22/1838 in 1838 at New South Wales, Australia^G. She was the daughter of Jakob Wilhelm Günther and Lydia Paris.¹ She married Thomas Kemmis in 1860 at Mudgee, New South Wales, Australia^G, in a NSW BDM index no. 2110/1860 marriage. She died on 14 March 1927 at Lindfield, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia^G, at her residence, “Shaen Lodge”, Reid Street, Lindfield / NSW BDM index no. 3718/1927.²
     From 1860, her married name became Kemmis.

     William James Günther was born NSW BDM index no. V18391628 23A/1839 on 28 May 1839 at Wellington, New South Wales, Australia^G.¹ He was the son of Jakob Wilhelm Günther and Lydia Paris.² He married Mary Jane Willis on 7 July 1868 at Paddington, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia^G, in a NSW BDM index no. 1367/1868 marriage. He died on 16 June 1918 at age 79 at St Leonards, New South Wales, Australia^G, NSW BDM index no. 7877/1918. He was buried at Parramatta, New South Wales, Australia^G.³
     He was Clergyman. He was educated The King’s School, Parramatta; Queen’s College, Oxford (B.A., 1862; M.A., 1865.)
GUNTHER, WILLIAM JAMES (1839-1918), Anglican clergyman, was born on 28 May 1839 at Wellington, New South Wales, son of Rev. James William Gunther and his wife Lydia, née Paris. His father, a German-born missionary, had a long and distinguished career in the Mudgee district and was an archdeacon of the diocese of Bathurst when he died in 1880 [sic]. In 1852-57 William was educated at The King’s School, Parramatta, where he won three scholarships, and at Queen’s College, Oxford (B.A., 1862; M.A., 1865). He was made deacon in 1863 by the bishop of Chester, ordained priest by the bishop of Lichfield in 1864 and Bishop Frederic Barker secured him a curacy at Stapenhill, Derbyshire. In 1865 Gunther returned to Sydney and on 1 January 1866 was licensed as curate of St Philip’s Church, where he won Barker’s commendation. In 1868-1909 he was incumbent of the old and important parish of St John, Parramatta. In 1868 he joined the committee of management which aided George Macarthur in reviving The King’s School. Later he helped to associate the school with the diocesan synod, and remained on its council and other school committees for many years. When the local denominational school closed, he converted it into St John’s Grammar School and prepared pupils for entry to The King’s School. From 1883 he was a fellow of St Paul’s College, University of Sydney.

Gunther’s activity in education was a part of his involvement in the affairs of the diocese. He had become an episcopal examining chaplain in 1868 and rural dean of Parramatta in 1870. In 1875 he was secretary of the provincial synod and in 1877 was made a canon of St Andrew’s Cathedral; meanwhile he became an active member of many diocesan organizations. In the episcopate of Bishop Saumarez Smith, his responsibilities grew heavier. He delivered the presidential address to the 1897 synod and when Rev. William Cowper died in 1902 declined the offer of the deanery, as he had of two country bishoprics. He became vicar-general and commissary, the principal clergyman of the diocese and an important figure in provincial and general synods. A firm Evangelical, he did his best to moderate the bitter party feelings in Archbishop Smith’s last years. When he presided over the synod which in 1909 chose J. C. Wright as Smith’s successor, Gunther was able to avoid the confusion and disorder which had marked earlier elections. He left Parramatta in 1910 but retained his extraparochial appointments until 1916 when, having administered the diocese five times in twenty years, he resigned. Aged 79 he died on 16 June 1918 and was buried in the Anglican cemetery, Parramatta. He was survived by his wife Mary Jane, née Willis, whom he had married on 7 July 1868, and by three sons and two daughters.

In addition to his administrative duties and membership of a wide variety of religious bodies, Gunther was a prominent ecclesiastical historian. He wrote pamphlets and articles on St John’s Church, The King’s School, Samuel Marsden and early Australian church history. His results were sometimes uncritical but he did invaluable work in preserving old books and records. He was president of the (Royal) Australian Historical Society in 1906 and began the systematic study of Sydney’s Anglican history.

Select Bibliography
S. M. Johnstone, The History of The King’s School, Parramatta (Syd, 1932); Church Standard (Sydney), 21 June 1918; Votes & Proceedings, Synod 1897, 1909, 1917, 1918 (Sydney Diocesan Registry).

Author: K. J. Cable
___

Always spelt his surname with the German umlaut as Günther.^1,4

     Theophilus Gunther was born NSW BDM index no. V18412151 25A/1841 in 1841 at New South Wales, Australia^G. He was the son of Jakob Wilhelm Günther and Lydia Paris.¹ He died on 18 March 1859 at Mudgee, New South Wales, Australia^G, NSW BDM index no. 4057/1859.²
     The Moreton Bay Courier newspaper reported on Wednesday 6 April 1859 a fatal accident to a horseman:

‘…Mr. Theophilus Gunther, son of the Rev. James Gunther, was dashed against a tree, and killed, while kangaroo-hunting at Mudgee.’.³

     Mary Jane Willis was born NSW BDM index no. V1845870 30A/1845 in 1845 at New South Wales, Australia^G. She married William James Günther, son of Jakob Wilhelm Günther and Lydia Paris, on 7 July 1868 at Paddington, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia^G, in a NSW BDM index no. 1367/1868 marriage. She died in 1931 at North Sydney, New South Wales, Australia^G, NSW BDM index no. 8042/1931.
     From 7 July 1868, her married name became Günther.

     Thomas Paris married Elizabeth (?)
     05F56C6F80D44B4F813A3EE0ED1EBC036602. 71473189509E41D8A41D89A476D84B4B4B1E.

     Elizabeth (?) married Thomas Paris.
     71473189509E41D8A41D89A476D84B4B4B1E. Her married name became Paris. 600C65C8FDC14B0686D568C3CE4538DE5744.

     Thomas Kemmis was born NSW BDM index no. V1835771 19/1835 in 1835 at New South Wales, Australia^G. He married Lydia Woodruffe Gunther, daughter of Jakob Wilhelm Günther and Lydia Paris, in 1860 at Mudgee, New South Wales, Australia^G, in a NSW BDM index no. 2110/1860 marriage. He died on 24 March 1897 at Sydney, New South Wales, Australia^G, NSW BDM index no. 3231/1897.¹
     He was Clergyman. The Brisbane Courier newspaper of 25 March 1897 reported:

SYDNEY, MARCH 24.
DEATH OF CANON KEMMIS
The death is announced to-day of Canon Thomas Kemmis, of St. Mark’s Church, Darling Point. Canon Kemmis was one of the most eloquent clergymen in New South Wales of the Church of England.¹

     John Booth Jones married Mary Lucy Gunther, daughter of Jakob Wilhelm Günther and Lydia Paris, in 1865 at Mudgee, New South Wales, Australia^G, in a NSW BDM index no. 2597/1865 marriage.

     Alexander F. D. Greville married Elizabeth Tabitha Gunther, daughter of Jakob Wilhelm Günther and Lydia Paris, in 1869 at Mudgee, New South Wales, Australia^G, in a NSW BDM index no. 2847/1869 marriage.