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168_13 | hours and hours to send only a few words, with repeats necessary to try to interpret the weak signals that had to be detected with a candlelit mirror galvanometer on which earth currents registered higher than the actual signals. Three operators at a time had to stand and watch the beam trace on a wall at Newfoundland and make a majority guess about what the intended character was that was coming in. |
168_14 | The original sending voltage applied to the first Atlantic cable in 1858 had been about 600 volts. The British physician, Dr. Whitehouse, made one of the classic mistakes that is still today being made by telecommunications users, when the signals didn't get through, he raised the voltage. Lord Kelvin, the physicist director of the Atlantic Telegraph Company, had reservations, but he was overridden by the non-technical "chief electrician," Dr. Whitehouse. Whitehouse cobbled together apparatus to raise the sending voltage to about 2,000 volts, and the cable's insulation failed and blew apart. After only three months of use and a total of 732 messages, the first cable across the Atlantic Ocean went dead, apparently forever; and with thousands of investors losing their money 'in the sea.' |
168_15 | The Telegraph Construction and Maintenance Company 'Telcon' came up with an improved cable design and built a new cable that was three times the diameter of the failed 1858 cable and weighed in at 9,000 tons in one piece. To handle this huge weight of copper and iron, Telegraph Construction and Maintenance Company had to charter the largest ship in the world at the time, a ship sailors regarded as jinxed, the cargo ship originally named Leviathan, later named the Great Eastern, and fitted it out to be a cable ship. |
168_16 | Transatlantic cable
It took from January 1865 to that June to coil up the of cable in the three circular tanks of the SS Great Eastern. A crew of 500 was needed to operate the ship, of which 200 were needed merely to raise its anchor. Finally, on 23 July 1865 the Great Eastern started off from Valentia to attempt retracing the route of seven years earlier. This attempt was almost as problem-filled as the first failed one in 1858. Several times, faults were found in the wire as it was paid out, and the operation had to stop for cable repairs on deck. On 2 August, the cable broke after laying of cable, and the end was lost to the ocean floor. Dragging and grappling for it for nine days, and losing the end after snagging it twice, more than under the water, the attempt was abandoned on 11 August 1865, and the expedition turned back to England. |
168_17 | A major and sudden obstacle at the beginning of 1866 was the discovery that the Atlantic Telegraph Company, which had been established under an Act of Parliament in 1856, was acting outside its powers in trying to raise its capital by a further £600,000 to finance the 1866 expedition. There was no parliamentary time to amend the company's charter. To avoid another year's delay, Gooch and Pender established a new limited liability company, the Anglo-American Telegraph Company Ltd, to take over the project. Daniel Gooch and John Pender's actions saved the scheme. The balance of funds needed was secured through Telcon and the merchant bank of Morgan and Company only days before a stock market crash which might have ended any hopes of laying a cable that summer. |
168_18 | That year, 1866, the Great Eastern and its fleet set off again from Valentia Bay, Ireland, and started westward. The cable was, as in all previous attempts, operated from the deck of the ship, and was connected back through to England, so the English public knew of the progress. (This may have been the world's first press reports from the deck of a ship at sea, since in earlier attempts, the cable, while being operated, had not been connected through to shore.) After just two weeks and a relatively trouble-free run of laying of cable, the Great Eastern arrived offshore from Heart's Content, Trinity Bay, Newfoundland. Being so large, the Great Eastern could not approach the shore closely, so a smaller ship took aboard the shore end to make the connection to the cable station. |
168_19 | On 27 July 1866 Daniel Gooch the cable laying engineer on board the Great Eastern, sent a message back down the cable just before cutting the shore end off for transport to the cable station, informing Edward Stanley, 15th Earl of Derby the British Foreign Secretary, that the New World was once again connected with the Old. Queen Victoria and President Andrew Johnson exchanged formal opening messages on 29 July 1866. The celebrations in America were muted in comparison with those of 1857, as war had recently ended, and the new Atlantic telegraph, much more than on previous expeditions, was now seen as a product of British work and capital. As to operating details, the speed of transmission was eight words per minute (a speed that many submarine telegraph cables operated at for decades afterwards), and the rate for twenty words or less, including address, date and signature, was $100 in gold or $150 in greenback banknotes, while additional words were $5 in gold, $7.50 in greenbacks |
168_20 | each. Deep-sea cables, no longer a heroic struggle against the elements, had become instead a mature technology and a serious business. |
168_21 | As an aftermath to final success, Great Eastern sailed back to sea, and after 30 attempts managed to grapple the end of the 1865 cable it had lost the year before, splice to it, and lay a new end to Heart's Content. This meant that the first successful cable crossed the Atlantic on 27 July 1866 (with service to the U.S. on 29 July) was duplicated on 9 September 1866. So, the first successful route had two cables from very early days. |
168_22 | John Pender's contribution to the Atlantic venture, especially after 1862, had been substantial, and ultimately he had risked everything he owned on the 1866 attempt. Experience with the Atlantic line had shown Pender that intercontinental cables were no longer a gamble, that technical improvements had reduced them to an acceptable risk. Moreover, they could be exceptionally profitable. This encouraged him to continue promoting long-distance telegraphs, and the companies he launched during the following years laid cables to the Far East, Australasia and South America. Once a line was established, he followed a pattern of consolidating it into his parent company. Pender made another fortune, and was rewarded with his knighthood in 1888. |
168_23 | Nationalisation |
168_24 | In 1868 the British government decided to buy up all the inland telegraph companies, including English and Irish Magnetic, a process completed in 1870, but left overseas telegraphy in private hands. In 1869 John Pender created three more companies. The British-Indian Submarine Telegraph Company and the Falmouth, Gibraltar and Malta Telegraph Company completed the cable system between London and Bombay in 1870, while the China Submarine Telegraph company set about connecting Singapore and Hong Kong, Britain's main possessions in East Asia. Pender's other company, Telcon, supplied cable not only for these ventures but also for a cable from Marseilles to Malta, which provided France with a link to its colonies in North Africa and Asia. When the governments of South Australia and Queensland, Australia, decided that the monthly steamships between Australia and Britain were too slow a means of communication, it was John Pender whom they invited to fill the telegraphic gap between Bombay and |
168_25 | Adelaide, Australia. The All-Sea Australia to England Telegraph, supplied by Telcon (which became British Insulated Callender's Cables), was opened in 1872. It was operated in two sections, Bombay to Singapore by the British India Extension Telegraph Company and Singapore to Adelaide by the British Australian Telegraph Company, both under Pender's control. |
168_26 | Reorganization |
168_27 | In 1872 Pender now set about reorganising his cable interests, first came the amalgamation of British Indian Submarine, Falmouth, Gibraltar and Malta, and the Marseilles, Algiers, and Malta companies with the Anglo-Mediterranean, which had been created in 1868 to link Malta, Alexandria, and the new Suez Canal. He became chairman of the Eastern Telegraph Company that resulted from their merger. Next, in 1873, he presided over the merger of his Australian, Chinese, and British India Extension companies into the Eastern Extension Australasia and China Telegraph Company. It was also in 1873 that Pender created a holding company, the Globe Telegraph and Trust Company. The holding company's investors received portions of shares in the operating companies, chiefly the Eastern Telegraph and the Anglo-American. All the companies so far named remained within the Eastern Telegraph group, except Anglo-American, which was taken over in 1910 by a U.S. firm, Western Union. Finally, 1873 also saw the |
168_28 | creation of the Brazilian Submarine Telegraph Company, which had several directors and shareholders in common with Eastern Telegraph and opened a cable from Lisbon, Portugal, to Pernambuco, Brazil, in 1874. |
168_29 | Between 1879 and 1889 Pender's group added Africa to its list of cable routes through three companies, African Direct, a joint venture with Brazilian Submarine; West African, incorporated into Eastern Telegraph; and Eastern and South African. In 1892, following the expiration of the telegraph concession operated by Brazilian Submarine, that company and its main rival, Western and Brazilian, formed a new venture, the Pacific and European Telegraph Company, to renew the concession and link Brazil with Chile and Argentina. Having helped to arrange this operation, Pender became chairman of Brazilian Submarine in 1893, further reinforcing his position as the leading figure in the worldwide cable business. After John Pender died in 1896; his successor as chairman of Eastern Telegraph and Eastern Extension was Lord Tweeddale, while Pender's son John Denison-Pender, later Sir John, continued as managing director. The last stage in restructuring the set of companies Pender had been so |
168_30 | instrumental in creating, came in 1899, when Brazilian Submarine, having absorbed two other London-based telegraph companies operating in South America, was renamed the Western Telegraph Company. |
168_31 | Effect of wireless
The first confrontation between cable and the new medium of wireless ended in acrimony. Guglielmo Marconi's success in sending a signal from Cornwall to Newfoundland in 1901 was soured when the Anglo-American Telegraph Company, part of the Pender group, forbade any further experiments, since they would infringe on the Pender group's monopoly of communications in Newfoundland. Marconi moved his work to Nova Scotia, and found the Americans and Canadians generally more receptive to his achievement than Europeans. Just years later their companies and technologies would merge.
Trustees, Executors and Securities Insurance Corporation, Limited
Together with City financiers Leopold Salomons and Jabez Balfour, Pender founded the investment underwriting firm the Trustees, Executors and Securities Insurance Corporation, Limited in December 1887.
See also
Pender v Lushington (1877) 6 Ch D 70
References
Attribution
External links |
168_32 | 1816 births
1896 deaths
Knights Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George
Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies
Scottish Liberal Party MPs
Liberal Unionist Party MPs for Scottish constituencies
UK MPs 1865–1868
UK MPs 1868–1874
UK MPs 1874–1880
UK MPs 1880–1885
UK MPs 1892–1895
UK MPs 1895–1900
Telegraphy
Submarine communications cables
People from West Dunbartonshire
Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Highland constituencies
Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Totnes |
169_0 | Ğazı II Giray (1554 – November 1607) was a khan of the Crimean Khanate. Born in 1554, he distinguished himself in the Ottoman–Safavid War (1578–90), gaining the trust of his Ottoman suzerains. He was appointed khan in 1588, after his homeland experienced a period of political turmoil. He failed to capture Moscow during his 1591 campaign against Tsardom of Russia, however he managed to secure a favorable peace treaty two years later. He was then summoned to support his Ottoman allies in the Long Turkish War, taking part in multiple military expeditions centered in Hungary. In late 1596, the Ottoman sultan briefly unseated Ğazı II Giray in favor of Fetih I Giray after heeding the advice of Grand Vizier Cığalazade Yusuf Sinan Pasha. He returned to power three months later, continuing his reign until his death in November 1607. |
169_1 | Early life
Ğazı Giray was born in 1554. Little is known about his youth, it is speculated that while being hanzade (son of the khan) he was sent to the Circassian tribe of Besleni to receive training in horsemanship and the military arts. His name is first mentioned in a document detailing a 1575 Tatar raid on Podolia. The raid was sparked by the revolt of Moldavian voivode John III the Terrible who refused to accept the raise in tribute he had to pay to the Ottoman Empire. The Ottomans requested the Crimean Khanate to aid them in the conflict after realizing that Zaporozhian Cossacks had intervened on John's side. The conflict ended when the Ottomans executed the Cossack commander Ivan Pidkova and unseated John. |
169_2 | In November 1578, Crimean khan Mehmed II Giray entered the Ottoman–Safavid War (1578–90) on the Ottoman side. Ğazı Giray was among the soldiers taking part in the expedition. The Crimean army under the khan's brother Adil Giray relieved the besieged Shemakha garrison at a critical point, defeating the Safavids. The first rift between the allies appeared when the Ottomans prohibited the Tatars from conducting booty raids and insisted on organizing them into a regular unit of their army. Looting had been the primary objective of all Tatar military campaigns and a major source of wealth for the common soldier as they did not receive salaries. The dispute was settled after the Tatars managed to pillage a convoy carrying the treasury of Aras Khan. On 30 November, the Tatar army clashed with the main Safavid force on the Menla Hasan river. The battle lasted three days and ended with a Tatar defeat, Adil Giray was captured yet Ğazı Giray managed to escape. Due to Adil's death in captivity, |
169_3 | Mehmed II Giray appointed his son Saadet II Giray as kalgay. A year later, Mehmed II Giray arrived at the front with reinforcements, departing in the summer after a successful raid on Gence netted him enough booty. In the meantime, Mehmed's younger brother Alp Giray instigated a revolt, in an effort to take the throne for himself. The Ottomans questioned the loyalty of the khan after he declared that he was an independent ruler rather than an Ottoman vassal, ordering İslâm II Giray to ascend. |
169_4 | Ğazı Giray remained in the Caucasus at the head of a small force. In the winter of 1579, Ğazı Giray distinguished himself during a surprise attack on a Safavid encampment in Gence. The Ottoman sultan rewarded him for this action with 50,000 akçes. In the spring of 1581, Ğazı Giray suffered a defeat in the vicinity of Shemakha and was taken prisoner. After refusing numerous proposals of collaboration he was imprisoned in the Alamut Castle. He managed to escape after he was transferred to Tabriz, joining Özdemiroğlu Osman Pasha in Erzurum. He continued his participation in the campaign until the death of Osman Pasha on 30 November 1585. He then traveled to Constantinople where he was granted the salyane of Yambol where he continued to live until 1588. That year he received news that he was appointed khan in place of his brother İslâm II Giray. The Ottomans chose Ğazı Giray due to his familiarity with the inner workings of the empire and his experience in military affairs. Upon his |
169_5 | arrival, his authority was not disputed by the Crimean tribal aristocracy. |
169_6 | First Reign |
169_7 | Ğazı Giray's first action as khan was to appoint his brother Fetih Giray and nephew Nepht Giray as the first and second heirs apparent (Kalgay and Nura'l-din respectively) to the throne. Alp Giray and his Nura'l-din Sakay Giray fled to Constantinople and Circassia respectively. He then moved in to secure the khanate's external borders from the Cossacks who had stepped up their raids following the death of Stephen Báthory in 1586. A fort was erected on the mouth of river Dnieper and a punitive expedition was launched on Podolia. The expansion of Russian influence in the Caucasus the successive reigns of Ivan the Terrible and Feodor I caused concern in Crimea. Ğazı Giray seized opportunity of a Swedish offer of an alliance to attack Muscovy from the south, while the Swedes invaded from the north. On 13 July 1591, the Crimeans besieged Moscow, realizing that their cavalry was no match for the city's modern fortifications they lifted the siege. The khan was wounded in the campaign, |
169_8 | returning to his palace in a cart on 9 August. After negotiations over a peace agreement broke down Fetih Giray successfully raided Tula and Ryazan, taking numerous prisoners later to be sold in the khanate's lucrative slave markets. Fearing a war on two fronts the Muscovites yielded, gifting the khan 10,000 rubles and agreeing to withdraw the Cossacks from Terek and Don. In return the Tatars swore not to attack Russia during the summer of 1594, the agreement was concluded in October 1593. The agreement paved the way for the Crimean intervention into the Long Turkish War in Hungary, while Russia was able to augment its northern borders. |
169_9 | On 28 April 1594, the Tatar army crossed into the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth en route to Hungary. The Tatars found the Balkan pass blocked by ruble and then marched to the so-called Tatar pass which was guarded by Kaspar Kornis an officer of the Voivode of Transylvania Sigismund Báthory and commander of the nearby Huszt castle. A battle ensued, whereupon the defenders suffered a devastating defeat. The Tatars clashed with the Hungarians under Bastuvan in Devirsin (possibly Debrecen), achieving another victory. The Tatar force united with their Ottoman allies commanded by grand vizier Koca Sinan Pasha on 31 July, the event was later celebrated by a full dress military parade and a feast. At the time the Muslim army had camped opposite of Raab and was separated from the city by the river of the same name. On 1 August, the Ottoman–Tatar army crossed the river and stormed the Raab castle, they were met by a flurry of gunfire and were forced to retreat. The following day the Ottomans |
169_10 | began constructing a bridge across the river, enabling their musketeers and artillery to close in on their target. On 27 September, a second assault took place, it proved successful and the city fell. A part of the Crimean army was diverted to the fort of Pápa, which they found abandoned. The Muslims then besieged Komárom, however the siege was soon lifted after the advent of winter. Ğazı Giray retired to his winter quarters after leaving 2,000 of his men to garrison Pápa and Székesfehérvár. |
169_11 | The palace intrigues surrounding the death of sultan Murad III frustrated Ottoman plans in Hungary. More importantly Wallachian voivode Michael the Brave and voidode of Moldavia Aaron the Tyrant had revolted against Ottoman authority. In late January 1595, the Tatars now loaded with booty began their journey home. Upon crossing the frozen Danube into Wallachia they were attacked by Michael's troops, suffering a devastating defeat they fell back to Silistra. The Khan informed the grand vizier Serdar Ferhad Pasha of the new state of affairs in Wallachia and urged him to dispatch a fleet to Ochakiv in order to ferry a 100,000 man army under Fetih Giray to the Balkans. The khan spent the summer in Crimea. The arrival of Fetih's army in September coincided with the Ottoman decision to transform Wallachia and Moldavia from tributary states into beylerbeyliks. Ğazı Giray seized the opportunity and requested that one of his relatives be appointed governor of the new province. The Ottomans |
169_12 | feared that the Tatars would merge Moldavia with the rest of the khanate and instead appointed Ahmed Bey to the position. The Tatars conquered Moldavia after vanquishing Sigismund Báthory's and Ștefan Răzvan's forces. The Poles reacted by tasking Jan Zamoyski with checking the Tatar advance in the region. The two sides fought the Battle of Cecora (1595) on 19 September, before agreeing to mutually withdraw and recognize Ieremia Movilă as the new Moldavian voivode. The khan wintered in Bender, launching numerous diversionary raids into Wallachia while Fetih Giray besieged Eger with the Ottomans. In the meantime, the Habsburgs had crossed the swamps in the Eger area posing a threat to the Muslim army. The two sides engaged in the Battle of Keresztes on 26 October 1596. The Muslims emerged victorious at the conclusion of the battle, the largest to take place during the course of the war. |
169_13 | Second Reign |
169_14 | Cığalazade Yusuf Sinan Pasha was appointed Grand Vizier in recognition of his role in the battle. He immediately dismissed Ğazı Giray and elevated Fetih I Giray to khan. Ğazı Giray's refusal to personally participate in the campaign, alleged separatist tendencies and his aspirations over Moldavia being the main reasons behind the downfall. Ğazı Giray addressed a letter to the sultan claiming that he was preoccupied by the defense of Wallachia from Michael the Brave and that his dismissal was unjust since he did not engage in bribery, revolt or oppression of rayah. Although he was supported by a number of viziers, his letter had not achieved the desired effect and the sultan remained true to his word. Fetih accepted his new role with reluctance as he only commanded 20,000 soldiers and the Ottomans were unable to provide him with reinforcements due to their commitments in Hungary. Fetih built his network of supporters around the relatives of Selamet Giray and Baht Giray. However his |
169_15 | influence was still limited and the Tatar army demanded that the old khan be brought back. Cığalazade was dismissed only 20 days after his appointment further complicating the situation, the new grand vizier Damat Ibrahim Pasha supported the idea of reinstating Ğazı Giray. The sultan prepared two different letters of confirmation one for Fetih and another for Ğazı, instructing his representative Hamdan Agha to grant the letter to the candidate with the biggest base of support among the Tatars. Unbeknownst to the sultan Hamdan Agha had been a long time personal friend of Ğazı Giray, giving him the letter along with the regalia. Fearing for his safety Fetih fled to the Circassian controlled Taman Peninsula, he took the decision to meet Ğazı Giray one last time before departing for Constantinople. He was murdered by a member of the Mangit tribe outside of Kefe, Baht Giray met a similar fate. Selamet Giray avoided the power struggle by remaining in Circassia. Fetih's reign of three months |
169_16 | was thus cut short and Ğazı Giray regained control over the khanate in early 1597. |
169_17 | The khan refused to take part in the 1597 Ottoman campaign in Hungary. After renewing the truce with Russia, he sent envoys to Poland, Wallachia and Moldavia in an attempt to gain concessions. The Crimean army returned to the Balkans in July 1598. The khan served as an intermediary between the sultan and emperor Rudolf II, as the Ottomans sought to divert forces to Anatolia due to the outbreak of the Celali rebellions. The Tatars joined the Ottoman war camp at Beckerek on 29 August, afterwards the khan took active part in the planning of the upcoming offensive in Wallachia. Marching along the Moros river, the Muslims conquered the small fort of Canat before besieging their main target Varad on 1 October. Major shortages in gunpowder and ammunition, as well as difficult weather conditions rendered the siege unsuccessful. The Habsburgs had exploited the diversion of Ottoman troops to Wallachia by seizing Tata, Várpalota and Veszprém, as well as encircling Buda. The khan spent the winter |
169_18 | in Sombor, while the Tatar contingent was stationed in Szeged. Citing shortages in provisions the khan declared that the Crimeans would return home despite repeated Ottoman requests for him to remain, this may be attributed to bribes he had received from Rudolf II. He remained within the khanate until 1602, during that time he had fallen seriously ill. He accused his wife of bewitching him, leading to her execution. In 1601, he learned that Nura'l-din Devlet Giray had conspired with a number of Mirzas to assassinate and take power for themselves. The plotters were invited to a feast where they were gunned down by arquebusiers. Devlet Giray's brothers fled either to Circassia or Anatolia with Selamet Giray following suit. In late August 1602, the khan once again set off for the Hungarian plains. On 23 September, the Tatars were defeated in the battle of Telzayn, whereupon the fell back to Silistria and united with the Ottomans in the middle of October. |
169_19 | Ğazı Giray spent the winter in Pécs, while his army commenced raids on the Međimurje mountains, Lugoj, Sebeș, Tokaj, rivers Krka and Rába. The Tatars rode home at the end of the winter after the sultan failed to satisfy their monetary demands. Little is known about the last years of the khan's life. He did not campaign in person, sending his son and kalgay Toqtamış Giray to Hungary in 1604. He erected the castle of Gazikerman in Circassia, dying from a plague outbreak shortly afterwards (November 1607). Toqtamış Giray succeeded him as khan following his death.
Notes
References
1554 births
1607 deaths
16th-century rulers in Europe
17th-century rulers in Europe
Crimean Khans
People of the Long Turkish War
Crimean Tatar writers |
170_0 | Australian Crawl (often called Aussie Crawl or The Crawl by fans) were an Australian rock band founded by James Reyne (lead vocals/piano/harmonica), Brad Robinson (rhythm guitar), Paul Williams (bass), Simon Binks (lead guitar) and David Reyne (drums) in 1978. David Reyne soon left and was replaced by Bill McDonough (drums, percussion). They were later joined by his brother Guy McDonough (vocals, rhythm guitar). The band was named after the front crawl swimming style also known as the Australian crawl.
Australian Crawl were associated with surf music and sponsored a surfing competition in 1984. However, they also handled broader social issues such as shallow materialism, alcoholism, car accidents, and cautionary tales of romance. |
170_1 | After their 1980 debut album, The Boys Light Up, reached No. 4, Australian Crawl had two No. 1 albums; 1981's Sirocco and 1982's Sons of Beaches. Their early singles reached the top 25 but none broke into the Top Ten; their best performing single was No. 1 hit "Reckless" which showed a more mature approach than earlier hits, and came from their 1983 Semantics EP.
Upheaval within the band occurred from 1983 onwards. First Bill McDonough left, then his brother Guy McDonough died in 1984, then various other members left. Their 1985 release Between a Rock and a Hard Place was expensive but sales were disappointing and they disbanded early in 1986. The band's status as an icon on the Australian music scene was acknowledged by induction into the 1996 Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) Hall of Fame. Founding guitarist Brad Robinson was unable to attend the Hall of Fame induction in person, as he was hospitalised with lymphoma and died two weeks later.
Biography |
170_2 | 1975–1979: formation and "Beautiful People"
The band Spiff Rouch formed in 1976 in the Mornington Peninsula suburb of Mount Eliza on the outskirts of Melbourne. The group lineup featured James Reyne, brothers Bill and Guy McDonough, Paul Williams, Robert Walker and Simon Binks. Reyne had previously played drums for Archie Slammit and the Doors.
By early 1978 Spiff Rouch had separated into two groups: The Flatheads (including the McDonough brothers and Walker, along with Sean Higgins and Nigel Spencer) and Australian Crawl. The original lineup for the latter was Reyne as vocalist, Binks on lead guitar, Williams on bass guitar, along with Reyne's younger brother David Reyne on drums and schoolmate Brad Robinson on rhythm guitar. Australian Crawl performed their first live gig in October 1978 and toured the pub circuit. |
170_3 | David Reyne left the group in 1979 to finish his acting course, later becoming an actor and TV presenter as well as drumming for Cats Under Pressure and the Chantoozies (1986–1990). He was replaced in Australian Crawl by Bill McDonough. The group's popularity in the Mornington Peninsula area increased with further pub gigs, then they gained audiences with university students and inner city residents.
Once the band's escalating popularity brought them into Melbourne they caught the attention of Little River Band's guitarist David Briggs, who helped them gain a recording contract with EMI and he produced their first single. "Beautiful People" (1979) reached No. 22 on the national charts. Reyne had co-written the song with guitarist Mark Hudson in 1975. The track included references to the shallow materialism of residents of Toorak and to the Bombay Rock night club in Brunswick. |
170_4 | Just days before recording "Beautiful People" Reyne had been hit by a car on Swanston Street, Melbourne, breaking bones in both wrists, an episode later chronicled in the track "Indisposed". Australian Crawl made one of the most memorable debuts on Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) TV series Countdown performing "Beautiful People" as Reyne still had both arms encased in plaster. "Beautiful People" remains one of their most popular songs according to listeners of Triple M in 2007.
1980 The Boys Light Up
Australian Crawl's debut album, The Boys Light Up (1980), also produced by Briggs for EMI, had a number of hit singles with songwriting shared around the group and beyond. Tracks from this album included the previously released single "Beautiful People", the title track (written by Reyne and Mark Hudson); "Indisposed" (Brad Robinson, James Robinson, Reyne, Bill McDonough) and "Downhearted" (Sean Higgins, Guy McDonough, Bill McDonough) (from The Flatheads). |
170_5 | "The Boys Light Up", their second single, was almost banned from radio play due to its explicit lyrics. Many listeners believed the chorus lyrics were about smoking marijuana but Reyne has stated that it was about smoking tobacco cigarettes at school. It also reached No. 22 on the National charts and became their signature song and their most popular track especially live. Their third single "Downhearted" charted higher at #12 and was a cautionary tale of romance gone wrong.
The Boys Light Up reached No. 4 on the Australian album charts and remained in the charts for an unbroken 101 weeks. It sold five times platinum: over 280,000 copies, and became one of the biggest Australian albums of the 1980s. Singer/guitarist/songwriter Guy McDonough (ex-The Flatheads and Bill's younger brother) joined the group in October 1980.
Rock journalist and commentator Glenn A. Baker compared Australian Crawl with various fellow Australian bands: |
170_6 | However, according to James Reyne some people accused them of being demonic. He said whenever you bumped into the member of Little River Band who had found God, he'd tell him "you shouldn't be playing that, it's demonic".
1981–1982: Sirocco and Sons of Beaches
In 1981, Australian Crawl recorded their second album, Sirocco, with producer Peter Dawkins in Sydney. Named for Errol Flynn's yacht, the album peaked at No. 1 on the Australian album chart on 3 August and remained there for six weeks. At about this time Robinson was married to actress Kerry Armstrong, later an Australian Film Institute Award winner, who co-wrote a track "Easy on Your Own" for the album. |
170_7 | Sirocco spawned the hit singles "Things Don't Seem" (May, No. 11 National charts) and "Errol" (August, #18). It also included "Oh No Not You Again" (November). Of these, "Errol" about womanising Tasmanian-born actor Flynn is the band's third most popular song of all. Another track from the album, "Lakeside", became a popular radio inclusion. 1981 Australian End of Year Album Charts has Sirocco at No. 2 behind Double Fantasy by John Lennon and ahead of AC/DC's Back in Black making it the best charting album by an Australian act.
Another track on this album, Unpublished Critics has been compared several times to the later song "Sweet Child o' Mine" by US band Guns N' Roses as acknowledged, by its writer, James Reyne. He was responding to media comments in May 2015 about the possibility of plagiarism by the American band. |
170_8 | On the wave of this popularity the band toured extensively playing to huge crowds at Melbourne's Myer Music Bowl (10,000), Sydney's Domain (90,000), the Narara Rock festival (70,000), smashing attendance records at indoor venues in Brisbane and Perth. They were voted Countdown 1981 Most Popular Group, and James Reyne was voted 1980 and 1981 Most Popular Male Performer.
Sons of Beaches (1982) was recorded in Hawaii with expatriate Australian Mike Chapman producing. The album had a rougher, rock 'n' roll edge than its glossy pop rock predecessors and featured the No. 17 hit "Shut Down" (June). It also included a re-recorded version of "Downhearted" and became their second album to reach No. 1 on the Australian albums chart and remained there for five weeks. EMI issued the album in the USA. Two further singles, "Daughters of the Northern Coast" (August) and "Runaway Girls" (November) failed to reach the Australian Top 40. |
170_9 | Over 1982 and 1983, Reyne was filmed with Australian actresses Rebecca Gilling and Wendy Hughes in the television miniseries Return to Eden, which was screened in September 1983. For Reyne's role of playboy tennis professional Greg Marsden, he was given the 1984 "Most Popular New Talent Award" at the TV Week Logie Awards. Reyne later declared he was not very good in the part, declining many acting offers since. During breaks in filming, the singer accepted an offer from Paul Christie (Mondo Rock) and Kevin Borich to join their part-time band The Party Boys with Harvey James from Sherbet and Graham Bidstrup from The Angels. The group played a short run of shows around Sydney venues and played covers exclusively. The resultant album, Live at Several 21sts, peaked at No. 9 on the national chart.
1983–1984: "Reckless", Semantics and Phalanx |
170_10 | Soon after Reyne finished acting for Return to Eden, Bill McDonough left due to tensions within the band. The remaining members then recorded the EP Semantics (1983) with Bidstrup (from The Party Boys, later a founder of GANGgajang) on drums. The four track EP contained their best-known song, "Reckless" (aka "Don't Be So Reckless", "She Don't Like That") which was written by Reyne, and went to No. 1 on the Australian singles chart on 28 November. John Watson (Kevin Borich Express) then came in as a permanent replacement for McDonough. The live album Phalanx was something of a stop-gap measure between studio albums, nevertheless it reached No. 4 during December. The band's biggest overseas break came when Duran Duran took the band as support on certain legs of their "Sing Blue Silver" tour of the UK. |
170_11 | US label Geffen Records signed Australian Crawl and issued Semantics (1984) as an album (with the four songs from the EP and re-recordings of tracks from past Australian records) for the American market. In April 1984 Australian Crawl became the first Australian band to sponsor an ASP surfing competition. The Rip Curl/Australian Crawl Bell's Beach Surfing Festival was won by Australian surfer, Cheyne Horan. |
170_12 | In June 1984 the band was forced off the road when Guy McDonough was admitted to hospital in Melbourne; he died soon after of viral pneumonia. Australian Crawl regrouped with Mark Greig on guitar (ex-Runners) for a series of live performances in late 1984. Prior to Guy's death, he had recorded demos with his brother Bill McDonough (drums, percussion), Sean Higgins (synthesisers) and Nigel Spencer (bass, synthesisers), (all former The Flatheads); and Mick Hauser (saxophone) and Michael Bright (guitar). Bill McDonough assembled the tapes and produced Guy McDonough's posthumous album My Place on Wheatley Records in April 1985. Singles "My Place" / "Things Don't Seem" and "What's in it For Me" / "Hook, Line and Sinker" were also released. "Things Don't Seem" written by Guy McDonough and Sean Higgins, had been released as an Australian Crawl single in 1981 off Sirocco. Tracks from these sessions were re-mastered and released on Lost & Found in 1996. |
170_13 | 1985–1986: Between a Rock and a Hard Place, The Final Wave and split
By 1985 the group recorded their last studio album, Between a Rock and a Hard Place, with English producer Adam Kidron. It was released in Australia on Australian Crawl's own label Freestyle Records. The album, which allegedly cost $400,000 to record, was a mishmash of styles and a commercial disaster (it peaked at No. 12 in August 1985 but slipped out of the Top 40 two weeks later). None of the singles had any Top 40 chart success. Harry Brus (Kevin Borich Express) replaced long-standing bass player Paul Williams in May 1985. The band performed three songs for the July 1985 Oz for Africa concert—part of the global Live Aid program—"Reckless (Don't Be So)", "Two Can Play" and "The Boys Light Up". It was broadcast in Australia (on both Seven Network and Nine Network) and on MTV in the US. |
170_14 | When the album virtually failed to chart, the band was ready to split but had to go out on tour to pay off its debts. On 27 January 1986, their final Melbourne concert was recorded and released as the live album The Final Wave in October. The band performed its final concert on 1 February at the Perth Entertainment Centre.
In seven years, Australian Crawl had sold over one million records in Australia, with five of its albums and an EP reaching the Australian Top 5 Album Charts, two of which had been No. 1 hits. A cumulative total of eleven weeks at Number 1 on the Albums Charts places them equal fourth for Australian groups behind Skyhooks, The Seekers and Midnight Oil.
1986–1995: Solo careers |
170_15 | In 1985, Lin Buckfield (Electric Pandas) and Reyne released a duet single "R.O.C.K." / "Under My Thumb". After Australian Crawl disbanded, Reyne went on to a solo career. His first few singles failed to chart but 1987's "Fall of Rome" and the self-titled album that followed were the beginning of a string of hits that lasted until the early 1990s. In 1992 he and James Blundell had a hit with a cover of The Dingoes' "Way Out West" (#2, May 1992). Reyne also formed Company of Strangers that year with former Sherbet lead singer Daryl Braithwaite, Simon Hussey and Jef Scott. Company of Strangers only released one self-titled album, Company of Strangers in 1992, which produced the hits "Motor City (I Get Lost)" (#26, September 1992), "Sweet Love" (#21, January 1993) and "Daddy's Gonna Make You a Star" (#35, March 1993). |
170_16 | In 1993 Reyne appeared as Tina Turner's manager Roger Davies in What's Love Got to do With It?. He featured in twelve episodes of State Coroner during 1998 and in 2003's The Postcard Bandit. Reyne lives on the Mornington Peninsula with his partner, Tina, and a daughter. He has released his eighth solo studio album, Every Man a King (2007) and still performs occasionally. |
170_17 | Almost immediately after the split Robinson became manager of Chantoozies (with early Crawl drummer David Reyne). Their first single, "The Witch Queen of New Orleans" (1986), a cover of Redbone's song, reached No. 4 on the National charts. Robinson then moved into a career in television (with Network Ten's Page One) and as a co-producer of documentaries. In the 1990s he became the manager for the Reyne brothers and worked as an agent for the Advantage Sports Management Group. This included managing Australian tennis player Mark Philippoussis. Three years after being diagnosed with lymphoma, Robinson died on 13 October 1996. |
170_18 | Binks played in the Broderick Smith Band in 1988. He was injured in a 1995 car crash at a council roadworks that left him slightly brain-damaged. A court in 2006 awarded him $330,253 in damages, down from an estimated $750,000 because he was said to be over the legal limit. Binks later disputed the alcohol reading as belonging to another driver and stated the remuneration mostly went to his lawyers. A 2007 appeal by the council, saw amount awarded further reduced to $304,750.
Williams who had left the band in 1985, was working in music-related retail.
1996–present: ARIA Hall of Fame and compilations |
170_19 | In 1996, a compilation titled Lost & Found was released. It contained seven of the tracks from Guy McDonough's solo album My Place which were remastered. Compilers and producers of Lost & Found were Bill McDonough and Peter Blyton. Lost & Found tracks from My Place include "Too Many People" a duet sung by Guy McDonough with Colin Hay of Men at Work. Some My Place tracks used on Lost & Found have Reyne singing backing vocals. As of 2001, Bill McDonough left the music industry and began working in the construction industry and continues to own and operate his building and demolition companies in 2017.
The band was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame in September 1996. Three weeks later, Robinson died.
Additional compilation albums were released; More Wharf in 1998, Reckless: 1979–1995 in 2000 and The Definitive Collection in 2002. The Definitive Collection contained songs from the band and from James Reyne's solo career. |
170_20 | In 2001, as part of its 75th Anniversary celebrations, the Australian Performing Right Association (APRA) compiled a list of the Top 30 Australian songs, with "Reckless (Don't Be So)" coming in at number nineteen.
In October 2007, eleven Australian Crawl tracks were featured in the Triple M Essential 2007 Countdown of songs (positions are voted by listeners out of the best 2007 songs of all time). They were "Hoochie Gucci Fiorucci Mama" #1673; "Lakeside" #1354; "Indisposed" #956; "Downhearted" #728; "Oh No Not You Again" #587; "Shut Down" #415; "Things Don't Seem" #371; "Boys Light Up" #305; "Errol" #227; "Beautiful People" #153; and "Reckless" #39.
In January 2014, Universal Music Australia celebrated the 35th anniversary of the release of "Beautiful People" by releasing The Greatest Hits, which peaked at number 4 and was the 40th best selling album in Australian in 2014. |
170_21 | In October 2016, Australian Crawl released a seven album vinyl collection, titled The Album Collection. The collection included the band's four studio albums, two live albums and the US-expanded version of the Semantics album which had previously been unavailable to Australian audiences.
Members
Chronological list:
Simon Binks – guitars (1978–1984, 1985–1986)
David Reyne – drums (1978)
James Reyne – vocals, guitars, keyboards, harmonica (1978–1986)
Brad Robinson (d. 1996) – guitars, keyboards (1978–1986)
Paul Williams – bass guitar (1978–1985)
Bill McDonough – drums (replaced David Reyne) (1978–1983)
Guy McDonough (d. 1984) – vocals, guitar (1980–1984)
Graham "Buzz" Bidstrup – drums (replaced Bill McDonough) (1983)
John Watson – drums (replaced Bidstrup) (1983–1986)
Mark Greig – guitars (replaced Guy McDonough) (1984–1986)
Simon Hussey – guitars, keyboards (replaced Binks on Between a Rock and a Hard Place) (1984)
Harry Brus – bass guitar (replaced Williams) (1985–1986)
Discography |
170_22 | Studio albums and EP
The Boys Light Up (1980)
Sirocco (1981)
Sons of Beaches (1982)
Semantics (EP) (1983)
Semantics (US LP) (1984)
Between a Rock and a Hard Place (1985)
Live recordings
Phalanx (1983)
The Final Wave (1986)
Live at Billboard 1981 (2020)
Compilations
Crawl File (1984)
Lost & Found (1996)
More Wharf: Greatest Hits (1998)
Reckless: 1979-1995 credited to Australian Crawl and James Reyne (2000)
The Definitive Collection (2002)
The Greatest Hits (2014)
Awards and nominations
ARIA Music Awards
The ARIA Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony that recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of Australian music. They commenced in 1987. Australian Crawl were inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1996.
|-
| 1987
| Art Scarff for The Final Wave by Australian Crawl
| ARIA Award for Best Cover Art
|
|-
| 1996
| Australian Crawl
| ARIA Hall of Fame
| |
170_23 | TV Week / Countdown Awards
Countdown was an Australian pop music TV series on national broadcaster ABC-TV from 1974–1987, it presented music awards from 1979–1987, initially in conjunction with magazine TV Week. The TV Week / Countdown Awards were a combination of popular-voted and peer-voted awards. |
170_24 | |-
| rowspan="5" |1980
| "Downhearted"
| Best Single Record
|
|-
| rowspan="2" | The Boys Light Up
| Best Australian Record Cover Design
|
|-
| Most Popular Record
|
|-
| Themselves
| Most Popular Group
|
|-
| James Reyne (Australian Crawl)
| Most Popular Male Performer
|
|-
| rowspan="3" |1981
| Sirocco
| Best Australian Album
|
|-
| Themselves
| Most Popular Group
|
|-
| James Reyne (Australian Crawl)
| Most Popular Male Performer
|
|-
| 1982
| Themselves
| Most Popular Group
|
|-
| rowspan="3" | 1983
| Mark Opitz for work with Australian Crawl
| Best Record Producer of the Year
|
|-
| Themselves
| Most Popular Group
|
|-
| James Reyne (Australian Crawl)
| Most Popular Male Performer
|
|-
References
External links
Universal Music's 'Australian Crawl' website.
Australian Rock Database
Official website of James Reyne |
170_25 | Victoria (Australia) musical groups
ARIA Award winners
ARIA Hall of Fame inductees
Musical groups established in 1978
Musical groups disestablished in 1986
Pub rock musical groups
EMI Group artists
1978 establishments in Australia
1986 disestablishments in Australia |
171_0 | Charles Smith Wilkinson (22 August 1843 – 26 August 1891) was an Australian geologist. He became geological surveyor in charge in New South Wales in 1875 and was president of the Royal Society of New South Wales in 1887.
Early life
Wilkinson was born at Pottersbury, Northamptonshire, England, the fourth son of David Wilkinson, C.E., who was associated with George Stephenson in the production of early locomotives. The family moved to Melbourne, Victoria in 1852, and the young Wilkinson was educated at a private school conducted by the Rev. T. P. Fenner. |
171_1 | Career
In December 1859 Wilkinson was given a position in the Geological Survey of Victoria under Alfred Richard Cecil Selwyn. In 1861 he became a field assistant to Richard Daintree with whom he was associated in the survey of part of southern Victoria. In 1863 he was sent to explore the Cape Otway (Victoria) region and in 1866 succeeded Daintree when the latter left for Queensland. In 1868 Wilkinson's health broke down; he resigned from the survey, and spent the next four years at Wagga Wagga, New South Wales. He passed the examination for licensed surveyor in 1872, and was sent by the surveyor-general of New South Wales to the new tin-mining district in New England, New South Wales, on which he reported, and in 1874 he was appointed geological surveyor. |
171_2 | In 1875 Wilkinson was transferred to the mines department with the title of geological surveyor in charge. The systematic geological survey of New South Wales was begun under his direction, and valuable work was done. He urged Joseph Edmund Carne to study geology, subsequently in 1879, Carne joined the survey as assistant to Wilkinson. In 1876 Wilkinson was elected a fellow of the Geological Society of London and in 1881 a fellow of the Linnean Society. In 1882 Edgeworth David was appointed assistant geological surveyor, Wilkinson delegated much responsibility to him. |
171_3 | Late life and legacy
In 1883 and 1884 Wilkinson was president of the Linnean Society of New South Wales and in 1887 president of the Royal Society of New South Wales. He died after a short illness on 26 August 1891. He was survived by his wife and two sons (including a daughter born shortly after his death). His Notes on the Geology of New South Wales was published by the mines department in 1882, and about 80 of his reports and papers are listed in the Journal and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales for 1892, p. 9.
Wilkinson was respected by his colleagues, who did good work in connexion with the mining industry, and was the first to suggest to the government the possibility of finding subterranean water in western New South Wales. The first bore was put down under his direction. The fine collection of minerals in the Sydney geological survey museum was founded and largely brought together by him. |
171_4 | His name was commemorated in the fossil species of an early amphibian, Platyceps wilkinsonii Stephens 1887, after making the specimen used in its original description available to William John Stephens.
Notes
References
Attribution
Additional references from the Dictionary of Australian Biography:
H. C. Russell, Journal and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales, 1892, p. 6;
The Sydney Morning Herald, 27 August 1891
J. H. Heaton, Australian Dictionary of Dates; The Geological Magazine, 1891, pp. 571–3. |
171_5 | Additional references from the Australian Dictionary of Biography :
Votes and Proceedings (Legislative Assembly, Victoria), 1868, 2 (15)
Votes and Proceedings (Legislative Assembly, New South Wales), 1871–72, 2, 305
Engineering Assn of New South Wales, Proceedings, 6 (1890–91)
Linnean Society of New South Wales, Proceedings, 16 (1891)
Mining Journal (London), 17 Oct 1891
E. J. Dunn and Daniel James Mahony, Biographical sketch of the founders of the Geological Survey of Victoria, Victorian Geological Survey, Bulletin, 23 (1910)
Town and Country Journal, 16 February 1889, 29 August, 5 September 1891
Australasian, 13 September 1890, 29 August 1891.
External links
State Library of New South Wales 2002, 'Photographs - Dry plate. 8.5 x 6.5 in. P. of CS Wilkinson', NSW Government Printing Office : collection of copy negatives, 1870–1988 |
171_6 | 1843 births
1891 deaths
Australian geologists
British emigrants to colonial Australia
Fellows of the Linnean Society of London
Members of the Linnean Society of New South Wales
Fellows of the Geological Society of London
Otway Ranges |
172_0 | The Chemin Neuf Community () is a Catholic community with an ecumenical vocation. Formed from a charismatic prayer group in 1973, it has 2,000 permanent members in 30 countries, and 12,000 people serving in the community missions. Its main founder is the Jesuit father, .
The community takes its name from the first meeting place, based in Lyon, 49 . A product of the Charismatic Renewal, the community claims to adhere to an Ignatian spirituality. It brings together priests, lay celibates (men and women) as well as non-celibates and couples with or without children.
The community directs its actions around the principle of unity: unity of Christians (ecumenism), unity of men (notably between different cultures and nations), unity of couples and of families.
Historical
Context |
172_1 | Pentecostalism, a new branch of Christianity focusing on the welcoming of the Holy Spirit, evolved in the US after 1900 (In Topeka and then in Azusa Street Revival, Los Angeles). Its manifestations (speaking in tongues, prophecy, healings, etc.) rapidly provoked rejection from other churches (Protestant or Catholic). In 1967, some Catholic students from Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, during the course of a bible study week-end, received the Baptism in the holy spirit. After this experience, prayer groups and communities began to expand in the Catholic church in the US and throughout the rest of the world. |
172_2 | Beginnings
In 1971, the Jesuit seminarian Laurent Fabre met Mike Cawdrey, an American Jesuit student who was familiar with the American Charismatic Renewal, at the diocesan seminary in Lyon. He convinced him, together with Bertrand Lepesant (who was later to become the founder of the ) to spend two days in prayer asking for the presence of the Holy Spirit in Le Touvet. Two young American Protestants, just back from Taizé and about to leave for a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, were also invited. At the end of this weekend, the two French men received the "Baptism in the Holy Spirit". After this experience, they founded a charismatic prayer group located in Montée du Chemin-Neuf. |
172_3 | In 1973, Laurent Fabre, accompanied by Bertrand Lepesant, left for the United States to meet with American Charismatics. On their return, they organized a week-end attended by sixty people; seven of them celibates, four men and three women between 22 and 32 years of age, from amongst whom Laurent Fabre decided to form a lifelong community. In the beginning, they favoured a name taken from the Bible, but the members of the new foundation quickly realised that in the eyes of their visitors, due to their geographical location they were known as the "Chemin Neuf". Couples quickly joined this community which added to the mix couples and celibates. Apart from Laurent Fabre, this first community also included Jacqueline Coutellier, who had been thinking about joining the Carmelites but who has since been committed to the life of the Chemin Neuf. |
172_4 | By September 1978, the Chemin Neuf had 30 adult members, living in private homes or in the three community houses at that time (two in Lyon and one in Beaujolais): about twenty children lived in the community without being part of it.
Development of the community
In 1980, a cycle of theological training, biblical and community based (lasting for three months) was established in Les Pothieres, a house of the community near Anse. It continued here another thirty years and, due to its success, spread to three locations (one in France, one in Spain and one in the Ivory Coast). Also in 1980 the first course for couples (Cana session) was launched which, in 2016, is the most popular Chemin Neuf course. |
172_5 | At the beginning of the 1980s, the community was invited to come to the Paris area, to the Cenacle de Tigery, a few miles south of Paris, and to the student house based in the rue Madame in the 6th Arrondissement in Paris. The community also began to grow on an international level, welcoming its first non-French members (Polish, German and Madagascan) and setting up a base in Brazzaville in the Congo. In 1982, the Chemin Neuf had about forty adult members. |
172_6 | Cardinal Albert Decourtray, archbishop of Lyon, was particularly enthusiastic to have the community in his diocese, "the number of conversions impresses me". By that time, the Chemin Neuf had about 250 members of which 20 were life-long members; furthermore, five priests and two deacons had already been ordained and six seminarists were undergoing training. On Easter Sunday of 1986 in the Cathedral of Saint-Jean, together with Jean-Marc Villet, pastor of the French Reform Church, Mgr Decourtray received 19 lifelong members of the community, amongst them five couples and three Protestant members |
172_7 | The archbishop assigned some missions to the Chemin Neuf, especially those relating to communication. In 1982 , priest at La Duchère, set up Radio-Fourviere with him, which soon became known as RCF. Another member of the Chemin Neuf, Vincent de Crouy-Chanel, later became director of it. , for his part, was press attache to the cardinal from 1989 to 1992. This influence of the Chemin Neuf on diocesan life was sometimes criticised but the archbishop responded that Charismatics were only available for certain missions, notably the hospital chaplaincy of Pierre Garraud. to which ten people were devoted.
In 1992, the apostolic section of the Communion of the Chemin Neuf was created which brought together people wishing to live the spirituality of the community without being involved in all its commitments. |
172_8 | From 1993 -1996 the community went through a crisis leading to the departure of certain members. This crisis coincided with the publication of the books The shipwrecks of the Spirit (), which were very critical towards a number of charismatic communities. A former supporter. of the Chemin Neuf complained about sect-like practices such as brain washing and proselytism. After the publication, it was however revealed that Thierry Baffoy, one of its authors, had made certain inaccuracies and anachronisms regarding the Chemin Neuf. Furthermore, several bishops disputed the assertions contained in the work; Mgr Balland, then Archbishop of Lyon, stated, "Wherever (the Community) is established it accepts the advice and guidance of the bishops and puts itself at the service of all without distinction or proselytism". |
172_9 | In 1998, a very controversial article published by the Centre Against Mental Manipulation (Centre contre les manipulations mentales) mentioned, amongst other new communities, the Chemin Neuf, before however mentioning in the footnotes that "certain religious practices even non sectarian in themselves... are essential to the understanding of sectarian excesses which originate from the same". |
172_10 | The legitimacy of these critics is, however, in question, notably by MIVILUDES which has not even mentioned the Chemin Neuf in its various annual reports since 2001. Henri Tincq believes that these criticizes are hardly appropriate concerning "The Chemin Neuf, reputed to be the wisest community, recognized by the State with the status of congregation and by the Church…". Since 1989, the sociologist Martine Cohen stated, with regard to the Chemin Neuf, "We are not only far from a strictly charismatic legitimisation of power but the distrust towards a unique 'inspiration from the Holy Spirit' has created, far beyond a usual recourse to tradition or to authorities already in place, a sort of control by the grass roots". |
172_11 | The structuring and launching of new missions
After 1995, the community became too numerous for decisions to continue to be taken by universal suffrage. The decision was taken to organise a chapter every seven years (1995, 2002, 2009, 2016) to which the seventy two members were elected by the entire community.
An international choir was established in 1996 to prepare for the World Youth Days in Paris in August 1997: it notably gave concerts in 2000 on the Piazza di Spagna and on the Pope's podium at the final gathering of the World Youth Days in Rome (on the future site of the University of Rome Tor Vergata) as well as from 2001 to 2003 in Chartres Cathedral, France. |
172_12 | In 2000, for the occasion of the World Youth Days, Net For God was established, a network of prayer and training for the unity of Christians and peace in the world, which brought together all the supporters of the Chemin Neuf and drew its inspiration from the vision of "the invisible monastery" developed in 1944 by Paul Couturier. A teaching video was transmitted every month by this network, which was growing rapidly: in 2011, the video was sent to more than one thousand "Net points", spread over 80 countries across the world and translated into twenty-six languages. In 2002, at the time of the second community assembly (known as the chapter), it was decided that all the commitments in the community or in all the different community missions would happen "within the ecumenical and international Net for God". |
172_13 | That same year, Father Jerome Dupre La Tour, priest in the diocese of Lyon, presented to members of the council of priests, a report on the Canonical Status of the Emmanuel and Chemin Neuf communities. Its sentiments were criticised, in spite of the fact that the Status of the Chemin Neuf (public association of the faithful, which authorised a greater involvement from the bishop of the area); in his opinion, the name used by the civil authorities (congregation) did not cover the canonic definition of this term which gave way to a vagueness, notably in relation to the authority. As the canon priest, Michel Dortel-Claudot reminded us, these criticisms were found in all new communities: "the canon law of 1983, in its actual form, has not been adapted to new communities. To offer them the title 'Association of the faithful' is an ill-fitting coat", this framework had not been thought of for a group whose work took over the whole life of a person. |
172_14 | In 2005, on the occasion of the World Youth Days in Cologne, a fraternity of young people was created with a strong link to the community: this fraternity took on the name of Youth of the Chemin Neuf. This structure made itself know in 2010, notably through the making of funny or parody style videos relating to the Christian faith or particular events. So, in 2012, a parody of "Gangnam Style" was transmitted on YouTube and received more than a million hits: "Catho Style". In 2016, a video made by the Youth of the Chemin Neuf pretended to be a response to the song "Sorry" by Justin Bieber. |
172_15 | This media coverage was a way of responding to the criticisms of poor communication within the Catholic Church, choosing "to leave its walls ..., to reach young people, ... using media". Using social networks has given the Chemin Neuf a continual presence in the media since the 1980s. In 2014, the Chemin Neuf created a "Political Fraternity", bringing together young Christians (18 to 35 years) who were looking to get involved in politics, without party bias or sensitivity. In 2016, this fraternity numbered about fifty young adults in ten countries.
During the years after 2000, the requests of the bishops or communities led the Chemin Neuf Community to establish itself, on average, in one new country each year. In 2016, members in missions in France numbered no more than about 40% of all members: the countries where the growth in members has been highest is Central Europe, Brazil and Africa.
Missions
All year round missions entrusted by local churches |
172_16 | A particular request of the bishops was for the Chemin Neuf to lead parishes. The first to do this was Mgr Etchegaray, at that time , who entrusted the parish of Saint-Roch de Mazargues to the community from 1978 onwards. In 2017, there are 18 catholic parishes which have been entrusted in this way to Chemin Neuf teams. Besides the "classic" services within the parish, the community was also the first place in France to try out the Alpha course.
Several student halls of residence were entrusted to the Chemin Neuf by parishes, dioceses, ecclesiastical organisations, or they were established by the community (particularly in Africa in the case of the latter).
Bishops from several symbolic places of the Christian faith also asked the community, without entrusting them with the responsibility of the buildings, to sing the daily liturgical offices, especially vespers, like in the Cathedrale Notre-Dame de Chartres, in the cathedral of Saint-Jean of Lyon or in the in Jerusalem. |
172_17 | The exercises of Saint Ignatius
The Chemin Neuf Community, being of Ignatian tradition, offers sessions that are in the majority inspired by the spiritual exercises, as they are given by Jesuits, adapted by integrating aspects belonging to the spirituality of the Charismatic Renewal. Every year, in France alone, the community organises about thirty retreats in the spiritual exercises lasting one week, as well as two retreats of one month, the latter is advised to be undertaken before any decision of definitive commitment. Often diocesan seminarists come to follow the latter together before their ordination as deacons.
Retreat activities and sessions adapted to particular situations |
172_18 | Cana Sessions
A first experience of sessions organised for couples took place in 1979 at the request of a couple from the Teams of Our Lady. Acknowledging very high demand, the Chemin Neuf Community launched its Cana mission in 1980 (the name of which is inspired from the place of the first of Jesus’ miracles during the marriage feast at Cana). It is a mission that involves couples and families (including children and with specific leisure time and community life organised for the latter). Even more than the other Chemin Neuf missions, this one comes under the banner of unity and reconciliation. From 1980 to 2007, nearly 20,000 couples participated in Cana sessions. For Paul Destable, assistant secretary general at the Bishops' Conference of France, the Cana mission is an example which shows "the dynamism of the lay communities". |
172_19 | Recognising the numerous needs relating to conjugal matters, the Cana mission expanded. As well as the initial sessions aimed at couples, other sessions were added: "Cana Couples and families" with a notable emphasis on the evangelisation of children and their participation in family life; "Cana Engagement" for couples beginning their journey, preparation for marriage, engagement: "Cana Hope" for people who are divorced or separated and not involved in a new relationship; finally "Cana Samaria" for divorced and remarried people. These last sessions are often centred on the official position of the church (particularly the Catholic church) with regard to the sacraments, and bishops are often in attendance.
The Cana mission also has at its disposal the tool "Elle et Lui" developed during the Alpha course, specifically for couples. It is offered in parishes as well as in other suitable places |
172_20 | In the geographic region of the two islands of Réunion and Mauritius, Valerie Perretant-Aubourg notes that the Cana Sessions are a particularly important social melting pot, bringing together doctors or teachers or illiterate building workers.
Mission with young people
At the beginning of the 1980s an active mission for young people aged between 18 and 30 was set up and was reinforced in 1985 with the launching of World Youth Days by Pope John Paul II. This mission has grown steadily, notably with the launch of student halls of residence in major French towns and elsewhere.
From 1986, a festival, gathering several hundred young people was organised at Sablonceaux Abbey (south west France). Participating in this were certain artists embarking on a "Creation Fraternity", performing live shows to the participants but also to local inhabitants and to tourists. |
172_21 | Having arrived at Hautecombe Abbey (Savoie, France), the Chemin Neuf saw the potential of this site to organise more ambitious gatherings. The first European gathering, in 1993, saw the enrolment of a thousand participants, a number which increased to two thousand in 1996 (from thirty nationalities with a predominance of Eastern Europeans). During these gatherings the day is split into two parts, with a morning dedicated to teachings and testimonies and an afternoon open for workshops and forums. A particularly strong emphasis is placed on unity and reconciliation. These gatherings in Savoie were moved to other places for specific events. This was particularly the case in the World Youth Day years. The young people, generally in large numbers (about five thousand) were also accommodated in Perugia (Umbria, Italy) in 2000, in Volkenroda, Thüringen, Germany, in 2005, in Guadarrama (Madrid, Spain) in 2011, in Łódź (Poland) in 2016 |
172_22 | . On other occasions (Jubilee of the Ignatian Family in Lourdes in 2006) these gatherings can be moved to a specific place. Since the summer of 2012, the summer gathering at Hautecombe changed its name to: Welcome to Paradise. |
172_23 | The mission for teenagers aged 14 to 18 years was also launched in the 1980s. In its infancy, it was centred on evangelisation only. Since then it has opened out to humanitarianism (participation in summer missions from six to eight weeks generally in Africa). It is present in France and in the majority of the places where there are community missions.
The mission for 8 to 13 year olds is much more recent (it began between 2007 and 2010). It was developed in Brazil by the Catholic Church, worried by the defection of many of the faithful. For the moment it is limited to a few weekends per year in France and Brazil, particularly in parishes wanting to make the catechism groups more dynamic. |
172_24 | Status
The community is composed of lay and religious persons from many Christian denominations: Catholic, Anglican, Reformed, Eastern Orthodox. In 1984, it was recognised by Cardinal Alexandre Renard and declared a public association of the faithful by Cardinal Albert Decourtray, Archbishop of Lyon. This canonical status allowed it to teach Christian doctrine on behalf of the Catholic Church and to promote public worship. From a civil point of view, the community was recognised as a religious congregation by a decree from the Prime Minister of France on 23 July 1993. |
172_25 | In France, the community has several branches located in Lyon, Anse (Rhône department), Soleymieu (Isère), Hautecombe (Savoie), Le Plantay (Abbey Notre-Dame-des-Dombes, Ain), Sablonceaux (Charente-Maritime), Tigery (Essonne), Chartres (Eure-et-Loir), Bouvines (Nord), Marseille (Bouches-du-Rhône), Levallois (Hauts-de-Seine), Paris, Villeurbanne (Rhône), Lucé-Mainvilliers (Eure-et-Loir), Lille (Nord), Reims (Marne), Sophia-Antipolis (Alpes-Maritimes), Angers (Maine-et-Loire). The community is also present in Belgium, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Canada, Chad, Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, the Czech Republic, Egypt, Germany, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Lebanon, Madagascar, Martinique, Mauritius, the Netherlands, Poland, Réunion, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. |
172_26 | In 2014, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, invited young adults from around the world to join the Community of St Anselm, a Jesus-centered community of prayer facilitated by the Chemin Neuf for one year. Ruth Gledhill of Christian Today wrote that "The year-long programme will include prayer, study, practical service and community life. Members will live a spiritual discipline compared to that of medieval monks, drawing closer to God through a daily rhythm of silence, study and prayer. At the same time they will also be immersed in the modern challenges of the global 21st century church, witnessing to the power of a pared-back disciplined faith in managing the demanding business of contemporary high-tech life."
See also
Intentional community
Church of St. Apollinaire, Prague
References
External links
Community of the Chemin Neuf, official site
NetForGod TV, official site
Youth mission, official site
Bibliography
Organizations established in 1973 |
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