Charles Price

Who was Charles Price?

Charles Price was an English-born Congregational minister in colonial Tasmania.

Price was born in London, England, son of John Price and Ann, née Seckerson. In 1829 he entered Highbury College to study for the ministry of the Congregational Church. He was ordained in 1832, and sailed with his wife for Hobart.

Price preached in Launceston from August 1832 to January 1833, when he was invited to the charge of Pitt Street Chapel, Sydney. Price opened this chapel on 13 February 1833, and became the first minister of this the first church of the Congregational denomination in Australia. After acting for some time as resident minister at Port Stephens, New South Wales, he returned in 1836 to Launceston. Here he accepted the charge of Tamar Street Congregational Chapel, the pulpit of which he occupied till his death in Launceston in 1891. In 1839, a new church was established by John West which resulted in half of the members of Prices' church moving to West's.