When the English first settled Australia in the eighteenth
century, they established churches under the authority of the
Bishop of London. Over the next two centuries the Anglican
Church of Australia gradually moved towards independence from
England. In 1814, responsibility for British subjects in
Australia passed from the Bishop of London to the new Bishop of
Calcutta, and in 1836 Australia was recognized as a diocese with
its own bishop, William Grant Broughton. With this new
recognition of the diocese of Australia came a time of great
religious expansion and church building. By 1847 this expansion
had become so great that Australia was split into separate
dioceses of Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, and Newcastle, each
with their own bishops. As Australia's population and church
grew, new dioceses continued to be formed. Five provinces of the
church were established, each containing several dioceses. Every
five years there was a general assembly of the bishops of each
diocese, presided over by a single bishop