Many former soldiers had farms at Castlereagh during the early settlement, including John Lees who came to Sydney in 1797, left the New South Wales Corp in 1804, and became a farmer after being given a land grant.
Lees went on to build the first Wesleyan Methodist Church in Australia in 1817, and Castlereagh Conference Centre manager Michael McKertich is now working to have his gravesite restored.
“It’s sunken and the concrete is cracked, so we need to remove all that old concrete, reset the concrete around the grave, and reset the sandstone headstone so that it’s all level,” McKertich stated.
“His wife, Mary Lees, is also buried in the same grave, so we’re resetting her headstone as well.
“At the end of the grave we intend to pave the area and have an interpretive sign telling the story of John Lees with a seat there for people to sit and reflect.”
And the legend of John Lees is an interesting one…
“According to the story, one day he was bitten by a snake, and he took himself to Windsor to get treatment,” McKertich told.
“He said if he survived the snake bite, he would turn himself over to God and convert to Christianity. At that point he had been an alcoholic and his life was going a bit backwards.
“So, he survived the snake bite and then decided that he’d build a church next to his farmhouse.”
When the congregation outgrew the church, Lees built a bigger one in 1819, and the process was repeated in 1847.
“John Lees died in 1836 on August 28th,” McKertich said.
“At that time there was no cemetery out here, so he was buried up at Cranebrook at the Anglican Church Cemetery.
“That was in 1836, and in 1921 his remains were reinterred out here at Castlereagh.”
The conference centre is holding a fundraiser to have the grave restored.
“The church is heritage listed, the cemetery’s heritage listed as well… There are so many descendants of John Lees and we’re trying to reach out to them and tell them what they’re doing,” the centre manager explained.
“We’re around halfway to the total amount that we need to finish the project.
“It’s a slow process because we’re dealing with lots of descendants all over Australia, so it’s a big mail-out.”
If anyone would like to contribute to conserving local history, you can donate through the Castlereagh Conference Centre website or visit in person at the end of Old Castlereagh Road.
Ally Hall
Ally Hall joined the Weekender in 2024, and focuses on entertainment and community stories. She's a graduate of the University of South Australia and has previously worked as a Video Journalist with Southern Cross Austereo and as a News Reader with Australian Radio Network.