Description:
In 1887 Fairfield was still largely unpopulated when the Methodist Church in Gilles Street first opened. A Sunday school was attached to the building and its first superintendent was Charles E. Lugton.
After two years Lugton left and William C. Thomas became the new superintendent. He was to stay for the next fifteen years. After a brief stay by James Morrissey, a noted mystic, the school was then led by William Waddell.
Waddell, a Councillor for the City of Heidelberg, was a noted Fairfield resident, and was to stay as superintendent from 1906 to 1913. When ill health forced Waddell to resign his post, the position was filled by John E. Poppins.
Poppins was to continue in the post for at least 35 years.
