Canon F. Slaney Poole, M.A. And His Family: Cynthia Slaney Robinson

Frederic Slaney Poole (1845-1936), son of Judge Thomas Slaney Poole, stepped off the St. Vincent at Port Adelaide on November 30, 1867 to work at the Poonindie Native Institution, was priested in 1869, and became incumbent of Robe, a vast parish. Before becoming headmaster Christ Church Grammar School, Mount Gambier, he travelled to London and married Rebecca Scott. In 1874 be became incumbent of St John's, Halifax Street, Adelaide. Tall, thin, bearded and a keen sportsman, Poole was a popular preacher, fearless in denouncing commercial and sexual immorality, and with 'the reputation of being a man without cant … who is not above taking an occasional glass of whisky, and who would not express unbounded indignation if asked to participate in a game of billiards or cards'. He was a lecturer in the classics; he conducted a school for choirboys; was chaplain to the Adelaide hospital, gaol and destitute asylum; and was one of South Australia's first clerical Freemasons, helping to establish the Grand Lodge of South Australia in Adelaide in 1884. His descendant Cynthia has told his incredible story of his life, from horseback priest to Canon. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederic_Slaney_Poole