1 Revs H. E. & H. MacNeil Saunders and the Sheffield Revival of 1923 – 24, Tasmania 1 Rev. Dr Damon S. Adams 2 Introduction The Kentish district of northwest Tasmania, and the town of Sheffield in particular, was the heart of Brethren territory. 3 This district was the scene of a major spiritual revival which commenced in 1873 with the evangelistic efforts of the Brethren evangelists Edward Moyse, William Brown and Charles Perrin. 4 This revival went from 1873 till at least 1876 and saw a large number of conversions. The revival was marked by great demonstrations of conviction over sin, repentance and conversions. Through the labours of Moyse, Brown and Perrin a Brethren assembly was established in Sheffield along with the building of a chapel. 5 The memory of the 1873 revival in the Kentish district was still present in the community well into the early nineteen hundreds. The result was that the district as a whole was staunchly and demonstrably Evangelical. The impact of these early Brethren evangelists on the ecclesiastical and Evangelical landscape of Tasmania was so substantial that according to Brethren church historian Elisabeth Wilson: One estimate is that in the years 1872-1875, over 500 people in Tasmania alone professed conversion in response to these evangelists, mainly in the Huon, Scottsdale, Kentish, and Circular Head areas. As a result, by the end of the decade there were Brethren-type meetings at Port Esperance, Hobart, Launceston, Scottsdale, Sheffield, and several places on the North West coast including Burnie, Boat Harbour, Montagu and Circular Head. This is an astonishing burst of growth in a small state, and insured that the northwest coast of Tasmania retained one of the highest concentrations of Brethren in the world into the late twentieth century. 6 1 This article originally appeared in LUCAS: An Evangelical Historical Review, Series 2 No.11 June, 2018, 71- 90. 2 Rev. Dr Damon S. Adams is Senior Lecturer in Theology, Biblical Studies and Church History at Alphacrucis College, Hobart Campus, Tasmania and Church History Coordinator for Alphacrucis College Sydney and all campuses. Damon was trained as a Presbyterian minister and was later ordained as Pentecostal minister. 3 For a detailed description of the influence of the Brethren movement in Sheffield and the Kentish district see Alan F. Dyer, God Was Their Rock (Sheffield: Pioneer Publishers, 1974). 4 Launceston Examiner, Thursday 9 January 1873, 1; Launceston Examiner, Thursday 5 November 1874, 3; Launceston Examiner, Tuesday 2 November 1875, 4. 5 Launceston Examiner, Tuesday 2 November 1875, 4. 6 Elisabeth Wilson, ‘‘Wandering Stars’: The Impact of British Evangelists in Australia, 1870s – 1900’ (PhD University of Tasmania, 2011), 67.