Between 1858 and 1862 services
were held in the schoolroom "near the Collingwood baths". These were conducted
by a layman, Nathaniel Kinsman, who was a Fitzroy second-hand furniture
dealer. When the Church of England decided to appoint an ordained minister
to East Collingwood in 1862, Kinsman and his congregation objected to the
appointment. They seceded and erected this church nearby. According to
census reports there were 111 members of this new congregation in 1871
and about half that number ten years later.
Kinsman's church became part of a denomination known as the Victorian Free Church of England and Ireland or The Episcopal Free Church. This depiction of it is a detail from a photograph taken in 1887 which can be seen in full on another history page.
This church lasted for 20 years until 1907. In 1895 it was known locally as the Victorian Free Church and in 1902 as the Victorian Free Church Mission Hall. it was probably demolished soon after 1912 and is now replaced by houses.
