As Holy Trinity Church prepares to mark its 150th anniversary this November, SunLive is highlighting some of the organisation’s rich history.

Here, journalist Rosalie Liddle Crawford shines a light on the story of Reverend Canon Charles Jordan - the church’s longest-serving vicar and one of Tauranga’s founding figures.

Why is this fiery Irishman immortalised in marble, remembered as “a friend and benefactor to all” by the people of Tauranga?

These words are etched into a tall monument that stands in the Tauranga Domain, erected in 1915 as a tribute to a man who helped shape the city’s early identity.

Just inside the Tauranga’s War Memorial Gates stands the life-sized marble statue cut from a solid block of Carrara white statuary marble placed upon polished Scottish granite.

Jordan’s right hand rests upon the Bible and a book of municipal laws. Between the statue and the War Memorial Gates are two small cannons of cast iron, mounted on concrete plinths.

Jocelyn Mankelow with the statue of Reverend Canon Charles Jordan at Tauranga Domain. Photo / Brydie Thompson

For Tauranga resident Jocelyn Mankelow, Jordan’s great-great-granddaughter, the statue has always been part of family lore.

“One of the stories my mother used to tell me was that when my grandmother, Dulcie Jordan, was a child, it was her job to come and scrub the moss off her grandfather,” she said. “Every Sunday, he got a scrub.”

First vicar (si

Historical and memorial websites document that Charles Jordan was born in 1838 in County Kerry, Ireland and died in 1912. He took up his Tauranga post in 1873, serving as the Holy Trinity’s first vicar, a position he kept for 39 years. Later proclaimed a Canon by his bishop, his contributions reached far beyond the pulpit.

The statue of Reverend Canon Charles Jordan at Tauranga Domain. Photo / Brydie Thompson.

Jordan was also Mayor of Tauranga for nine years, a magistrate, chair of numerous committees and organisations, and a driving force behind many community initiatives. His friendships extended to key political figures of the day, including then-Prime Minister Richard John Seddon.

In 2009, Helen Towgood – who discovered she was living in Jordan’s original home, built 126 years earlier – wrote about him for a local history competition. In her tribute, she noted: “Through your service and dedication, you earned the love and respect of your community – even from those who had earlier objected to your forthright manner and impulsive actions”.

Feistiness, it seems, ran in the family.

Fiery Irishman

“He was known as a fiery Irishman from County Kerry,” Jocelyn said.

Jocelyn and Robert Mankelow with the statue of Reverend Canon Charles Jordan at Tauranga Domain. Photo / Brydie Thompson

Her husband of 55 years Robert Mankelow, added with a chuckle: “Jocelyn’s got some feistiness in her too”.

Jocelyn grew up in Ohakune and moved to Tauranga when she was around 11. Despite her deep family ties to the Holy Trinity Church, she didn’t regularly attend services until after she was married.

“My mother-in-law was horrified that I didn’t go to church,” she laughs. “She said: ‘With all that family tradition!’ So, she dragged me along – kicking and screaming.”

Robert, who comes from the prominent Brain Watkins family – whose historic home is now a museum on Elizabeth St – doesn’t attend church himself. But Jocelyn found her place there – not just through faith, but through music.

“I used to sing in the music team. It’s like my other family, with friends there,” she said.

Tragedy

In 1999, tragedy struck when the original Holy Trinity Anglican Parish Church was destroyed in an arson attack. Jocelyn carries the painful memory of being the last person inside the church that night.

“We had music practice. I was the leader, so I had to lock up and turn everything off. When I woke the next morning and heard what had happened, I thought it was my fault,” she said.

Canon Jordan Memorial 1916. Gifted to Tauranga Heritage Collection by H. Barton. Accession number 0547/08

Though she speaks modestly about her lineage, Jocelyn said she takes quiet pride in her family’s legacy.

“It’s something to be proud of,” she said. “But not something to go around spouting about.”

The statue

Today, Charles Jordan’s legacy lives on not only through the statue in Tauranga Domain but also in Jordan Park – located next to Memorial Park and just down the hill from the church he once led. A 1950s hall beside Holy Trinity Tauranga on Devonport Rd was transformed into the Jordan Centre, a state-of-the-art conference and events facility, complete with a sacred new chapel honouring a century of parish history.

“The original vicarage used to be near there too,” Jocelyn said. “It’s now behind the Gate Pā shops.”

From vicar to mayor, magistrate to community leader, Charles Jordan’s statue reminds us how one man’s faith, leadership, and fiery Irish spirit helped shape both the church and the city it calls home.