Estd: 1897

An extract from the Record Book of the All Saints Church maintained from 1848 reads as follows

Mr. Huddleston was the chief mover in the effort to erect St. Andrew s Church, Hubli for the benefit of the Railway Community there. Mr. Huddleston was the Chief Engineer of the MSM Railway (Madras and Southern Mahratta Railway) and the above was recorded on the 13th of December 1912 on his death at Dharwar.

During the years following 1848, members of the Church of England at Dharwar and Hubli were served by government chaplains from Belgaum who visited the stations periodically for the purpose of conducting divine services. The congregations at Dharwar and Hubli were mainly Europeans consisting chiefly of British troops and government officials. Public worship was held at the German Mission Chapel, while that at Hubli was held in the Railway Institute.

In 1857 the Rev. G.A.F. Watson was appointed Chaplain of Dharwar probably because of the increase in the number of British troops. An extract from the above Record Book reads thus: Rev. George Watson resided at Dharwar in 1858 when English troops were here on account of the mutiny, worked hard and was very popular with the soldiers. Dharwar thus became the headquarters of the Chaplaincy and about 30 years later this note was recorded.

1887 May 16 Monday, Rev. A.W. Bayham came, Note: The Chaplain of Dharwar has charge of all the SM Railway except the Belgaum side. Hootgee (now Hotgi) should be visited from Sholapur, nine miles off. The train journey is twenty minutes. Beejapoor civil station is visited by train from Dharwar. At Gadag, service is held in Mr. Atkinsons house, at Hooblee in the provisional Railway Institute, at Castlerock there is no fixed place”.

By 1886 Dharwar had a new church which was taken over from the PWD on 20th Jan 1887. Within a short spell of time the need for a larger church was being felt at Dharwar and the need for a church at Hubli was also being felt as is evident from the following:

July 26th, 1887 that the church is not large enough for the place has already been felt. The native Christian community having asked to be allowed to come into the church on a Sunday evening could not be admitted owing to the seats being all occupied.

As regards Hubli, this extract is furnished:

Rev. W.G. H. Ellison arrived on Aug 9th 1887, visited Hubli three times. Held Service. Hubli which at present has a European and Eurasian population of 50 or more will in two years time be greatly enlarged by the S.M. Railway.

It has already been stated that the Chaplain of Dharwar had charge of all the S. M. Railway except Belgaum side, which meant extensive travelling had to be undertaken in order to serve the various congregations. While some of the travel over their jurisdiction was at times in comfort by rail, with a refund of one first class fare for the Chaplain and two third class fares for servants whenever they travelled on the S. M. Railway on pastoral work, their other means of transport was quite antiquated and by todays standards outdated and unthinkable as the following extract will reveal. 1887 February 7th, Monday started for Karwar, March 8th returned to Dharwar. The journey has been as follows: First stop Dustykoap dak bungalow (a good one) 18 miles from Dharwar on 7th. Left about 4 pm an 8th reached Yellapur 25 miles about 4 am on 9th. Left in afternoon and reached Sunksal a poor dak bungalow about 1 am. Left it afore sunrise in a munchil carried by four men and reached Karwar dak bungalow (a very good one) before noon Friday the 11th. When one thinks of making a journey today, the first thing one thinks of is making reservations to and fro, be it rail, road or air. When a guest preacher is invited to conduct a series of meetings anywhere its the same thing. A confirmed reserved ticket is sent with provision of food and accommodation guaranteed. If this was the case in those early days, one wonders if churches would ever have been established in India, let alone Hubli and Dharwar. The hardships, the privations those early missionaries and chaplains had to undergo makes one shudder when one reads about them. Imagine breaking journey at 1 am after a rugged journey and leaving again afore sunrise in a makeshift mode of transport to minister to the flock in far flung areas.

Imagine these:

1887 April 23rd went to Hubli, 24th Sunday. Had 25 soldiers at service in the open air at Hubli, being volunteers from 3 Companies of the 13th Regiment enroute to Belgaum.

16th, 17th Sept. 1894, Evening Service at Hubli Institute.

Jan 2nd, 1895 went to Hotgi, Service in waiting room.

In the New Testament times Christ preached on the seashore, in the desert, in an upper room, from a mount anywhere just to do His Fathers business. In the 19th century, the word of God was still being preached in the open air, in Institutes, and waiting rooms, and the church of Christ grew. Dedicated servants of the church, by their undying efforts, we re thus instrumental in establishing places of worship in the then Southern Maratha Region and thus St. Andrews Church came into being at Hubli.