Frederick John Pitman was born in England in 1832 according to my first records, although his son, RW Pitman (see link below) says it was 1835. He married Maria Elizabeth Brice in 1856, and it seems they came out to Australia in 1857. He became Congregational Minister in Yarrawonga in 1877 after establishing Churches at Chewton, Forest Hill and Sutton Grange in the Castlemaine area, where he was a Minister for 20 years. While at Yarrawonga he established churches at Yarrawonga and Yarrawonga South, Bundalong and Wilby.

He was elected as a member of the Board of Advice (whatever that was) for the Yarrawonga District in December 1893.

This document contains an obituary from the Yarrawonga Mercury, and a speech about FJ Pitman's life by one of his sons, RW Pitman (b 1874). You will see that there are inconsistencies between his son's statements and the obituary

In April 2013 I obtained a number of photos of members of the Pitman family from Patricia Hunt. Patricia also provided a number of documents, including one which outlines the Reverend's career and family life.

Rev FJ Pitman and sons
About 1900

Reverend FJ Pitman (b 1832)
About 1880

Maria Elizabeth Brice
About 1890's