As no regular services of the Presbyterian Church were held in the very early days of Melbourne, the Rev. James Clow, who came from India, caused arrangements to be made for the loan of the wooden building belonging to the Church of England. The Anglicans used it in the forenoon; the Presbyterians worshipped there in the afternoon. This friendly arrangement lasted for a few months. Then the Rev. James Forbes came over from Sydney in 1839 and he found a small congregation awaiting him. It had already procured a two-acre block of land at the corner of Collins and Russell Streets. A wooden building was erected as a schoolroom, and into this little structure the congregation crowded to join in the services of the church.

Mr. Forbes having resigned in November, 1846, from Scots Church, his place was filled by the Rev. Irving Hetherington, who arrived in April, 1847. A meeting of those forming the Free Church of Scotland was called on the evening of November 4, 1846, for the purpose of making arrangements for Mr. Forbes, who intended forming a congregation in connection with the Free Church of Scotland. Mr. Forbes and those who adhered to his principles were to meet in the Mechanics' Institute after his resignation had been accepted by the presbytery.

Another meeting was held and arrangements were made for conducting divine service in the institute. The sum of £100 was collected for Mr. Forbes, and it was expected that it would be made up to £200.

The Free Church congregation purchased a site for a church at the corner of Swanston and Little Lonsdale Streets for £249, at a land sale. The foundation-stone of the new Free Church was laid by Mr. Forbes on November 17, 1847, at 1 o'clock. Mr. Forbes read a long inscription engrossed upon parchment, which was deposited in a cavity in the foundation-stone.

A public meeting of members of the Free kirk was held in the Mechanics' Hall in the evening to celebrate the anniversary of the organisation of their church.

The John Knox Church was ready for service in less than six months. It was opened on May 7, 1848, by the Rev. Thomas Hastie, of Buninyong. Next day the Rev. John Ziegler Huie, from Geelong, preached in the church, which was erected, and the land for which was purchased, entirely by voluntary subscription.

The church had a bell of remarkable tone, which could be heard all over the western part of Melbourne. The bell was hung in a small tower at the west end of the building. I remember it very well, for I lived in the neighbourhood in the early days. The first bell cast in the colony, it was made at Langland's foundry, at the west end of Flinders Street.

Mr. Forbes died in August, 1851, his place being taken by the Rev. William Miller. At a much later period the church passed into the hands of the Church of Christ.