Beltana in 1853 with the benefit of the aborigines of South Australia particularly in view. The Smith of Dunesk mission was something of a diversion from Mrs Smith's intention as the main focus was on white settlers. The first Presbyterian manse was purchased in 1898, having been rented by Rev Robert Mitchell for four years before that, and served as the manse subsequent missioners including for Reverend John Flynn, later of the Australian Inland Mission and the Flying Doctor Service, in 1911. It became the Beltana Australian Inland Mission nursing home in 1919. The nursing home continued until hospital facilities became
Rev. John Thomas to promote Apartheid ideologies and its government policies. Rev. John Thomas The Reverend John Thomas (1871–1921) was a distinguished Wesleyan Methodist Church minister, schoolmaster and community leader in the province of Natal (now Kwa-Zulu Natal), South Africa. The World Methodist Historical Society notes that Rev. Thomas was the very first East Indian minister to ever be ordained in South Africa, and probably the first ever non-white ordination, since it was standard practice for both the Anglican and Roman Catholic sects to import all Indian ministers from India. According to the Rev S.H Stott, in his autobiographical work, 'A Nonagenarian's Experiences