In August 1847 Charles Perry, bishop of Melbourne, wrote to the Revd Henry Venn, CMS Secretary and Perry's trusted London commissary. Perry informed Venn that he wanted only clergymen who were:

Perry's prescription of an ideal colonial clergyman (imbued with missionary zeal, gentlemanly qualities and physical robustness) differs from the prescription which historians have typically associated with élite architects of the colonial Anglican Church, namely a public school and university man who could take his place within a clerisy of gentlemanly élites. The sheer variety of recruiters and recruiting channels for clergy further suggests that there was no monolithic view of an ideal type of clergyman for the Australian colonies. This raises questions about how those in both metropole and colony conceived of the ideal clergyman for both Australia and the colonies generally. This chapter, therefore, explores competing visions of the ideal colonial clergyman, held by a range of interested parties: élite metropolitan churchmen; colonial governors; provincial metropolitan clergy and those who recruited clergy for the colonies at parish level; colonial bishops and clergy; and Australian colonists themselves. Even among élite churchmen opinion differed as to ideal clerical qualities. Opinion also differed as to the degrees of gentility and social status, education, missionary vigour and physical robustness required. These competing visions cast doubt on the universality of an élite, High-Church clerisy ideal for colonial clergy that emphasised English identity and imperial loyalty.