Leslie Escott and brother Reg served in France during the First World War. Returning from the War, Les married Florrie Gowland (previously from Durham, England, then living in Sandy Bay). She was an Organist in the Methodist Church and he belonged to the Church of England. Taroona, at that time, consisted mostly of cottages, paddocks and bushland with approximately 6 families living in a rural environment, keeping cows, chooks and growing vegetables.

Les and Florrie moved to Taroona in 1933 with their 2 sons, Reg and Ken, to start a poultry farm with a hatchery and 500 chooks. Their land spread from the Channel Highway to the Derwent River. There were very few roads and their transport was a motorbike and sidecar, and bus services were restricted to once a day to the Huon.

They became Baptists and in 1936 started a Sunday school in the Taroona Community Hall, currently the site of the Doctor’s Surgery.

In 1951, a part of their land was given by Les and Florrie to the Baptist Union with the view that a Church was to be built in the future by voluntary labour; the first building was a little Church Hall that was built and opened in 1953. This is the site of the current church. The first pastor of TBC was also pastor of Sandy Bay Baptist Church, until TBC became a separate and independent church in 1955.

The Church Hall was later extended and modernised. Children of all denominations were welcomed, went through Sunday School and many returned to become Teachers under the Superintendency of Les Escott. Florrie continued as the organist until health and the years caught up with them both.

The lower block which included the homestead was purchased from Mark Escott (Reg Escott’s son) by the Church.

The present church was built partly by voluntary labour and partly with the assistance of the Mobile Mission Maintenance organisation in 2002-03 and opened in 2004.

To comply with Kingborough Council requirements, additional car parking needed to be provided, in addition to the space for cars at the front. To fund this development, the lower block was sold in 2007, with the homestead being demolished. This enabled parking for 21 cars to be provided at the back, with a road on the north side of the Church providing access.

The legacy of the Escotts lives on, with a daughter in law of Les and Florrie continuing to worship there, and a grandson of theirs still maintaining close links with TBC

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