.
Character Profiles > Rosie Hoyland Maggie Millar

Reverend Rosie Hoyland (née Barclay) 2002-2003
Marital Status: 'Bobby' Robert Hoyland (divorced)
Siblings: Colin
Children: Max and Isabelle
Family Tree: Hoyland
Occupation: Anglican Minister St. Stephens Church

Calm, sensitive and trustworthy, Rosie Hoyland arrived in Erinsborough in 2002 as the new reverend, and immediately caught the eye of best friends, Lou Carpenter and Harold Bishop. Lou and Harold had both competed for the affections of the same woman in the past - Madge Ramsay, who Harold eventually married - so vying for the attentions of Rosie was familiar territory for the two widowers.

The exact nature of Rosie's past remained a mystery, though an encounter with a hypnotist act at the pub provided some tantalising clues, including a time as a company chairperson and fluency in Italian. Having packed her teenage son, Max, off to boarding school while she went on a quest to find herself, Rosie eventually became a vicar. Max resented his mother as he grew up for leaving him, and the tensions remained strong even when Max married and had children of his own. Rosie did prove to be of enormous emotional support to Max, however, when his wife, Claire, died suddenly. Rosie became a mother figure to Boyd and Summer, and even took them in when Max started working on the oilrigs in the Timor Gap.

Rosie proved to be a successful and hugely popular reverend in the parishes she was assigned to, but Rosie never felt more at home in a parish as she did when she arrived at St. Stephen's Church in Erinsborough. The strong sense of community in Erinsborough appealed to Rosie, and she was soon involved with various committees and community events, both church related and non-church related. She also quickly became a regular visitor to the Lassiter's complex, dropping into the Coffee Shop most mornings for a coffee, and to the pub in the evening where she loved to buy a good bottle of red wine. The Coffee Shop and pub were also owned by Harold and Lou, respectively, and Rosie got to know the two men quite well from her daily visits.

Harold had originally met Rosie through the church, and Lou had dismissed Harold's praise of the new reverend before he met her, thinking she would be stuffy and conservative. However, when he met Rosie in person when she christened Lou's godson, Ben Kirk, as one of her first ministerial duties in Erinsborough, he was instantly smitten. Lou loved Rosie's down to earth nature, and her infectious sense of humour, and set about trying to win her over with his old 'Carpenter charm'. Suddenly, Lou was offering his services to all sorts of church fundraisers in the hope of impressing Rosie, but she was initially oblivious to Lou's interest. Harold, meanwhile, also started to find himself attracted to Rosie, but was more guarded with his feelings, and instead, built up a close friendship with Rosie as she settled in to the parish.

Rosie eventually started to recognise that both Lou and Harold were fond of her, and she was put in an awkward position by Lou and Harold, when both men asked her out one evening - Harold to a documentary about Mother Teresa at the library, and Lou to a bingo night at a rival pub, under the guise of checking the competition out. Rosie wisely decided to use the situation to her advantage, however, and arranged to meet Lou and Harold down at the hospital when she finished her voluntary work there in the evening. When they both arrived at the same time, Harold and Lou were disgusted to see the other there, and Rosie had to own up about double booking herself with them, before suggesting they help her out at the hospital for an hour or two, knowing they would readily oblige. As they began to compete for Rosie's affections, Lou and Harold found themselves getting involved in all sorts of petty scrapes and silly misunderstandings, such as thinking Rosie was on a date with a strange man at the pub one afternoon when it was actually her brother, Colin.

Rosie proved herself to be of huge personal support to Harold when he was knocked down by Matt Hancock and temporarily lost his sight. She was first at his hospital bedside when word of his condition reached her, and she and Lou kept Harold company through his stay in hospital. However, Rosie was forced to confront Harold's true feelings for her when she and Lou walked in on Harold confessing to Karl that he liked Rosie very much, and had never expected to meet someone who would make him so happy again. Harold's admission put Rosie in an uncomfortable position, and she tried to hide the fact that she found it difficult to deal with Harold's fondness for her. And when Rosie started preparing No. 24 for Harold's return from hospital after he had regained his sight, some of the neighbours began to hint that a romance was blossoming between Harold and the new vicar - increasing Rosie's unease. Meanwhile, Rosie thought it would be a good idea for Lou and Harold to move in together while they build themselves back up to full health (Lou's back injury had started playing up while Harold had been in hospital), and she enlisted Susan Kennedy's help to get Lou and Harold to move in together. Susan managed to persuade Lou to move in with Harold by suggesting that he was the only person other than Madge who Harold would ever let his guard down to and he should do his best to move in with him until he regains his sight fully. Meanwhile, Rosie worked at convincing Harold that Lou was finding it difficult to cope with his bad back on his own, and when she told Harold that Lou was sleeping on the couch because he couldn't manage it upstairs, Harold decided that he should ask Lou to stay with him until he got better. However, Rosie suggested that perhaps Harold should pretend it was him that needed Lou to stay with him so as not to dent Lou's pride, and Harold agreed. Both men were secretly delighted by the new arrangements since they were both now living alone - and Rosie had realised their loneliness was also going to be sorted out by her idea as soon as she started planning it.

As a thank you to Rosie for all the support she had given him after the accident, Harold invited her over for a special dinner. Lou decided to make himself scarce for the meal, and Harold was delighted to have Rosie to himself. But Rosie didn't feel right about excluding Lou from her evening with Harold, and insisted Lou, who had been doing his accounts in the living room, join them for dessert. By this point, Rosie had started to feel more attracted to Lou than Harold, while Lou was making a conscious effort to step back and give Harold a chance at happiness. When Lou told Rosie that Harold liked her, Rosie was forced to admit to him that she only saw Harold as a good friend, and was more interested in pursuing a relationship with Lou. Lou was thrilled by Rosie's admission, but told her he couldn't go out with her as long as Harold thought he stood a chance, prompting Rosie to resolve to tell Harold where she stood once and for all. Harold was devastated when Rosie delicately broke it to him that she saw him only as a best friend and nothing more could come of their relationship.

Shortly afterwards, Rosie and Lou kissed when they were accidentally locked in the vestibule at the church one night. However, Lou had unknowingly left some plastic flowers down on some candles out in the church and the place quickly went up in flames. As Lou was pouring his heart out to Rosie about his feelings for her, she suddenly realised that there was smoke coming from the main building, and they started banging on the door for help. Flick Scully was luckily passing the church around the same time, and when she noticed it was on fire, she called for an ambulance, and ran inside to save Lou and Rosie. Once she had unlocked the door, Flick, Rosie and Lou managed to safely escape the flaming building and get out just as the paramedics arrived. The ordeal had been a particularly harrowing one for Rosie who broke down in tears when she got home, as the reality of what had nearly happened began to sink in. However, Rosie pledged to fight on, and immediately began planning a number of fundraisers to restore the church.

Now that Rosie and Lou were an item, they agonised over whether or not to tell Harold about their relationship, finally deciding to keep it low key for the time being. But Harold discovered the truth when he met young Summer for the first time and she asked Lou out straight if he was her nana's new boyfriend. Although hurt by what he saw as Rosie and Lou's betrayal, Harold was gradually forced to accept that they were together and be grateful for his friendship with Rosie at the very least. But his feelings for Rosie would never go away, and he remained devoted to her from a distance.

When Max returned from a lengthy spell working on the oil rigs in East Timor, Rosie was initially delighted to see him, while also being thrilled for Boyd and Summer, who were getting to spend some time with their father. But when Max announced his plans to settle in Erinsborough permanently so that he could take over the raising of the kids, Rosie was cautious about whether or not Max had thought things through fully. She tried to make him understand that he couldn't simply disappear again in a few months after re-establishing himself in Boyd and Summer's lives, but Max assured her that he was back for good. Rosie was also a little reluctant to give up mothering the kids, and was extremely sad to see them move out. But she was assured by Boyd and Summer - and Max - that she was welcome to visit them at their new home on Ramsay Street at any time. And Max often called upon Rosie for babysitting duties, especially after he started working for Lou at the pub.

Rosie found herself in hot water with Bishop McDermott when she began planning a calendar of local hunks as part of the fundraising drive for restoring St. Stephen's. Feeling that organising a calendar full of bare chested men wasn't the kind of endeavour a minister should be involved with, the Bishop told Rosie not to continue with the idea, and she was forced to abandon her plans. But Lou and Harold secretly went ahead with Rosie's calendar idea, and surprised her with a huge launch party at the pub. Rosie was thrilled when she arrived at the pub and realised what Lou and Harold had organised, and they assured Rosie that her position wouldn't be compromised since the money from the sale of the calendars had been raised from the community.

However, Rosie's less than conventional approach to many community and church-related matters made Bishop McDermott uncomfortable with her, and he eventually organised for Rosie to be transferred out of Erinsborough. Rosie was stunned when he told her she was being moved to a problem parish in Byron Bay, and despite her request to stay in Erinsborough, the Bishop pressed ahead with the transfer plans. Harold was outraged when he heard the news, and enlisted the entire community's help in fighting for Rosie to be allowed stay. Rosie had done so much for the community in such a short time, such as re-establishing the church choir, that nobody wanted to see her leave. And Boyd and Summer especially didn't want their nana to move so far away. But Lou was keen on the idea of a transfer - seeing it as an opportunity to get Rosie away from Harold, who still had feelings for Rosie.

Lou and Rosie's relationship had been becoming somewhat strained, and when Lou left to visit his daughter in the country for two weeks, he and Rosie had parted on bad terms. Lou had written Rosie a letter while he was away telling her how he felt about her and how much he wanted their relationship to work out, but she never received it because Harold had accidentally dropped it in a basin of water before he could give it to her. Rosie was confused, therefore, when Lou returned to Erinsborough and gave her the cold shoulder, and it was only when Harold explained what had happened with the letter that Rosie and Lou realised there had been a mix-up in communication. The couple agreed to give their relationship another shot, but Lou was furious with Harold, and accused him of him of purposely damaging the letter he had sent Rosie because he still had feelings for Rosie himself.

Rosie, meanwhile, learnt of Harold's feelings for her when Summer read Harold's journal and told her the things Harold had written about her. And Lou's suspicions about the extent of Harold's feelings for Rosie were confirmed when he overheard Harold confessing his love for Rosie to Karl Kennedy. So when the opportunity arose to get Rosie away from Harold, Lou jumped at the chance, and made plans to buy a pub in Byron Bay. Rosie was thrilled when Lou told her he would move up to Byron Bay with her, and she started to look at the advantages of living in a sunny coastal town. But when Harold had a moment alone with Rosie, he decided to speak openly and frankly, and announced that he didn't want her to leave because she meant so much to him on a personal level, and to the community as a whole. And Harold resolved to do everything in his power to fight to keep Rosie in the parish.

Summer joined Harold in organising a petition from local residents to present to the Bishop, but Lou belittled Harold's efforts. Rosie told him to lay off Harold, pointing out that he was just fearful at the thought of losing two close friends. Realising that Rosie didn't want to leave Erinsborough, Lou did his bit for the campaign to save Rosie by making all his customers at the pub call the Archbishop to complain about Rosie's transfer each time they purchased a drink. After a few hours of phone calls, the Archbishop told Rosie that he was most interested in the huge unease in the community about her transfer, and he agreed to review the matter. Harold was thrilled by the news, but Lou angrily accused Harold of only organising the campaign to save Rosie because he wanted her for himself. Harold finally had enough of Lou's sniping and accusations, and admitted that he did love Rosie, and was disgusted that Lou took her for granted, insisting that he didn't deserve a woman like her and Rosie would soon realise that too. The friendship between Lou and Harold was massively scarred by their feud over Rosie, and Lou even moved out of No. 24 as a result of it. Rosie felt guilty about her part in the friend's fall-out, and her relationship with Lou began to suffer as a result to the point where Rosie told Lou she wanted to put things on hold until he and Harold sorted out their differences.

Meanwhile, Max's lack of excitement at the news that she was not being transferred upset Rosie. When Lou pointed out to him that he hadn't exactly looked overly happy by the news, Max realised he had been a bit hard on his mother, and organised a family tea at No. 32 that evening to celebrate the news that Rosie was staying. And, Rosie was thrilled when Max told her that he was happy she was staying, indicating that they were finally starting to put the tension of previous years behind them.

Harold's decision to join a dating agency in an attempt at getting over his unrequited love for Rosie caused great unease for Rosie, and she grew quite uncomfortable with the situation. After Lyn Scully picked up on Rosie's unease, she offered her a sympathetic ear, and Rosie confessed to Lyn that she had started to develop stronger feelings for Harold. Matters were complicated when Harold announced he had met someone at the agency - Ruby Dwyer, a widower, who shared a lot of the same interests as him. After meeting Ruby for the first time, Rosie found that something wasn't quite right about Harold's new love, but simply put it down to her own jealousy initially and thought no more of it. Meanwhile, Rosie prepared to break the news to Lou that there was now no hope of them getting back together, since she had realised she only wanted friendship from him. Lyn, however, unwittingly beat Rosie to it - asking Lou how he felt about the break-up before Rosie herself had told him things were over. When Rosie discovered this, she hurried down to the pub where she sat down with Lou in his office to tell him that - although she still wanted to be close friends with him - she didn't feel there was anything for them to pursue with their relationship. Lou put on a brave face and insisted he understood, but he was actually heartbroken. And when he ended up in hospital with kidney failure days later, Rosie was deeply hurt when Lou rejected her support and insisted he didn't need her pity. In a tough act of defiance, Rosie sat in the hospital corridor throughout the night, vowing not to go home until Lou agreed to see her. In the end, he caved in, and agreed to a visit from her, although the frostiness in his manner was still present. Lou eventually apologised to Rosie for the way he had treated her, however, and explained to her that although friendship was enough for her, he could never see them working as just friends.

Rosie's suspicions of Ruby resurfaced after Harold began to lend her large amounts of money and even offered her a room at No. 24 when she claimed to be unable to afford the rent on her own place. Money also went missing from the Coffee Shop till after Harold had left Ruby in charge there on one occasion, and money was stolen from Rosie's handbag one evening at the town hall during rehearsals for Harold's play, Mission: Erinsborough, when Rosie left it unattended near Ruby. But whenever Rosie tried to raise the matter with Harold, she was met with a refusal on Harold's part to see anything wrong in Ruby, and he insisted Rosie's suspicions were misplaced. A tension developed in Harold and Rosie's relationship as a result, and after confiding in Susan Kennedy, Rosie decided the only way to resolve things with Harold was by telling him exactly how she felt about him. So on the eve of Harold's operation to donate a kidney to Lou, Rosie plucked up the courage to raise the subject of her r elationship with Harold when she visited him in hospital. But Harold insisted that Rosie didn't need to bring that period up again, assuring Rosie his feelings for her were all in the past, and he now counted her as a dear friend. Rosie was devastated by Harold's inadvertent rejection of her, but she put on a brave face, and didn't show him how she felt, before Harold went to the operating theatre.

While Harold was recovering in hospital, Ruby had organised for his house to be burgled, such was her desperation for cash and Rosie immediately suspected her of being party to the burglary. Harold was furious when Rosie made her suspicions clear, but Rosie was convinced she was in the right, especially after seeing Ruby coming out of a casino a few days later. But Rosie's mission to expose Ruby was halted severely when Ruby went to Rosie in her capacity as a minister and confessed everything. This left Rosie in the difficult position of knowing Ruby had been betraying Harold's trust, but yet unable to tell Harold because of her commitment as a minister. After much agonising, Rosie eventually decided to tell Harold what Ruby had told her, and although Harold was angry at Ruby, he was equally as furious with Rosie for breaking her vows to the church. Indeed, Rosie's relationship with the church was close to breaking point as a result of her actions, because Ruby reported her to Bishop McDermott. Although Rosie eventually made her peace with Ruby after she sought professional help with her gambling addiction before leaving Erinsborough, the damage was done to Rosie's standing in the community as a minister. Numbers at her services began to drop, although Harold and Lou tried to help matters by making a special effort to attend her afternoon sermon, which deeply touched Rosie. The weeks following Ruby's departure luckily saw a marked upturn in the friendships Rosie had with both Lou and Harold. The three had finally begun to move on from the problems that had plagued them in the preceding months, and all three seemed to be content at last with how things had worked out between them. However, Rosie did find herself penning a letter to Harold one afternoon, apologising for betraying Ruby's trust and her vows to the church, and confessing her love for him. But Rosie couldn't go through with sending Harold the letter, and tore it up.

After returning from a seminar on the cyclone crisis in Papua New Guinea, Rosie stunned her family and friends by announcing she was leaving Erinsborough to work in New Guinea. Max was uncomfortable with the dangers Rosie would face there, but she pointed out to him that she had joined the church to help those less fortunate, and she felt she needed to do something truly good after the Ruby incident. Although reluctant to see her go, Max gave Rosie his blessing, and she left for an initial three month stint in Papua New Guinea - the suburb of Erinsborough a somewhat better place for Rosie's tenure as Reverend. Rosie later settled in Fiji, where her family, particularly granddaughter Summer, would regularly visit her.

Trivia Notes
• To read our interview with Maggie Millar, click here

Tenure
3958-4214

Magic Moments
Episode 3958: Rosie's Arrival
Episode 4214: Rosie's Departure

Biography by Moe

Back