Help find the Waratah ...

A ship, lost with all souls on board. A single survivor, driven to disembark after an ominous dream. 

One man, his passion to find the ship ignited half a lifetime ago. Three decades of exploration, coming closer to the goal. 

Now, new information comes to light, and a real chance to find the lost Waratah presents itself.

Read more about the fund-raising drive, at Project Deep Blue:
www.thundafund.com/deepblue

Also see www.facebook.com/WaratahFanClub?fref=ts

and www.waratahrevisited.blogspot.com

The cut-off point for the fund-raiser is 1 December. So far, response has been slow and the target is a long way off. Even small donations mount up! If you are a Waratah enthusiast, wouldn't it be wonderful to help find out at last where she lies?

Souvenir Saturday: Kwa Mondi Mission Station 1891

A historic photograph of Kwa Mondi church, Eshowe, Zululand, 1891.

The Congregation gathered outside Kwa Mondi Church with among others Rev. Ommund Oftebro and Mrs Guri Oftebro before 1893. Ommund Oftebro (1820-1893)..

According to a letter written by Ommund Oftebro July 24 1891 the new church bell tower in steel had just been erected. (Source Torstein Oftebro to NKH in 2005.)

Among the group are members of the Zululand Nongquai Police in uniform.

http://molegenealogy.blogspot.co.za/2012/09/september-2012-heritage-month-in-sa.html for recent photos of Fort Nongquai, HQ of the Nongquai Police

Missionary Chronology: South Africa

1737   Georg Schmidt Moravian Protestant pioneer missionary founds mission among 

           Khoikhoi

1744   Schmidt leaves for Europe after conflict with established Dutch Church      

1788   Certain Cape Christians devote time to slaves’ and Hottentots’ spiritual welfare 

1789   Rev H R van Lier gives sermon on necessity of preaching Gospel ‘to all creatures’

1791   Death of John Wesley, founder of Wesleyan Methodism, in Britain

1792   Moravian MS founded at Genadendal (Vale of Grace) Baviaanskloof

1795   First British Occupation of the Cape

1796   GMS and Scottish Missionary Societies formed

1799   LMS begins work in SA

1799   Dr J T Vanderkemp Dutch-born LMS missionary establishes MS at Bethelsdorp

1800   Mission work among Griqua in Little and Great Namaqualand

1801   William Anderson LMS founds MS at Aakaap and Klaarwater

           J M Kok and Wm Edwards to Dithakong with Daniell and others

1802   The traveller Borchers visits Edwards in the field

1803   Treaty of Amiens: Cape under Batavian Republic

1804   Erasmus Smith works among Khokhoi; in 1830s controversial minister to

           Voortrekkers – he married sister of Gerrit Maritz

1806   Second British Occupation of the Cape

           Effect of 1^st & 2^nd British Occupations – uncertainty for missions in-between

           LMS station at Warm Bath Great Namaqualand

1809   The traveller Burchell visits Klaarwater station

1808   Britain abolishes slave trade

1812   ‘The Black Circuit’: James Read protests against ill-treatment of Khoikhoi

           Rev John Campbell undertakes commission to visit SA stations

           ABM established

1813   Wesleyan Missionary Society formed in England

1816   Kuruman Mission founded northern Cape: missionaries Hamilton, Read etc

           Barnabas Shaw Wesleyan Methodist arrives in SA

           Lelifontein Mission to Nama people founded (Wesleyan)

1817   John Brownlee LMS arrives at the Cape on Alacrity; leaves the Society same year

1819   Dr John Philip and Rev John Campbell investigate state of LMS missions

           James Archbell Wesleyan starts at Rietfontein, later to

           Bechuana mission

1820   John Philip appointed Superintendant of LMS missions

           Wm Thomson, Glasgow Mission Society at Gwali later at Balfour in Kat River

           Settlement

           John Brownlee establishes Xhosa mission in Tyhume (or Chume) Valley

           SPG appoints W Wright to the mission work at Cape

1821   Robert Moffat, in Namaqualand from 1817, moves to Kuruman

           1822   William Threlfall Wesleyan arrives at Cape, works at Leliefontein

1823   Samuel Broadbent Methodist missionary at Leeudoringstad

           Wesleyan Methodists under William Shaw establish chain of MS

1824   Lovedale MS founded by GMS’s John Bennie and John Ross among the Ngqika     

           Moravians establish Shiloh north of Tyhume MS          

           BMS found MS at Dohne (Stutterheim)

           August: Shaka grants 35 miles of Natal’s coastline to Lieut Francis Farewell

1825   Capt. Allen Francis Gardiner visits Dingane in Zululand

           William Threlfall murdered in Great Namaqualand

1826   John Brownlee who rejoined LMS in 1825, founds MS on Buffalo River

           (King William’s Town)

           James Archbell, Wesleyan missionary, produces first Tswana grammar          

           Leopold Marquard first missionary of Dutch Reformed Church ordained – was

           already engaged in his work at Clanwilliam

1829   William Shaw visits Faku in May re mission to Amapondo

           Rhenish Mission Society sends missionaries on Charles Kerr

           Paris Evangelist Mission Society members arrive on same vessel with John Philip

1830   Wesleyan missionaries settle in Pondoland, Buntingville MS established.

           From 1830 Rhenish missionaries active in Western Cape and Namaqualand

1834   6^th Frontier War to 1835

           Berlin Missionary Society members arrive at Cape, found Bethany MS

1835   Six ABM missionaries arrive in Cape Town: Lindley, Wilson, Venable, Aldin

           Grout, Champion, Newton Adams – some to Ndebele people others to Natal

           Nov: 3 ABM missionaries travel to Natal taking Charles and James Brownlee sons

           of Rev John Brownlee as interpreters

1836   Start of the Great Trek

           Jakob Ludwig Döhne of BMS founds Bethel MS among Xhosa

           John Philip LMS takes Jan Tshatshu, a converted chief of the Ntinde, to England

           Both give evidence before Select Committee of House of Commons on Aborigines

           in British Settlements.

           Richard Birt becomes LMS missionary after hearing sermon by Jan Tshatshu in

           England

1837   April: whites at Natal, fearful of Dingane, fortify the port

           Americans working among Ndebele move to Natal: Henry Venable and Andrew

           Wilson establish MS at Hlangezwa near Dingane’s capital

           Francis Owen CMS arrives in Natal

1838   Feb: Massacre of Piet Retief and comrades

           March: ABM missionaries and Francis Owen leave Natal for Cape 

           July: Richard Birt of LMS sails for SA

           16 Dec: Battle of Blood River: Zulu power broken for a generation

1839   Adams and Lindley return to Natal; Lindley ministers to Voortrekkers

           Adams transfers from Umlazi to Amanzimtoti: founds Adams MS

           Richard Birt LMS at Umxelo

1840   March: Dingane killed

1841   David Livingstone to Kuruman MS, works with Robert Moffat and marries

           Moffat’s daughter Mary; later goes on explorations in Central Africa

1842   Conflict between British & Trekkers at Port Natal

           Hans Christian Knudsen of RMS arrives

1843   Berlin MS established at Emmaus Natal

           Natal annexed as a British colony

1844   Hans Paludan Smith Schreuder founds Norwegian mission in Zululand

1846   7^th Frontier War ‘War of the Axe’ to 1847

           Lovedale MS converted into a fort

           Jan Tshatshu  fought against the colony, took part in attack on Fort Peddie

1847   Lewis Grout (not related to Aldin Grout) of ABM founds station on Umsunduzi

           River Natal

           James Allison brings Christian Swazis to Natal, establishes Italeni then Edendale          

           Lindley ABM founds Inanda station Natal

           Adams to Amanzimtoti, founds Adams MS

           W C Holden begins independent mission among Zulus in Natal

1848   Richard Birt LMS founds Peelton MS named after Sir Robert Peel

           Ommund Oftebro of Norwegian Mission arrives in Zululand; also Larsen &

           Udland

1849   Dean Green builds Natal’s first Anglican Mission Church – in his own          

           garden

1850   8^th Frontier War ‘Mlanjeni War’ Battle of Boomah Pass 24 Dec

           Paris Evangelical Missionary Society operating eleven MS in Basutoland and

           north of Caledon River.

           ABM missionaries in SA include Adams, Aldin Grout, Lewis Grout, Bryant,

           McKinney, Rood, Marsh, Ireland, Abraham, Wilder, Tyler

           Bishop Gray (C of E) visits Natal

           11 separate missionary agencies operating in SA

1852   Jean Allard consecrates Pietermaritzburg’s first Roman Catholic Church; later

           works among Zulu and Basuto, also mission at Kimberley diamond fields

1853   End of 8^th Frontier War

           Refugees return to Peelton MS

           John William Colenso consecrated Anglican Bishop of Natal; undertakes       

           missionary work and education of Zulus

           3 Roman Catholic Vicariates established: Western under Griffith, Eastern under

           Devereux and Natal under Allard

1854   Sir George Grey becomes Governor of the Cape

           Hermannsburg founded by Hermannsburg Mission Society near Greytown

1855   Colenso brings 40 Anglican missionaries to Natal

1856   German Legion come to SA

1857   Great Xhosa cattle slaying, thousands die in resulting famine

           Tiyo Soga, Xhosa missionary and ex-Lovedale scholar, studies in

           Scotland, is ordained in Presbyterian Church; later returns to SA to work among

           Xhosa

           Mpande’s son Umkongo is placed at SPG MS Ekukanyeni for education

1858   Eli Wiggill Wesleyan Methodist missionary among Bechuana, converts to

           Mormonism

1859  Thomas Brockway missionary in charge of Peelton 1859-65, 1867-69, later to

          Madagascar

1860  Merensky & Grützner to work among the Swazis; later among Basuto & Bapedi

1861  Sir Philip Wodehouse succeeds Grey as Governor of the Cape

          Church at Mgwali, built by Tiyo Soga, opened on 23 July

          John Aitken Chalmers Presbyterian missionary at Mgwali later writes book on

          Soga

1864   Rev Dr Alexander Duff visits British Kaffraria; Convenor of Free Church of

           Scotland Mission Committee; pioneer of mission education

1865   John Colenso excommunicated after schism in Church of England in Natal

           S M Samuelson opens new SPG MS at St Paul’s near Kwamagwaza

1866   SPG rules that none of its missionaries should be subject to Colenso

1868   Tiyo Soga moves to Gcalekaland

1869   Zululand made a separate missionary Bishopric under Dr T E Wilkinson (to 1875)

1871   15 Nov Jubilee of Glasgow Missionary Society at Burnshill Kaffraria           

1874   Bishop Jolivet (Roman Catholic) succeeds Jean Allard in Natal Vicariate

1876   Otto Witt Swedish missionary arrives in Zululand

1877   Gcaleka war or Gaika rebellion to 1878

1879   Anglo-Zulu War (Isandlwana & Rorke’s Drift)

           George Smith SPG missionary vicar at Estcourt becomes chaplain to British

           forces; is present at battle of Rorke’s Drift

1880   Basuto War or Transkei rebellion to 1881

           Pinkerton of ABM to Gazaland, dies of fever 1883

1881   1st Anglo-Boer War (Majuba)

           Johannes Arndt founds Lutheran mission on Kimberley diamond fields

1882   Mariannhill Natal founded by Trappists (Roman Catholic)

           Schreuder of Church of Norway died; succeeded by Nils Astrup (ordained 1902)

1883   Salvation Army begins SA mission

           Bible translated into Zulu edited by SC Pixley of ABM

           Mariannhill promoted to Abbey status

1888   Jubilee of Peelton MS

1889   Church of Sweden Mission began mission work at Dundee Natal among mine

           workers

1892   SA Baptist Missionary Society founded

1893   H D Goodenough ABM starts work at Johannesburg, mission to mining area

           4 ABM missionaries to Mt Silinda, Eastern Rhodesia

1894   ABM at Chikore near Sabi River Rhodesia

1896   SA Compounds and Interior Mission to native labour on Witwatersrand goldfields

1899   2^nd Anglo-Boer War (Sieges of Ladysmith, Kimberley, Mafeking)

1903   Herero uprising disrupts missionary operations 

1906   Bambata Rebellion Natal

1910   Union of SA declared

           More than 30 missionary agencies operating in SA, 2000 missionaries; ratio of

           missionaries to native population: 1 to every 3,500

           World Missionary Conference, representatives of all Protestant missionary

           bodies assemble in Edinburgh

Missionary Oftebro and family

   

Abbreviations:

MS = Mission Station

LMS = London Missionary Society (Congregational)

CMS= Church Missionary Society (C of E)

BMS = Berlin Missionary Society

ABM = American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions

GMS = Glasgow Missionary Society (Presbyterian)

SPG = Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts (C of E)

Missionaries in South Africa: Selected Biographies

Missionary preaching

ADAMS Dr Newton (1804-1851) Medical missionary from Ohio county New York.  Sent to South Africa by the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABM), arriving with his wife Mrs Sarah C Adams in December 1834. Founded a mission station and school at Umlazi before founding the famous Adams Mission. i.

ALLARD Jean (1806-1889)

Roman Catholic missionary and first Vicar Apostolic of Natal 1851. Consecrated Pietermaritzburg’s first Roman Catholic church in 1852. Worked among Zulus from 1854. In 1862 founded first mission in Basutoland (Lesotho). 8 years later founded first mission on the Kimberley diamond fields.

ALLISON James (1804-1875)

Methodist missionary brought African Christians from Swaziland to settle at Indaleni, Natal 1847. Later an independent missionary at Edendale near Pietermaritzburg. 

ANDERSON, William (1769-1852)

London Missionary Society (LMS) missionary to the Cape in 1800. Settled among itinerant Griqua, Koranna and other groups beyond the Orange River, founded mission at Klaarwater.  He helped establish the settlement of Griquatown. Anderson worked for 30 years among the Khoikhoi in George district.

ARCHBELL James (1798-1866) 

Wesleyan. Initially worked among the Namaqua. Produced first Tswana grammar book 1826. Became Voortrekker minister at Thaba Nchu, OFS and in Natal. Founded the Natal Independent and General Advertiser 1850.  Was Pietermaritzburg’s mayor for five terms.

APPLEYARD John (1814-1874)

Wesleyan. Worked in King William’s Town area, established press at Mt Coke mission.

1846 published his Xhosa translation of New Testament. 1859 published Xhosa  translation of Old Testament. He married Sarah Ann, daughter of James Archbell, in 1841. [Pic]

ARBOUSSET Jean Thomas (1810-1877)

Missionary sent by Paris Evangelical Society 1833 to work among the Sotho; established rapport with Moshweshwe and had a significant influence on early Basutoland (now Lesotho). 1836 with Francois Daumas discovered the headwaters of the Caledon; named the Mont-aux-Sources (mountain of springs) in the Maluti Highlands.

ARNDT Johannes (1857-1931)

German missionary, established Lutheran mission on Kimberley diamond fields in 1881. Translated many religious works including Lutheran hymns into Tswana. During Anglo-Boer War 1899-1902 founded a relief organization for displaced Boer families.

ASTRUP Nils (1843-   )

Norwegian missionary came to Natal in 1883 and took over as Bishop of the Church of Norway Mission in Zululand, after death of Schreuder. Astrup was ordained as Bishop in the Cathedral of Trondheim in 1902. He walked to Gazaland and back in the three winter months of 1889. In 1891 he compiled a book on this remarkable journey, and in 1903 he published ‘The Aim of the Zulu Mission – the Heart of Africa’ (written in Norwegian). Astrup’s father was a Judge, and he himself served as an Assistant Judge in Norway from 1866-69 before he studied theology 1870-78.  He was then a rector of a Norwegian parish between 1879 and 1883. Five of his children were later involved in missionary work. [Pic]

BENNIE John (1796-1869)

Scottish-born missionary. The earliest Xhosa linguist. Became associated with the Glasgow Missionary Society (GMS) in 1816, cut short his studies and sailed to SA as a catechist in the ship Woodlark which brought supplies for 1820 Settlers.  Arriving in 1821 with W Ritchie Thomson, he brought with him a printing press. Joined John Brownlee and wife at Tyhume (Chume). Nov 1821 opened a school and started his study of Xhosa and Dutch. Ordained in 1831 by the first presbytery of Kaffraria and raised to full missionary status. In Nov 1824 with John Ross he founded Ncera, named Lovedale in 1826.  One of his four children  John Angell Bennie b 1885 became a missionary teacher at Lovedale. In 6^th Frontier War (1834-35) Tyhume and the ‘old’ Lovedale were destroyed.  Rebuilt in 1836 on the western bank of the Tyhume. Bennie moved on to Burnshill station in 1843.  From there he visited the emigrant Boers north of Vet River.7^th Frontier War (1846-47) forced him to move to Graaff–Reinet. Later served as a missionary in the Dutch Reformed Church.

BIRT Richard (1810-92)

LMS missionary at Mxele then at Peelton.

BROCKWAY, Thomas

Missionary at Peelton 1859-65, 1867-69

BROADBENT Samuel (1794-1867)

Yorkshire-born pioneer Wesleyan Methodist missionary and the first missionary to cross the Vaal River. Accepted into the ministry and at age 21 went to Ceylon. Arrived at the Cape 1820 and appointed to Rev Barnabas Shaw as an assistant to Rev Edward Edwards of Kamiesberg mission, Rietfontein, Namaqualand. He had instructions from LMS to form a station in the Bechuana country (Tswana).  He set out from Rietfontein (substation of Kamiesberg mission) in December 1821;on the 3^rd day he fell against his wagon while holding it on a steep ridge and sustained internal injuries. He went on to Griquatown where Rev H Helm of LMS received him. Here his wife gave birth to a son which lived  24 hours. Continuing tribal wars made founding the mission in Tswana territory impossible at that time and Broadbent went to Graaff Reinet where 6 months of careful nursing by Rev Abraham Faure of the NGK saved his life. Hodgson and Broadbent travelled to the Vaal in November 1822, crossing by raft, then east along the northern side of the Vaal where no missionary had been before; later established station at Maquassi. He mastered the Tswana language. On 1 July 1823 his son Lewis Broadbent was born: reputed to be the first white child born in the Transvaal, Lewis was later a missionary to India. Broadbent left Maquassi when he fell ill, and the station was destroyed but Hodgson returned there in August 1825 with Rev James Archbell and rebuilt the structure. Finally it was abandoned but the missionary work continued when the tribe migrated and settled elsewhere notably at Thaba Nchu.  Broadbent, still unwell, embarked for England in November 1825 and from 1827 until his retirement in 1863 he continued his mission in England where he died in the 52^nd year of his ministry.  He published ‘The missionary martyr of Namaqualand: memorials of the Rev Wm Threlfall, late Wesleyan missionary in South Africa who was murdered in Great Namaqualand’ (published London 1857). In 1865 he also published his own account of his SA experiences.

BROWNLEE John (1791-1871)

At first LMS missionary later with Glasgow Missionary Society.  Linguist and botanist.

Worked among Xhosa in Tyhume (Chumi) Valley from 1820, then moved to Buffalo River area of Eastern Cape.  Founded King William’s Town 1825.

His eldest son Charles Pacalt Brownlee was first Secretary for Native Affairs in the Cape and wrote ‘Reminiscences of Kafir Life and History’ published by the Lovedale Press in 1896.  (Recommended reading.)

BRYANT Alfred (1865-1953)

Roman Catholic missionary and scholar also known as Father Thomas. Worked among the Zulu. Remembered chiefly for his Zulu-English dictionary first published 1903 and his book ‘Olden Times in Zululand and Natal’ 1929.

BRYANT James C (d 1850)

ABM missionary came to SA with his wife Dolly in April 1846; the first American missionary to die on foreign soil; remembered for his pioneer translation of parts of the Bible into Zulu. He succumbed to consumption in 1850, having been in ill-health before reaching Natal. William Ireland took over from Bryant at Ifumi Mission, 35 miles south of Durban, and Bryant spent the last year of his life party at Msunduzi and partly at Inanda, where he died.

CALDERWOOD, Henry (1808-65)

LMS missionary, later Cape government official.

CALLAWAY Henry (1817-1890)

Anglican missionary in Natal. Wrote ‘The Religious System of the Amazulu’  published 1870.

CHALMERS John Aitken (1837-88)

Missionary at Mgwali, founded Henderson mission at Thomas River, pastor at Trinity Church Grahamstown. Best remembered for his book on Tiyo Soga (q.v.)

CHAMPION George (1809

ABM missionary came to Natal in December 1834 with his wife Susan. His journal was published as ‘Rev George Champion, pioneer missionary to the Zulus; sketch of his life and extracts from his journals, 1834-38’ (1896).

COLENSO John (1814-1883),

Arrived in Natal 1854; had an enormous impact on Church of England mission work in the area. Brought 40 missionaries from England; opened his own station at Ekukanyeni and shortly afterwards work was begun at Umlazi. Details of Colenso’s life appear in many published sources, his own writings include works in the Zulu language as well as doctrinal texts. His book ‘Ten Weeks in Natal’ (published 1855), expressing his views on polygamy, caused a stir. He became Bishop of Natal; was excommunicated by the Anglican Church in 1865. 

DÖHNE, Jakob Ludwig (1811-79)

Berlin Mission Society missionary at Bethel mission, later at Stutterheim. Was also associated with the ABM.  See further details on Dohne series on this blog

EDWARDS Mary K

Born in West Milton Ohio, a schoolteacher before marriage, at 38 she was widowed and volunteered for mission service in Africa. She was sent out to SA as first missionary of the Women’s Board of Missions, sailing in August 1868 to Port Elizabeth on a 375 ton vessel; the voyage took 79 days. In the same year she started work at the Inanda Seminary, oldest boarding school for Zulu girls in SA. Her active service covered over 56 years.  She returned home to America only once in that time, remaining in SA from 1876 onwards. After retirement age she continued to live at the school, exerting a considerable influence on the community in the area. Known as ‘Ma Edwards’ to the Zulus, it was only after the age of 70 that she relinquished supervision of the large school farm. At 80 she took a correspondence course in nursing so that she could instruct the Zulu girls. When later she became blind she learned to use a typewriter. A prime example of multi-tasking, her various occupations at Inanda over the years included principal, treasurer, doctor, cook, caterer, seamstress, gardener, matron and nurse.

GARDINER, Capt. Allen Francis (1794-1851)

Retired naval office turned missionary, built a Mission Station at Port Natal in 1834, naming it Berea. His daughter Julia died and was buried in Durban (Julia Road is named after her). Brought Rev Francis Owen of the Church Missionary Society to Natal. After the Retief massacre Gardiner left SA, and worked in Chile as well as New Guinea and eventually died of starvation in Patagonia.

GOODENOUGH, H D

ABM missionary came to SA with his wife Carrie in September 1881.

GROUT, Aldin (1803-1894)

Veteran missionary of the ABM. Father of Oriana, who married William Ireland (q.v.)

Grout was born in Massachusetts, US. Married Hannah Davis 1834; together with other ABM missionaries they sailed to SA, landing at Cape Town 5 February 1835. Hannah Grout died in Bethelsdorp 24 February 1836 and Grout took his daughter Oriana back to America the following year. While there he married Charlotte Bailey and the couple returned to SA in June 1840. His Mission Station at Ginani had been destroyed in his absence. In April 1841 Grout established a Station at Inkanyezi near Empangeni, and opened a school. There was a hiatus in his association with the ABM in 1844, and he worked in Natal as a Government Missionary for about a year before resuming his ABM position in 1845. He founded Umvoti Mission Station in 1846; a church was completed in 1863. This Mission was renamed the Groutville Mission Station after its founder in 1878. In failing health, Grout returned to the US in February 1890 after 35 years in Natal.   

  

GROUT, Lewis

American missionary; came to SA with his wife Lydia in October 1846. Note: not related to Aldin Grout. 1847 he opened a Mission Station at source of Msunduzi River, Natal.

HANCE Gertude R

ABM missionary came to SA July 1870, worked among the Zulus.

HARMS, Ludwig (1808-65)

Son of a Lutheran clergyman at Hermannsburg, Hanover.1849 established ‘Die Hermannsburger Mission’. First it was intended to establish a station and a colony of missionaries among the Gallas of East Africa but when this failed Natal was chosen as the site of their endeavours, Hermannsburg station being founded in 1854 east of Greytown in Umvoti County.

HOLDEN William Clifford

Mehodist missionary, opened first Methodist church in Durban in May 1850. Among various works, he wrote ‘History of the colony of Natal’ (1855) and ‘A Brief History of Methodism and of Methodist Missions in South Africa’ (1877).

IRELAND, William (1821-1888)

ABM missionary came to SA 1849 with his first wife Jane, nee Wilson. She died in 1862. He then went on leave of absence to America and while there married Oriana Relief Grout, daughter of Aldin Grout; Oriana had been born in Bethelsdorp. Her mother, Hannah Grout nee Davis, died of consumption in Cape Colony when Oriana was a few weeks old; the child grew up in America. Later Oriana returned to SA with her husband William Ireland who was principal of Adams College at Amanzimtoti from 1865-1881. Oriana ran the Ireland Home for Zulu Girls. They had 7 children, of whom 5 survived. Lilla Lacon Ireland their eldest daughter later worked at Adams and at Inanda. Their eldest son Rev William Fleetwood Ireland was ordained in the Congregational ministry in 1895.

LIEFELDT, L

Berlin Society missionary 

LINDLEY, Daniel (1801-1880)

ABM missionary came to SA in December 1834 with his wife Lucy; founded station at Mosega among Ndebele, later moved to Port Natal to work among the Zulu, but in 1839 became minister to the Voortrekkers. 1846 resumed work for ABM in Natal, founding Inanda Mission Station.

LLOYD Charles H

ABM missionary travelled to SA in June 1862 with his wife Katie.

MARSH, Samuel D

ABM missionary came to SA with his wife Mary, leaving US in October 1847.

MCKINNEY, Silas

ABM missionary travelled to SA with his wife Fanny in April 1847.

MOFFAT Robert

LMS missionary arrived at the Cape in 1817; worked among the Bechuana at Kuruman Mission Station for 50 years. Wrote ‘Missionary Labours and Scenes in South Africa’ (1842), and translated the Catechism as well as the New Testament into the Tswana language. His daughter Mary married David Livingstone, the missionary-explorer, who also worked at Kuruman before his travels in Central Africa. [Pic below this post]

OFTEBRO, Ommund (1820-1893)

Norwegian missionary arrived in Natal 1848. Worked at Eshowe Mission Station (i.e. Kwa Mondi, after Oftebro’s Zulu name, Mondi) where he died and was buried at the Norwegian Cemetery. His wife Guri b Hognestad 1816 died at Eshowe in 1899. They had four children. His son Martin was an interpreter present at the capture of Cetshwayo after the Battle of Ulundi during the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879.

OWEN Francis (1802-1854)

Missionary of the Church Missionary Society (Church of England). Travelled to Natal with Capt Allen Gardiner, and then to Zululand where he hoped to found a mission among Dingane’s people. Witnessed the massacre of Piet Retief and his companions in 1838 and left the area. His attempt to establish a mission among the Hurutse failed and he returned to England in 1840. His Diary, edited by G E Cory, was published by the Van Riebeeck Society in 1926. 

PEARSE Horatio (?-1825)

A Wesleyan stationed for eleven years in Pietermaritzburg; in poor health, he was about to return to England on leave when the wagon he was travelling in overturned; he later succumbed to his injuries. See book by Thornley Smith ‘The earnest missionary: a memoir of the Rev. Horatio Pearse’  (London Wesleyan Mission House, 1868)

PHILIP John (1777-1851)

With John Campbell sent to SA to report on state of LMS stations in SA and made four expeditions between 1818 and 1826; when the report was published in 1828 it caused much controversy.  Became Superintendant of LMS; resigned 1849.

PINKERTON Myron W

ABM missionary came to SA in August 1871 with his wife Laura.

PIXLEY, Stephen C

ABM missionary came to SA with his wife Louisa in October 1855.

POSSELT Carl Wilhelm (1815-1885)

Berlin Missionary in Natal 1847.

READ James (1777-1852)

Prominent member of LMS, worked among Khoikhoi

At the time his allegations of ill-treatment of the Khoi and oppression by whites were considered exaggerated. He and his son were alleged to have instigated the Khoi revolt during the 8^th Frontier War 1850-1853.

ROBBINS Elijah

ABM missionary came to SA in September 1859 with his wife Addie; worked in the American Zulu Mission.

ROOD David

ABM missionary arrived in SA 1847 accompanied by his wife Mrs Alvina V Rood; worked among the Zulus. On the death of Newton Adams 1851, Rood left Ifafa Mission Station to fill the gap left at Amanzimtoti. [Pic]

SCHMIDT Georg (1709-1785)

Pioneer Moravian missionary and first Protestant churchman to found mission for the Khoi at the Cape. His station was at Zoetmelksvlei beyond the Caledon River. The established Dutch recognized neither Schmidt’s ordination or his authority to baptise his converts so he closed the station and left for Europe in 1744.

SCHREUDER Hans Paludan Smith (1817-1882)

Norwegian missionary and Zulu linguist, founder of first Christian mission within Zululand.  Arrived Zululand 1843, Mpande refused him entry, Schreuder tried again in 1847, then went to China. There he also experienced rejection and he returned to Zululand; was able to establish rapport with Mpande by healing the king. Schreuder had medical knowledge and was adept at trades of blacksmith, carpenter and tailor. His physical strength became legendary and he is said to have strangled a leopard with his bare hands. Established stations at Mpumulo (1850), Empangeni (1851) and Entumeni (1852). Joined by Udland, Oftebro and Larsen.

SHAW, Barnabas

Wesleyan Methodist Missionary arrived SA 1816. Worked at Leliefontein station for 10 years.  See www.genealogyworld.net/ellen/barnabas.html for full narrative.

SHAW, William

Wesleyan clergyman who worked among the Albany Settlers.  From 1823, William Shaw was instrumental in establishment of chain of mission stations from Eastern Cape to Natal.  See www.genealogyworld.net/settlers/tessa.htm

SHEPSTONE, William (1796-1873)

Wesleyan missionary, father of Theophilus Shepstone. Worked at Wesleyville Mission. Theophilus Shepstone (1815-1893), later knighted, came to be associated with Anglican Church and was a supporter of Colenso during the years of schism in Natal. Theophilus’s brother was named John Wesley Shepstone (1827-1916).

SOGA Tiyo (c 1829-1871)

First South African black to be ordained as minister in the Presbyterian Church. Son of Jotello Soga of the Xhosa, a polygamist whose seventh wife was the mother of nine children of whom Tiyo was the seventh. His mother was a converted Christian and sent Tiyo to the local mission school; he subsequently attended Lovedale and when his education was interrupted by the frontier wars was taken to Scotland in 1846 for religious instruction. In 1848 he returned to South Africa to assist in establishing a Mission Station but when the 8^th Frontier War broke out Tiyo went back to Scotland, where he was ordained in December 1856. He married a Scottish yarn winder, Janet Burnside, at Govan in February 1857 and returned to South Africa to found a Mission Station at Tuturu.  He translated the Gospels into Xhosa as well as part of ‘Pilgrim’s Progress’; his son John Henderson Soga (1860-1941), also a missionary, completed this translation. Tiyo Soga served on the board which revised the Xhosa Bible. Of his seven children, the eldest, William Anderson Soga, attended Glasgow University and became a medical missionary; William married Mary Agnes Meikle in 1885 and established the Miller Mission in Transkei where he worked until 1903. John Henderson Soga trained for the ministry in Edinburgh, qualifying in 1893 and returned to South Africa to establish a mission at Mbonga. Tiyo’s son Jotello Testiri Soga (1856-1906) was the first South African-born black veterinary surgeon, and after he qualified in 1886 returned to South Africa where he did research on animal diseases in the Eastern Cape border region; Jotello Testiri Soga is said to have died of an overdose of laudanum in 1906. Tiyo Soga was only 52 when he died in August 1871. John A  Chalmers wrote the story of Tiyo Soga’s life ‘Tiyo Soga: A Page of South African Mission Work’ published in Edinburgh 1877.  [Pic]

SMITH George (1845-1918)

Norfolk-born, Smith came to Natal in 1871 as missionary for the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts (SPG); ordained in the Anglican Church by Bishop McCrorie of Pietermaritzburg; became Vicar of Estcourt, Natal. As minister of St John’s Church, Weston, he conducted burial services for those killed at Bushman’s River Pass during the Langalibalele Rebellion 1873; later chaplain to the British Army during the Anglo-Zulu War, he was present at the Defence of Rorke’s Drift, where he dispensed ammunition while encouraging the troops. He is depicted as a central figure in Alphonse de Neuville’s well-known painting of the battle. 

STOTT Ralph

Methodist missionary to Indians in Natal 1862.

THOMSON William Ritchie  (1794-1891)

Glasgow missionary stationed in Kat River Settlement from 1830 with a congregation which joined the Dutch Reformed Church in 1832.

THRELFALL William (? – 1825)

Wesleyan missionary murdered by his Bushman guide in Namaqualand 1825.  His story is told in Samuel Broadbent’s book ‘The missionary martyr of Namaqualand: memorials of the Rev Wm Threlfall, late Wesleyan missionary in South Africa who was murdered in Great Namaqualand’ (published in London 1857). See detailed bio on this blog

TYLER Josiah

ABM missionary came to SA with his wife Susan in April 1849. Published ‘Forty Years among the Zulus’ (1891), covering missionary life from 1849-1888.

VAN DER KEMP Johannes 1747-1811

Dutch-born missionary sent by LMS to work among Xhosa ruled by Ngika near King William’s Town.  Printed first work published in book form in SA (a letter from the LMS to inhabitants of the Cape 1799). Founded a settlement for vagrant Khoi at Bethelsdorp and provoked resentment among local white farmers. He retaliated with accusations of ill-treatment of blacks by farmers and was recalled to Cape Town by the colonial government. He died soon afterwards. Van der Kemp married the daughter of a slave woman from Madagascar.

VENABLE, Henry I (1811-1878)

ABM missionary came to SA in 1835 with his wife Martha in the company of Aldin Grout, Adams, Wilson etc.

WATERSTON Jane (1843-1932)

Scottish medical missionary came to SA to be principal of a girls’ school in Lovedale (Ciskei). The first woman doctor to practice in SA. In 1888 gained her MD with distinction from the University of Brussels. 

WIGGILL Eli

A Wesleyan Methodist who preached to the Bechuana and Koranna peoples, Wiggill converted to Mormonism and finally left SA for Utah.

www.olsenfamily.us/Powellfami/WiggilBentley/EliWiggill.html

WILDER, George

ABM missionary came to SA in October 1880 with his wife Alice.

WILDER Hyman A

ABM missionary came to SA April 1849 with his wife Abby.

WILSON, Alexander (1803-41)

Missionary of the first ABM party to SA leaving US in December 1834 and arriving 3 December 1835; travelled with his wife Mary who died before her husband reached Natal; on her deathbed she said: ‘Tell my mother and sister and friends that I have never regretted coming to Africa.’ Wilson was a physician by profession. 

WITT, Otto

First missionary to represent the Church of Sweden Mission in SA, arriving 1876.  For a time connected with Schreuder’s mission. The Swedish Church purchased a farm near the border of Zululand and a mission was established there, named Oscarsberg in honour of the Swedish King. This is where Witt was stationed at the time of the Anglo-Zulu War 1879.

Robert Moffat