PACIFIC MISSIONARY GEORGE BROWN 1835–1917 Wesleyan Methodist Church Margaret Reeson PACIFIC MISSIONARY GEORGE BROWN 1835–1917 Wesleyan Methodist Church Margaret Reeson Published by ANU E Press The Australian National University Canberra ACT 0200, Australia Email: [email protected] This title is also available online at http://epress.anu.edu.au National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry Author: Reeson, Margaret, 1938- Title: Pacific missionary George Brown 1835-1917 : Wesleyan Methodist Church / Margaret Reeson. ISBN: 9781921862977 (pbk.) 9781921862984 (ebook) Notes: Includes bibliographical references. Subjects: Brown, George, 1835-1917. Wesleyan Methodist Church--Missions--Oceania--History. Missionaries--England--Biography. Missionaries--Oceania--Biography. Oceania--History. Oceania--Description and travel. Dewey Number: 266.7195092 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher. Cover design and layout by ANU E Press Cover image: ‘George Brown with Gemu and Wongi, Roviana, Solomon Islands 1905’, by H.P.M.Berry, in George Brown D.D. Pioneer Missionary and Explorer: an Autobiography, London: Hodder and Stoughton 1908. Printed by Griffin Press This edition © 2013 ANU E Press Contents Illustrations . .vii Maps . viii Abbreviations . viii Acknowledgements . xi Prologue . xiii 1 . ‘The farthest place from England’ . 1 2 . ‘Alone yet not alone’ . 23 3 . ‘With aching hearts…’ . 39 4 . ‘A great waste of men and money’ . 51 5 . ‘We are all in God’s hands…’ . 67 6 . ‘I see no reason to die of fear’ . 81 7 . ‘If God had called me to that work Lydia dared not hinder’ . 95 8 . ‘A great sinking of heart’ . 107 9 . ‘I shall not be surprised to hear that many condemn’ . 117 10 . ‘A fearful mistake’ . 129 11 . ‘I wish I was twenty years younger’ . 149 12 . ‘A vagabond streak’ . 165 13 . ‘One of the toughest morsels’ . 179 14 . ‘The other end of the telescope’ . 193 15 . ‘A doubtful experiment’ . 209 16 . ‘Rev . Dr . Georgium Brown’ . 223 17. ‘Sanctified audacity’ . 235 18 . ‘Something of the vagabond’ . 253 19 . ‘The Venerable General Secretary’ . 271 20 . ‘Grand old man of Methodist Missions’ . 291 21 . ‘A creed wide enough’ . 305 22 . ‘Beloved chief and father’ . 317 Epilogue . 333 Bibliography . 339 v Illustrations Figure 1. George and Lydia Brown, wedding portrait, Sydney 21 1860 Figure 2. George Brown 1875 70 Figure 3. Lydia Brown 1875 71 Figure 4. Brown children 1875 86 Figure 5. Original Mission House, Kinawanua, Duke of York 99 Islands Figure 6. To Pulu and wives, Kinawanua 1880 100 Figure 7. Ratu Livai Volavola, George Brown, Aminio 113 Baledrokadroka in Fiji in 1905 Figure 8. Lydia Brown and women at Kabakada, New Britain 125 1880 Figure 9. Teachers and catechists of mission, Kabakada, New 126 Britain 1880 Figure 10. Lydia Brown at graves of her children, Kinawanua, 145 Duke of York Islands 1880 Figure 11. Men of colony of Marquis de Rays, Port Breton, New 152 Ireland 1880 Figure 12. Lydia Brown and women, New Ireland 1880 157 Figure 13. Group at Urukuk; Pacific Island teacher and wife with 160 Lydia and Geoffrey Brown 1880 Figure 14. Peni Lelei and his wife, Duke of York Islands 1880 166 Figure 15. George Brown with group of men on Woodlark Island/ 202 Murua 1890 Figure 16. Mission Team ready to leave for New Britain and 216 British New Guinea 1891 Figure 17. Brown family 1895 231 Figure 18. Rev. Heinrich and Johanna Fellmann, Sydney 1897 237 Figure 19. Lydia Brown with grandchildren 1901 259 Figure 20. Missionary party before departure for British New 262 Guinea, New Britain and Fiji in May 1901 Figure 21. Missionary party before departure for Fiji, Samoa, 266 New Britain and Solomon Islands 1902 Figure 22. Mission party on wharf before sailing for New 267 Georgia, Solomon Islands 1902 Figure 23. George Brown with Benjamin Danks, Taniela Lotu and 277 Ratu Niko Rabuku, Sydney 1904 vii Figure 24. George Brown with visiting deputation and members 282 of Fiji District Synod 1901 Figure 25. Lydia Brown 1906 289 Figure 26. Rev. Dr. George Brown 1905 306 Figure 27. New Britain District Synod, meeting at Raluana, New 314 Britain in 1913 Maps Map 1. Western Samoa 25 Map 2. Region of New Guinea, New Britain, New Ireland, 82 Bougainville, Solomon Islands Abbreviations ABM Australian Board of Missions CMS Church Missionary Society LMS London Missionary Society MOM Methodist Overseas Missions WMMS Wesleyan Methodist Missionary Society viii For my family ix Acknowledgements The help and advice of many people, in many places over many years, has been needed in order to weave this particular account of the lives of George and Lydia Brown from scattered threads. I am grateful for the box of documents relating to the Brown family which came to me from New Zealand, collected during the 1980s by George and Nancy Carter; that was the beginning. It has been a joy to meet and spend time with two great-grandchildren of the Browns, Nancy Joyce in Sydney and Julian Brown visiting from Canada, who shared family memories, photographs and personal archives. My great appreciation goes to those who introduced me to the places where the Browns lived; Mary Lowes in Barnard Castle, UK, Don and Bev Cullingford and Mr and Mrs Fred Gilbert in Raglan, New Zealand. Conversations and correspondence about the project with people with specialist knowledge of the Pacific region has been invaluable; I am grateful for the generous advice of John Garrett, Hank Nelson, Andrew Thornley, Geoff Cummins, Morven Sidal and Fred and Marcia Baker. Ulrich and Ursula Fellmann provided lovely hospitality in Aachen, Germany and material about his grandparents Heinrich and Johanna Fellmann. Heather Sweet, Helma Neumann and Carina Moeller graciously helped with translation from German documents. Ron Reeson, John Mavor, Val Bock and Helen Lehman read the manuscript in its raw and over- long form and gave helpful wisdom. Eric Mobbs provided invaluable computer advice. I am sad that several of the kind friends who have helped me have not lived to see the finished work. A number of institutions have been very helpful, through their staff. My great appreciation to the Mitchell Library, Sydney and the National Library of Australia, Canberra, where many documents relating to Brown are held; to Christine Gordon, Daryl Lightfoot and Moira Bryant through the Uniting Church in Australia Archives; to Patricia Egan of the Australian Museum, Sydney; to Peter Matthews and Isao Hayashi of the National Museum of Ethnology, Osaka, Japan. Carolyn Brewer of The Australian National University has given careful guidance toward a more professional result as copy editor, and the help of Duncan Beard at ANU E Press is also appreciated. My beloved family has borne my long engagement with George and Lydia Brown with patience, grace, encouragement and some teasing about its endless nature. To Ruth and Glen Powell, Jenni and Colin Hudson, David Reeson, Colette Neumann, Barry and Merle Higman and all the grandchildren, thank you. And of course to my husband Ron Reeson, who has supported me in every way, travelled with me and made this work possible though his gift of a lifetime of love. xi Prologue The sun has set. The colours of the ocean have dimmed from blue and jade glitter to a silky gleam by faint moonlight. Two stand at the ship’s rail. Below them a whale boat nudges the side of the vessel, loaded high with boxes and crates, everything they own. He has said all along that they don’t need it all. She has clung to her things, her last link with home. Nothing is familiar. The voices of the men in the whaleboat below speak a language they do not understand. They do not recognise the perfume that drifts from the land, of wild lime and vanilla. They have never seen the place that will become home and have only just met the man who will be their colleague. They barely know each other, this groom and his bride, and after three months of marriage are still learning to read the other. The ship’s captain has warned them. He is not willing to go any nearer to the island for fear of the reef and the rocky coast and as soon as they have climbed down into the whale boat he intends to set sail and be gone. Perhaps, for a wild moment, the girl thinks, I can’t do this – this small ship is not comfortable but it could carry me home. It is only for a moment. She is not really afraid. With her upbringing, if any girl can do this, she believes that she can. In the distance against a dark smudge of land there is a pinprick of lamplight. Another woman is waiting for them, longing for company, ready with food and a welcome. They have been told that it will take hours of rowing to reach her. The young husband is eager, excited to be so close to their destination. He clambers quickly down the ladder and drops into the whaleboat among the dark shapes of their cargo and the shadowy figures of the team of rowers. There is scarcely room for them to sit but he turns and reaches up to his bride who is edging backwards down the ladder, hampered by her long skirts. She jumps down into his arms. In the darkness, it is hard to tell which of them is supporting the other. xiii 1. ‘The farthest place from England’ North Island, New Zealand 1860 The young Englishman arrived unheralded. He had an urgent question. In the wintry dawn the family watched him gliding across the beaten copper waters of the wide Whaingaroa Harbour in a Māori canoe.