John Patteson (bishop)
John Patteson | |
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Anglican Church of England | |
Feast | 20 September |
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John Coleridge Patteson (1 April 1827 – 20 September 1871) was an English
In 1861, Patteson was selected as the first Bishop of the Anglican Church of Melanesia. He was killed on Nukapu, one of the easternmost islands of the Solomon Islands, on 20 September 1871. Consequently, he is commemorated in the Church of England calendar on 20 September.[1]
Early life
He was the elder son of
Patteson studied there until 1845. From 1845 to 1848, he was a commoner of
.Having earlier played for the Eton school XI,
After taking his degree in October 1849, Patteson travelled in Switzerland and Italy, learned German at
Ordination
On 25 September 1853, he was ordained as
Missionary work
Patteson arrived at Auckland in May 1855. For five years, he toured the islands on the Southern Cross, visiting the indigenous peoples and teaching them about Christianity.[2] He ran the Melanesian Mission's summer school at Kohimarama, Auckland. He also founded St Barnabas College on Norfolk Island, as a training centre for missionaries.[8]
On 24 February 1861, at Auckland, he was consecrated the first
A brilliant linguist, Patteson eventually spoke 23 of the more than 1,000
Patteson's goal was to take boys from local communities, educate them in western Christian culture at his mission school, and return them to their villages to help lead the next generation. He had difficulty persuading local people to allow their young men to depart, sometimes for years, for this purpose. Patteson never tried to make the Melanesians British but thought he was equipping them for the contemporary world. His most brilliant scholar, Edward Wogala, wrote of him: "He did not live apart, he was always friends with us and did not despise in the least a single one of us."[This quote needs a citation] Well liked by many, his name is still handed down from father to son, and in 1961, young Melanesians were still being named for him at baptism.[10]
In March 1864, Patteson visited Australia. In Sydney, he addressed a large meeting of British colonists, who pledged systematic support of the Melanesian Mission. Patteson devoted his private fortune to the mission, including money inherited from his father, and income from his Merton College fellowship. In 1867, he moved the Melanesian Mission to Norfolk Island, where it was called Saint Barnabas. In that milder climate, the school could continue in the winter months. Native foods, such as yams, could be grown so the students would feel more at home.[7]
Death
The years of the slave trade in the late nineteenth century created problems for Patteson and other missionaries. Numerous merchantmen, known as "blackbirders", sailed to the islands to recruit, often by deception and force, labourers to work on plantations in Australia or Fiji, under extremely harsh conditions. Sometimes ship captains ordered crews to cut off the heads of resisters, selling the heads at other islands and entering into the headhunter cultures.[10] The slave-trade was technically illegal in the South Pacific at that time, and the traders called the natives indentured workers. Laws for their protection and return to their home islands were rarely enforced; the men were severely treated and many died; thousands of others were abandoned in the work islands.[11]
Patteson worked with the colonial government to suppress the blackbirders and their trade.[11] His task was made harder when traders from Australia began to visit the islands, keen to get men to go and work on their sugar plantations. Usually they kept the law and agreed proper terms of employment: but some simply kidnapped the islanders and carried them off in what became known as "snatch-snatch" boats.[9]
On 20 September 1871, Patteson was killed on the island of Nukapu in the Solomon Islands, where he had landed alone. At the time, it was thought that natives killed him as revenge for the abduction of five men by illegal blackbirders a few days before, who had also killed one man.[12] The 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica says that Patteson was taken for a blackbirder and killed, but the natives realised their mistake and treated his body with respect, as it was found floating at sea, placed in "a canoe, covered with a palm fibre matting, and a palm-branch in his hand".[13]
Two Norwegian historians (Thorgeir Kolshus and Even Hovdhaugen, 2010) have examined the evidence in light of current interpretations related to agency and meanings given by the indigenous people. They have reviewed mission documents, as well as oral histories collected by ethnographers. They suggest that women, especially Niuvai, the wife of the paramount chief, played a more prominent role in the events. They led resistance to having their sons taken away to the distant mission school. Kolshus and Hovdhaugen argue that the natives may not have completely distinguished between the blackbirders and the missionaries, as both took young people away from the communities.[12]
Alternatively, Kolshus and Hovdhaugen also suggest that Patteson had upset the local hierarchy by giving gifts without due regard for precedence, and by cultivating support among women in the community. This was contrary to
Legacy
As Bishop Patteson's death was associated with native resistance to the abuses of the blackbirders, the British government took measures to stamp out the slave trade in its Pacific territories.
Patteson is celebrated in Anglican churches for his saintly life and as a martyr; he is commemorated with a
On
Bishop Patteson is commemorated as the central figure in the stained glass window of the Seaman's Chapel of Lincoln Cathedral. He is also commemorated as the central figure of a stained glass window in St Mark's Church, Bromley, flanked by Bishops Samuel Ajayi Crowther and Vedanayagam Samuel Azariah.
References
- ^ "The Calendar". The Church of England. Retrieved 10 April 2021.
- ^ a b c "John Coleridge Patteson", Dictionary of New Zealand Biography
- ^ Miscellaneous matches played by John Patteson – CricketArchive. Retrieved 11 May 2015.
- ^ First-class matches played by John Patteson – CricketArchive. Retrieved 11 May 2015.
- ^ Oxford University v Cambridge University, University Match 1849 – CricketArchive. Retrieved 11 May 2015.
- ^ a b Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900. .
- ^ a b c Rutledge, Martha, "John Coleridge Patteson", Australian Dictionary of Biography
- ISBN 9781925022025.
- ^ a b c "The Story of John Coleridge Patteson", Ottery St. Mary Parish Church
- ^ a b c Fox, Rev. Dr. C.E., "On The Occasion Of The Centenary Of The Consecration Of Bishop John Coleridge Patteson", February 24, 1961
- ^ a b Kiefer, James, "Biographical Sketches of Memorable Christians of the Past"
- ^ S2CID 153548723.
- ^ Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 20 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 937.
- Launceston Examiner, 21 June 1873
- ISBN 978-1-64065-235-4.
- ^ "A New Picture of John Coleridge Patteson (1827–71)" (PDF). Newsletter. Merton College, Oxford. 2015. p. 14. Retrieved 19 September 2018.
- ^ Vanua Lava at Encyclopædia Britannica
- ^ "Bishop Patteson Theological College". Anglican Church of Melanesia. 5 February 2014. Retrieved 19 September 2018.
- ^ "Martyrs Pulpit". Exeter-cathedral.org.uk. Retrieved 6 December 2018.