Joseph Booth (missionary)
Joseph Booth | |
---|---|
Born | 1851 |
Died | 1932 (aged 80–81) |
Occupation | Missionary |
Joseph Booth (1851 in
Early career
Britain and Australia
Little is known of Booth's childhood, but his mother died when he was twelve and his three elder sisters brought him up. His father was a
In Nyasaland
Booth first came to Africa in 1892 with his two children, Edward (who died of malaria aged 19 in 1896) and Emily, and worked to establish the
Although he began a number of institutions some of which, including the Zambezi Industrial Mission, survive today as the missions or local churches in Malawi, other institutions he founded failed. After setting these institutions up, Booth usually did not remain with them for long, and their survival was due to their own efforts. The failure of the others was often caused by lack of finance, natural disasters or deficient personnel, factors Booth could not control. However, some institutional failures arose from Booth's weaknesses including his restlessness and his inability to compromise with any lack of commitment by his colleagues or the failures of society. By 1896 Booth's disagreements with his colleagues over finance, doctrine and especially African independence led to him ending of his associations with the Zambezi Industrial Mission and the Nyasa Industrial Mission.[6] In March 1896, Booth married his second wife, Annie née Watkins, during a short visit to Britain. She accompanied him to Central Africa, where their daughter, Mary Winifred, was born in 1898.[7]
Chilembwe and sabbatarianism
He made a trip to Britain and the United States in 1897, taking along his former household servant, John Chilembwe. Chilembwe stayed in Virginia to study as a Baptist pastor and later returned to Nyasaland where he founded the Providence Industrial Mission , following the model set by Booth's industrial missions,[8] and led the Chilembwe uprising in 1915. By 1898, Booth had become a convinced Sabbatarian, which became one of the guiding principles for the rest of his life, and he turned to the Seventh Day Baptists to support his missionary activities.[9] Booth returned to Central Africa in 1899 and established the Plainfield Industrial Mission in Thyolo District for the Seventh Day Baptists. This was named after the Plainfield Seventh Day Baptist Church in New Jersey which had funded it. In 1900 Booth succeeded in establishing a short-lived institute to produce African leaders for the Seventh Day Baptist Church. Two years later, the institute was discontinued, although Booth pointed out that the existing elementary schools could not produce African pastors, and the production of African church leaders was essential to promoting African development.[10]
Booth continued his pro-African efforts, producing a petition in 1899 to the commissioner Alfred Sharpe, which demanded that the whole protectorate should revert to African control in 21 years and that all of the Hut tax revenue should be spent on African education, including higher education for at least five percent of Africans. These views did not go over well with the colonial administration, and Sharpe tried to arrest and deport Booth for his "seditious remarks". Before this could happen, Booth escaped to Mozambique, remaining there until in 1900 Sharpe allowed Booth to return subject to a promise not to take part in political activities.[11]
This set-back prompted Booth to leave Nyasaland for
Leaving Nyasaland
Booth left Nyasaland for the last time in 1902, travelling first to Durban, which he left in February 1903, to travel to Britain. Booth was officially barred from returning to the Nyasaland in 1907.[13][14]
Later career
Changing denominations
Booth remained in Britain until late 1906, as the Adventists were unwilling to send him back to Africa and the
As Booth was banned from returning to Nyasaland, he went in 1907 to Cape Town, where he planned to train African evangelists to establish largely independent churches in their home areas that would be only loosely overseen by Booth and financed from America. Booth again met
Disciples in Nyasaland
Before his break with the Watch Tower Society, Booth had directed Kamwana to return to
Another disciple of Booth based in Nyasaland, Charles Domingo, who was educated at the
Booth predicted that by 1914 Europeans no longer would rule Africa, but that there would be democracy, African self-rule and unity with American Blacks. These teachings, his criticism of taxation, and the suspicion of Booth because his associate, Elliot Kamwana, had been arrested and deported from Nyasaland, led to his deportation from the Transvaal in mid-1909, although he was able to remain in the British-ruled parts of South Africa, living firstly in Cape Town and from 1914 in Basutoland where he was a Seventh-day Baptist missionary.[29]
Referring to Booth and his African associate Elliot Kamwana, a 1976 Watch Tower publication noted, "they never became Bible Students or Jehovah's Christian witnesses. Their relationship with the Watch Tower Society was short and superficial."[30] Booth's teachings included advocating for social change, in contradiction to the Watch Tower literature he distributed.[31] Particularly in the case of Booth, who had a three-year association with, was appointed as a missionary by and financed by, Watch Tower, these comments appears disingenuous and misleading.[32]
Deportation and later years
In 1915, Booth produced a British African Congress petition, demanding that educated Africans should have the same political rights as Europeans, and was again deported from South Africa in October 1915.
He was allowed to return to South Africa in 1919, to live in the house his younger daughter, Mary Winifred Booth Sales, had built some considerable distance from Cape Town, which discouraged him from any active involvement in African affairs. Booth's second wife died there in 1921, and he married his third wife, Lillian in May 1924 when he was 73 and she was about 49. Booth and his third wife later returned to England because of his ill health and because Booth's contacts with Africans were attracting the attention of the authorities.
Booth remained in England, suffering periodic illness, until he died on 4 November 1932 at the age of 82 at his home in
His elder daughters, Emily Booth Langworthy, would write in 1952 of their experiences in Africa in her memoir "This Africa was Mine".[35][36]
Bibliography
- H. Donati, (2011). "A Very Antagonistic Spirit': Elliot Kamwana: Christianity and the World in Nyasaland". The Society of Malawi Journal, Vol. 64, No. 1.
- K. Fiedler, (1994) The Story of Faith Missions, OCMS. ISBN 978-1-87034-518-7.
- K. E. Fields, (1985). Revival and Rebellion in Colonial Central Africa, Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-69109-409-0.
- O. J. M. Kalinga and C. A. Crosby, (2001). Historical Dictionary of Malawi, 3rd ed. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 0-8108-3481-2
- H. W. Langworthy III, (1986). "Joseph Booth, Prophet of Radical Change in Central and South Africa, 1891-1915," Journal of Religion in Africa, Vol. 16, 1.
- H. Langworthy, (1996), Africa for the African: The Life of Joseph Booth. Blantyre: CLAIM. ISBN 99908-16-03-4.
- K. P. Lohrentz (1971). "Joseph Booth, Charles Domingo, and the Seventh Day Baptists in Northern Nyasaland, 1910-12," The Journal of African History, Vol. 12, No. 3.
- R I. Rotberg, (1965). The Rise of Nationalism in Central Africa: The Making of Malawi and Zambia, 1873-1964. Cambridge (Mass), Harvard University Press.ISBN 0-8108-3481-2)
- G. Shepperson and T. Price, (1958). Independent African. John Chilembwe and the Origins, Setting and Significance of the Nyasaland Native Rising of 1915. Edinburgh University Press. ISBN 978-0-85224-002-1.
- D. Stuart-Mogg, (1998). The Grave of Joseph Booth, The Society of Malawi Journal, Vol. 51, No. 2, pp. 33–6.
References
- ^ Harry Langworthy ,(1996), "Africa for the African". The Life of Joseph Booth, pp. 20, 25.
- ^ H W Langworthy III, (1986). Joseph Booth, Prophet of Radical Change in Central and South Africa, 1891-1915, pp. 24-5.
- ^ R I Rotberg, (1965). The Rise of Nationalism in Central Africa: The Making of Malawi and Zambia, 1873-1964, p. 61.
- ^ K Fiedler, (1994). The Story of Faith Missions, p. 53.
- ^ H W Langworthy III, (1986). Joseph Booth, Prophet of Radical Change in Central and South Africa, 1891-1915, p. 26.
- ^ H W Langworthy III, (1986). Joseph Booth, Prophet of Radical Change in Central and South Africa, 1891-1915, p. 24.
- ^ Harry Langworthy ,(1996), "Africa for the African". The Life of Joseph Booth, p. 73.
- ^ G. Shepperson and T. Price, (1958). Independent African. John Chilembwe and the Origins, Setting and Significance of the Nyasaland Native Rising of 1915. Edinburgh University Press, pp. 171, 248.
- ^ Harry Langworthy ,(1996), "Africa for the African". The Life of Joseph Booth, p. 73.
- ^ H W Langworthy III, (1986). Joseph Booth, Prophet of Radical Change in Central and South Africa, 1891-1915, p. 27.
- ^ R I Rotberg, (1965). The Rise of Nationalism in Central Africa: The Making of Malawi and Zambia, 1873-1964, p. 64.
- ^ Spalding, Arthur Whitefield (1962). Origin and History of Seventh-Day Adventists (PDF). Vol. 4. Review and Herald Publishing Association.
- Tonga who had attended a mission school at Bandawebetween 1898 and 1901 until he left, frustrated in his repeated failed attempts to attain ordination.
- ^ R I Rotberg, (1965). The Rise of Nationalism in Central Africa: The Making of Malawi and Zambia, 1873-1964, pp. 65-6.
- ^ "Part 1—South Africa and Neighboring Territories", 1976 Yearbook of Jehovah's Witnesses, ©Watch Tower, page 71
- ^ "Malawi", 1999 Yearbook of Jehovah's Witnesses, ©Watch Tower, page 150-151
- ^ "Missionaries Push Worldwide Expansion", Jehovah's Witnesses - Proclaimers of God's Kingdom, ©1993 Watch Tower, page 521
- ^ "Part 1—South Africa and Neighboring Territories", 1976 Yearbook of Jehovah's Witnesses, ©Watch Tower, page 70-71
- ^ Donati, (2011). 'A Very Antagonistic Spirit': Elliot Kamwana: Christianity and the World in Nyasaland, the Society of Malawi Journal, Vol. 64, No. 1. p. 27
- ^ K P Lohrentz (1971). Joseph Booth, Charles Domingo, and the Seventh Day Baptists in Northern Nyasaland,1910-12, The Journal of African History, Vol. 12, No. 3, p. 465.
- ^ Harry Langworthy ,(1996), "Africa for the African". The Life of Joseph Booth, p. 218.
- ^ H W Langworthy III, (1986). Joseph Booth, Prophet of Radical Change in Central and South Africa, 1891-1915, p. 33.
- ^ K. Fields, (1985), Revival and Rebellion in Colonial Central Africa, Princeton .University Press, pp. 120-1.
- ^ R I Rotberg, (1965). The Rise of Nationalism in Central Africa: The Making of Malawi and Zambia, 1873-1964, p. 67
- ^ K P Lohrentz (1971). Joseph Booth, Charles Domingo, and the Seventh Day Baptists in Northern Nyasaland,1910-12, The Journal of African History, Vol. 12, No. 3, pp. 466-7.
- ^ "Part 1—South Africa and Neighboring Territories", 1976 Yearbook of Jehovah's Witnesses, ©Watch Tower, page 1761
- ^ K P Lohrentz (1971). Joseph Booth, Charles Domingo, and the Seventh Day Baptists in Northern Nyasaland,1910-12, The Journal of African History, Vol. 12, No. 3, pp. 467-8.
- ^ R I Rotberg, (1965). The Rise of Nationalism in Central Africa: The Making of Malawi and Zambia, 1873-1964, p. 81.
- ^ H W Langworthy III, (1986). Joseph Booth, Prophet of Radical Change in Central and South Africa, 1891-1915, pp. 33-4.
- ^ "Part 1—South Africa and Neighboring Territories", 1976 Yearbook of Jehovah's Witnesses, ©Watch Tower, page 73
- ^ "Part 1—Witnesses to the Most Distant Part of the Earth", Jehovah's Witnesses - Proclaimers of God's Kingdom, ©1993 Watch Tower, page 418
- ^ H W Langworthy III, (1986). Joseph Booth, Prophet of Radical Change in Central and South Africa, 1891-1915, pp. 33-4.
- ^ R I Rotberg, (1965). The Rise of Nationalism in Central Africa: The Making of Malawi and Zambia, 1873-1964, p. 72.
- ^ D Stuart-Mogg, (1998). The Grave of Joseph Booth, pp. 33-4.
- ^ Harry Langworthy ,(1996), "Africa for the African". The Life of Joseph Booth, p. 487.
- ^ H W Langworthy III, (1986). Joseph Booth, Prophet of Radical Change in Central and South Africa, 1891-1915, p. 41.