London Missionary Society Research Articles

The Rev. Newell’s Dilemma: Responding to Lauaki’s Mau a Pule Movement

ABSTRACT The Samoan-led Mau movements have dominated Samoan historiography. Based on popularized narratives, the storyline suggests that other key groups, namely religious institutions, were merely spectators. A revisionist historical approach challenges the popularized narrative of the movements; precisely, the notion that the London Missionary Society (LMS) remained ‘neutral’. LMS missionary Rev. James Edward Newell was instrumental in quelling potential battles between the Mau a Pule movement of Lauaki Mamoe and German Governor Wilhelm Solf between 1908 and 1909. Newell felt tugged into a precarious position by three forces during the movement: as a senior LMS missionary, a trusted Samoan friend, and ‘loyal’ to the German administration. An examination of Newell’s letters, German correspondences, and secondary sources suggests that despite Newell’s dilemma, he committed himself to the message of peace. While at pains to admit it, he remained an agent of Governor Solf’s objective of quelling the movement.

Recognising a kaleidoscopic archive: working with London Missionary Society records in the geekosphere’

This article is an ultra-reflective account of an encounter with London Missionary Society (LMS) records through the Australian Joint Copying Project (AJCP) collections at the State Library of Victoria (SLV) and the home office as socially and materially informed research spaces. The genealogies of surrogate archives are little analysed, yet they have complex pasts worth investigating. As Jasmine Burns (JALSNA 33: 150–167, 2024), the librarian and metadata specialist explained, information about an archive’s ancestry is valuable as it illuminates the history and a pattern of use beyond the original author’s intent. The subsequent discussion shows how I inspect descriptive categories associated with the AJCP LMS microfilmed and digitised records in the custody of SLV, the London School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) and the National Library of Australia, (NLA) showing how meaning was layered onto these records. Extending on the social historian Arlette Farge’s analogy of the archive as a kaleidoscope, I demonstrate the introductory process by which a historian determines absences and presences in the archive and to what extent the initial imperial categories used by archivists and librarians informed my research practices. By analysing the history of the LMS AJCP collection, I demonstrate how these Australian-Pacific artefacts contain layers of knowledge about historical cultures and relationships. The different agendas and experiences of librarians, archivists, and historians—all curators of historical records –have revealed or obscured encounter narratives concerning European and indigenous men and women.

Women Education in Mysore State by Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar

ABSTRICT The mysore state one of the famous state which was developed the education systematically. The women education was well developed by the mysore none in the state till middle of 19th century , the beginnings were made by London Mission which was in 1840 established the first kannada school for girls. Very soon a girl’s school was opened by the Hindu at Bengaluru, for some time girls was obliged to study in boy’s schools, for want of separate institutions. Social prejudices were largely responsible for the slow growth of institutions, swhich numbered only 12 at the close of 1879-80. In the first year of the rendition, the maharani’s girls school at mysore was established, which remained under private management till 1891, when it was taken over by Government. It soon developed into a second grade college and was affiliated to the Madras University.

Translation, transmission and indigenization of Christianity in nineteenth-century China: south-to-north travel of the disguised San Zi Jing by Medhurst

The Chinese traditional educational primer San Zi Jing (三字经) was immensely appreciated by Western missionaries, who frequently leveraged it to spur Chinese-language learning or to decipher Chinese thought. Walter Henry Medhurst (1796–1857), affiliated with the London Missionary Society (LMS), translated and reconstructed biblical scriptures into the format and style of the Chinese-language San Zi Jing, henceforth referred to as the “disguised San Zi Jing” in this article. The disguised San Zi Jing was initially published in Batavia in 1823 and reprinted in several locations, occasionally with minor modifications to its content. First, this study examines the complex qualities of the original San Zi Jing, which made it an ideal translation target, and the unique natures of the disguised San Zi Jing, which served as the ultimate translation product. Second, referencing Edward Said’s traveling theory, a diachronic investigation finds that the disguised San Zi Jing traveled in four stages, from Nanyang to Lingnan to Jiangnan and finally across Pan-China (more regions of China). Last, the article examines the indigenization process of the disguised San Zi Jing in space and content over time and analyzes the power dynamics underlying indigenization. The study contributes to translation history studies as well as studies of Christianity in China.

Slikar Ivan Benković i hrvatska iseljenička zajednica u Sjedinjenim Američkim Državama od 1912. do 1918. godine

In the period from the 1880s to the end of World War I, several Croatian artists resided in the USA. In the 1880s, these included the Dubrovnik painters Vlaho Bukovac and Niko Zec, and in the early twentieth century, painters Bela Csikos Sesia, Robert Auer, and Oton Iveković, and sculptors Rudolf Valdec and Dujam Penić, as well as the lesser-known sculptors Pavao Kelečić Kufrin and Ivan Bulimbašić. With the exception of Oton Iveković, who painted the parish church of St John the Baptist in Kansas City in 1910, they did not significantly contribute to the cultural space of the Croatian diaspora during this period. The first Croatian artist who actively engaged with the diaspora was the painter and graphic artist Ivan Benković (Rečica, 1886 - Chicago, 1918), a member of the first generation of students at the newly founded future Academy, at that time the Temporary Higher School for Arts and Crafts in Zagreb. After receiving his diploma in 1911, he briefly stayed in Vienna and Paris before emigrating to New York in the spring of 1912. He then lived in Chicago from 1915 until his death. Most of his artworks and documentation, preserved in private archives, remained largely unknown to researchers until recently, and his life and work during his stay in the USA were almost completely unknown. From 1913, Benković closely cooperated with the Croatian Union in New York, the first major political organization of Croats in the USA. Upon moving to Chicago in 1915, he collaborated with the Croatian National Community, the Croatian Community of Illinois, and the Croatian Falcon in the west. During World War I, he supported the Yugoslav movement through his artistic work, cooperating with the Yugoslav Union and the Yugoslav Committee in London. Benković’s work on the design of Croatian-American printed matter included a variety of magazine covers, memorials, and diplomas, as well as the logotype of the most widespread Croatian-American daily newspaper, Hrvatski svijet, which was renamed Jugoslovenski svijet in 1917. He translated the contemporary aspirations towards national expression, incorporating reworked folk motifs from his homeland into the American environment. Through his artistic contributions to shaping the visual identity of Croatian-American printed matter and artworks with national themes combined with contemporary artistic solutions, he actively participated in constructing the cultural identity of emigrants during the continuous process of their positioning within “other” cultures. The role of culture and art is crucial in building a collective identity, especially during times of significant political upheaval, such as the years before and during World War I. Benković found himself at the right time in the position of a visual artist in America, acting as a “fighter for shaping national identity.” Until 1918, alongside Meštrović, who was renowned in America at that time due to the publication of his art in the Croatian-American press, Benković was the only prominent Croatian artist who successfully connected with the political efforts of the Croatian diaspora. Nevertheless, his oeuvre remained largely anonymous, limited to the Croatian community, which nearly forgot him after the disappointment with the developments in the Yugoslav situation after 1918.

Analisa Perumusan Konsep Ketuhanan Menurut Perspektif Thomas Beighton (1790-1844) Dalam Karya Inilah Kunci Pengempar (1841) Analysis of the Formulation of the Concept of Divinity from Thomas Beighton’s (1790-1844) Perspective in the Work Inilah Kunci Pengempar (1841)

Writing and printing are among the fields pioneered by the London Missionary Society (LMS) missionaries since their arrival in the Straits Settlements at the beginning of the 19th century AD. Thomas Beighton (1790-1844) was involved in this role, particularly within the Malay Muslim community of Penang. This required from Beighton, a mastery of the Malay language and Jawi script, which enabled him to produce a large number of works in that language. Therefore, this study which uses textual content analysis will concentrate on one of Beighton’s works dealing with the concept of divinity entitled, Inilah Kunci Pengempar (This is the Centrifugal’s Key), published in Penang in 1841. Through this work, Beighton has used a metaphysical approach in his writing to spread Christianity in the country. As a result, Beighton was discovered attempting to apply the concept of divinity based on the concept of trinity, which refers to God: the Father (Allah), Son of God (Jesus), and the Holy Spirit in all descriptions. This shows the efforts of the Christian missionaries at that time, who were enthusiastic about spreading the religion, including learning Arabic and comprehending certain concepts in both divine matters and Islamic law (the Shari‘ah).

A decolonial reading of the Third Chapter of the Gospel of John in Moffat’s Translation of the Catechism into Setswana (1826)

The Setswana language is one of the Southern African languages that was “reduced” into a written language through the translation of Christian literature by the London Missionary Society. The introduction of the Setswana spelling book in 1826 epitomised the vernacularisation and standardisation of Setswana. In 1826, Robert Moffat also translated the first Setswana catechism. Rev. William Brown’s Catechism served as a source text. He also added the third chapter of the Gospel of John and the Lord’s Prayer. This paper focuses on the second section of the 1826 Setswana catechism, namely the third chapter of John’s Gospel. It is argued that translation does not happen in a vacuum; rather, it also has the ideological intentions of the translator. Through the translated texts, Moffat performs a technology of power by eroding, dislocating, and disassociating the Batswana from their epistemic and spiritual heritage. The paper applies a decolonial lens to analyse the theme of conversion (metanoia) in the Gospel of John, as translated by Moffat.

Ranavalona I of Madagascar: African Jezebel or Patriot?

The conventional historical interpretation of the early nineteenth-century history of Madagascar is that it reflected two contrasting reigns, that of King Radama I (r. 1810–28), and that of his successor, Queen Ranavalona I (r. 1828–61). The dominant view of Radama is that he was an enlightened, progressive, and pro-European monarch who welcomed embassies from British-ruled Mauritius from 1816, signed a treaty of alliance with Britain in 1820, and within less than a decade banned slave exports, accepted a Resident British political agent at his court, encouraged a London Missionary Society mission in Madagascar, and with British military assistance quickly subjected the entire island to his rule. By contrast, Ranavalona, Radama's senior wife, was illiterate and, guided by superstition and ancestral beliefs, unpredictable and brutal. Upon Radama's untimely death in mid-1828, Ranavalona illicitly seized the throne, established a tyrannical administration, and pursued retrograde illiberal, xenophobic, and anti-Christian policies. This article critically examines the origins of the conventional interpretation of Ranavalona and argues for the rationality of core economic and military policies she adopted aimed at safeguarding Madagascar from European imperial domination.

Practical Christianity in Practice: Chinese Youth Culture and the Scouting Movement as Seen by British Missionaries at the Griffith John College, Hankou, 1915–1925

ABSTRACT This article, which highlights the religious origin of early Chinese scouting, scrutinises the connections between scouting, Christianity, and cultural exchange in early twentieth-century China. It provides insight into the history of Chinese youth by examining how British missionary scoutmasters, highly critical of Chinese parenting, introduced an alternate model of adolescence with a ‘civilising’ mission at Griffith John College – a mission school founded by the London Missionary Society in Hankou for Chinese male adolescents. This article contends that Chinese scouting was initially designed as an effective means to practice Christianity in evangelical ministries which equipped Chinese scouts with ‘fine virtues’ – elements that shaped them to become ‘good citizens’ and help them ‘overcome’ superstitious social customs. Apart from studying the role of scouting in China, this article also examines the effects of Christian missions on Chinese society in the cultural exchange influenced by the ‘civilising’ perspective that upheld by missionary scoutmasters. The cultural imperialism inherent in scout training hindered the development of a thorough Chinese citizenship at the national level. But the ways foreign evangelists educated their boy scouts did bring some positive impacts on Chinese youth culture, enlarging the scope of Christian missions to different possibilities and creative potential in cultural interaction between the colonisers and the colonised.

Students of the Anglo-Chinese College of Malacca, 1818–1843

Missionaries Robert Morrison and William Milne founded the Anglo-Chinese College (ACC) in 1818 in Malacca, and it continued to operate there until 1843, when it relocated to Hong Kong. As the first Protestant school for Chinese and Europeans in Asia founded by the first two missionaries to China from the London Missionary Society, it has attracted much interest in cross-disciplinary missiological and historical studies, in the West and in the East, then and now; though few focus on its students, often giving scant details. This article provides an overview of the three types of ACC students from these earliest years, highlighting some prominent ones, including Walter Henry Medhurst, James Legge, Leang Fah and Ho Tsun-sheen. Drawing on many primary and secondary sources, it explores the activities and lives of these people in school and after graduation, in the hope of gaining new insights into the roles they played in Sino-Western cultural exchanges, dissemination of Christianity, and development of parts of Asia in the nineteenth century.

Ying Wa boys in early colonial Hong Kong

AbstractPrevious studies of the Ying Wa College (英華書院) in early Hong Kong overlooked the role of the students. The scarcity of relevant sources could well justify such an oversight. This article aims at filling this gap through the careful use of London Missionary Society (LMS) materials. Not only does it aim to highlight significant aspects of the college, its unique history, its English education and its practice of Christian faith, it also discusses the careers of some graduates in Hong Kong, China and the world. This article argues that these Ying Wa boys formed a bridge that connected the Western and Chinese worlds. Their impact was felt through the spread of Christianity and global China business, on the one hand, and as a connection between the people and the government in colonial Hong Kong, Qing China and overseas Chinese communities in Singapore and Australia.

Childbirth and Emerging Missionary Information Networks in Britain and the South Pacific

This article explores how childbirth shaped the information networks that London Missionary Society missionaries helped develop between Britain and the South Pacific from the late eighteenth century. As Evangelical missionaries experienced challenging births in the South Pacific, they sought new forms of cultural knowledge, which they recorded in their reports to the society. Part of these knowledge networks included books on medicine and midwifery that the missionaries ordered from Britain. From the 1820s, moreover, some missionaries came to collate early forms of ethnographical and anthropological research on Pacific peoples, which examined indigenous ways of birth and postnatal care.

Biblical discourse as a technology of ‘othering’: A decolonial reading on the 1840 Moffat sermon at the Tabernacle, Moorfields, London

In his sermon to the directors of the London Missionary Society (LMS) in London in 1840, in ‘othering’ the Batswana (Africans), Moffat engages in biblical discourse. He uses biblical descriptions to ‘other’ them and the land they occupied. This article analyses the 1840 sermon by Moffat, and in it I will argue that through his sermon, Moffat engaged in biblical discourse and performed epistemic privilege in his exposition of the Batswana to his audience, namely the directors of the LMS. At the same time, he used biblical texts and imagery to create in the mind of his listeners an image of heathenism and uncivility. In doing so, I argue that he further located the Batswana within the realm of the ‘damnés’. In the article, I apply two analytical lenses, namely decoloniality and critical race theory, as hermeneutical tools.Contribution: It is argued in this article that in doing so, Moffat further located the Batswana within the realm of the damnés.

Sexual Health, Morality and the Missionary Press in Britain and the South Pacific, 1795–1850

Abstract This article explores the London Missionary Society’s textual production on the South Pacific in the first half of the nineteenth century and argues that sexuality was connected to moral and physical understandings of health in missionary texts. This was due to the nature of missionary and indigenous entanglements in the South Pacific and the era’s burgeoning medical print network. The discussion builds on current debates on mission and the cultural underpinnings of the British empire through showcasing the processes involved in the making of missionary texts and colonial knowledge production from the South Pacific.

Australia, Britain, and Alternatives to European Integration, 1960–73

From 1960 to 1973, opponents of Britain joining the European Economic Community (EEC) made an unsuccessful case for the “Commonwealth alternative” — a renewed program of economic, strategic, and political cooperation that would allow Britain to remain outside the Common Market. This article examines two of the leading proponents of this idea in Australian politics — the Liberal MP James Killen and Australia's High Commissioner in London from 1963 to 1972, Sir Alexander Downer — and examines how their arguments for cooperation among Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and the United Kingdom relate to the historical and contemporary opposition to European integration in Britain. It further considers how the idea of a Commonwealth alternative to the EEC conflicted with the changes to immigration policy that took place in Australia and the United Kingdom during the 1960s and early 1970s.

Diplomacy Before the Turkish Great Offensive: The London Mission of Ali Fethi Bey, the Interior Minister

Büyük Millet Meclisi hükümetinin Dâhiliye Vekili Ali Fethi (Okyar) Bey, 3 Temmuz 1922’de Avrupa’da tedavi görmek meclisten için iki aylık izne ayrılmış, bu süre zarfında İngiltere ve Fransa’nın Türkiye ve Yunanistan’a sunduğu Mart 1922 tarihli barış şartları üzerine İtalya, Fransa ve İngiltere’de müzakerelerde bulunmuştur. Roma ve Paris’in ardından 30 Temmuz 1922’de Londra’ya giden Fethi Bey, diğer ülkelerin aksine burada üst düzey görüşmelerde bulunamamıştır. Ağustos ayı boyunca Fethi Bey’in İngiltere Dışişleri Bakanı Lord Curzon’la müzakere talepleri çeşitli bahanelerle reddedilmiş, Fethi Bey ancak dış politikayı etkileme imkanı olmayan ikinci düzey yetkililerle görüşebilmiştir. Mevcut literatüre Fethi Bey’in Londra misyonunun başarısızlıkla sonuçlandığı ve bunun ardından Büyük Taarruz kararının alındığı kanısı hâkimdir. Oysaki Büyük Taarruz öncesi Mustafa Kemal Paşa’yla Fethi Bey arasında gerçekleşen görüşme ve yazışmalar farklı bir yoruma olanak sağlamaktadır. Fethi Bey’in anılarında belirttiği bu görüşmelere göre; azami gizlilik içerisinde yürütülen taarruz hazırlıklarında, İngiltere’nin durumun farkına varmasının geciktirilmesi büyük bir önem taşımaktadır ve Fethi Bey’in Londra misyonunun asıl hedefi budur. Fethi Bey’in Avrupa ziyareti, İtalya, Fansa ve İngiltere nezdinde barış görüşmeleri yapmaktan ziyade, bu kanıyı uyandırarak taarruz gerçekleşene kadar İngiltere’nin fiili bir müdahalesini önlemek ve milli mücadele lehine ve İngiltere hükümeti aleyhine kamuoyu oluşturmayı amaçlamaktadır. Bu çalışmada, Fethi Bey’in Büyük Taarruzdan hemen önce gerçekleşen Londra ziyareti taarruzun gizliliğini korumak için alınan tedbirlerden biri, bir diplomasi manevrası olarak ele alınmış ve Fethi Bey’in bu süre zarfında İngiliz hükümeti nezdindeki girişimleri ve Londra’da yürüttüğü kamuoyu oluşturma faaliyetleri incelenmiştir. Çalışmanın temel kaynağını Fethi Bey’in anıları ve İngiliz arşiv evrakı oluşturmaktadır.

Worlding the South: Nineteenth-century literary culture and the southern settler colonies.

In 1847, Pacific Islander Kiro arrived in London to help the London Missionary Society with a translation of the Bible into Cook Islands Māori. As Kiro disembarked from the missionary ship onto the West India Docks, his status suddenly changed from a fellow Christian and facilitator of the missionary efforts in the South Pacific to a potential thief, an object of surveillance and suspicion. Michelle Elleray’s chapter on Kiro’s experiences in Worlding the south: Nineteenth-century literary culture and the southern settler colonies challenges our orientation toward colonial and Indigenous identity. Kiro exposes the challenges in reading not only Christian Pacific Islander experience, but in the problem of framing and accessing such experiences through British sites and archives.

Caldwell's Educational Service on ‘Karisal Mann’ (Black Soil)

The Gurukul system of education was only available in a few places in ancient India. Christian missionaries transformed this condition, establishing the current educational system and bringing education to all people, regardless of caste, creed, colour, or social rank. Robert Caldwell, in particular, made significant contribution in providing education to the poor in South India throughout the nineteenth century. In Idayangudi, Tirunelveli, he undertook various reformatory activities in the areas of gospel, Tamil language, society, medicine, and education. Robert Caldwell was born in Antrim, Ireland, in 1814. He went to Glasgow University to study. He was an expert in English, Tamil, and Religious Texts, as well as art. He was fluent in Tamil, English, Greek, Telugu, and Sanskrit, among other languages. In 1841, he went to Tirunelveli's Idayangudi in South India as a missionary under the London Missionary Society. He revitalised the boy's school which was begun by Rev. Iranius. In 1842, Caldwell also founded the Girl's School. These schools taught subjects like Tamil, English, Geography, and History. He founded Anglo Vernacular Schools to teach English and Tamil letters to youngsters who did not know English. He established schools in places like Tharuvai, Ramanathapuram, Samugarengapuram, Kulasegaran Pattinam, Azhvar Thirunagari, Tuticorin, Arumangalam, Thenthiruperai, and Thatanpadam. Caldwell stayed in Idayangudi for more than 50 years, bringing about significant changes for the illiterate. Caldwell's legacy lives on in the hearts of the people and has fused with the Chernozem soil, as evidenced by educational institutions and researchers who have benefited from them.

Understanding the Church and Training from Which the Cook Islander Missionaries Brought the Christian Message to Papua New Guinea in the 1870s

ABSTRACT Seeking better understanding of the Rarotongan church, training institution, and mission background shaping Cook Islander missionaries to Papua New Guinea in the 1870s, this article surveys Pacific Islanders’ methodologies in establishing the Cook Islands Church, before focusing on 1867–77 when James and Jane Chalmers served as London Missionary Society (LMS) missionaries at Takamoa Institution, and Joseph Mullens steered LMS work globally. By exploring church and missionary interactions in church life, general education, the Takamoa Institution, relations with community leaders on societal issues, and on islands staffed solely by Cook Islanders, the article traces Chalmers's understanding of the gospel's missionary nature, of Cook Islanders’ competence controlling their own affairs, and of churches supporting local leaders for community independence. With Mullens's wholehearted support, Chalmers promoted such understanding for further mission and Pacific missionary training. The article concludes that during this decade, the Rarotonga church developed a legacy for future generations to embrace and sustain.

Beyond Shanghai

Before the 1858 Treaty of Tianjin the Chinese operations of the London Missionary Society’s Protestant missionaries were legally limited to five treaty ports. Yet Shanghai reports attest that the missionaries based there had already considerably expanded their influence over Jiangsu and Zhejiang by the mid 1850s. According to their own reports, they broke the rules established by the 1842 Treaty of Nanjing, and routinely traveled beyond the confines of Shanghai to spread the gospel and distribute bibles. They also opened outstations and staffed them with locals. The diaries of Wang Tao (1828–1897), who was an assistant during these years, provide many additional details on these undertakings, in particular with regard to the Chinese assistants. This paper consolidates the information available on the LMS missionaries’ itinerations beyond Shanghai before the Treaty of Tianjin and analyses how Wang Tao described his own involvement.