Frank William Boreham

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(3 March 1871,

Tunbridge Wells Royal Tunbridge Wells is a town in Kent, England, southeast of central London. It lies close to the border with East Sussex on the northern edge of the Weald, High Weald, whose sandstone geology is exemplified by the rock formation High Roc ...

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

– 18 May 1959,

Melbourne, Victoria Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung–Taungurung language, Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the St ...

) was a

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compete ...

preacher best known in

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, and

Life and career

Boreham's birth coincided with the end of the Franco-Prussian War. He could say in later life, "Salvoes of artillery and peals of bells echoed across Europe on the morning of my birth." He was one of 10 children. Boreham heard the great American preacher

Dwight L. Moody Dwight Lyman Moody (February 5, 1837 – December 26, 1899), also known as D. L. Moody, was an American evangelist and publisher connected with Keswickianism, who founded the Moody Church, Northfield School and Mount Hermon School in Massa ...

during his youth. On another occasion he was badly injured and spent considerable time in hospital recovering, nursed by a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

woman who widened his insight of

ecumenism Ecumenism (), also spelled oecumenism, is the concept and principle that Christians who belong to different Christian denominations should work together to develop closer relationships among their churches and promote Christian unity. The adjec ...

. Boreham became a Baptist preacher after conversion to

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

while working in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. He was probably the last student interviewed by

Charles Spurgeon Charles Haddon Spurgeon (19 June 1834 – 31 January 1892) was an English Particular Baptist preacher. Spurgeon remains highly influential among Christians of various denominations, among whom he is known as the "Prince of Preachers". He wa ...

for entry into his Pastor's College. After graduation, Boreham accepted a ministry at

Mosgiel Mosgiel (Māori: ''Te Konika o te Matamata'') is an urban satellite of Dunedin in Otago, New Zealand, fifteen kilometres west of the city's centre. Since the re-organisation of New Zealand local government in 1989 it has been inside the Dunedin ...

church,

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...

, New Zealand, in March 1895 and there began his prolific writings, initially for the local newspaper. He later was a pastor in

Hobart Hobart ( ; Nuennonne/Palawa kani: ''nipaluna'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Home to almost half of all Tasmanians, it is the least-populated Australian state capital city, and second-small ...

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

, and then on mainland Australia in Melbourne at Armadale and

Kew Kew () is a district in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Its population at the 2011 census was 11,436. Kew is the location of the Royal Botanic Gardens ("Kew Gardens"), now a World Heritage Site, which includes Kew Palace. Kew is a ...

. He notionally retired in 1928 at age 57, but continued to preach and write. During

Billy Graham William Franklin Graham Jr. (November 7, 1918 – February 21, 2018) was an American evangelist and an ordained Southern Baptist minister who became well known internationally in the late 1940s. He was a prominent evangelical Christi ...

's evangelistic campaign in Australia in early 1959 Graham sought out Boreham for a discussion, due in great part to Boreham's widely read and respected writings.

Published works

Boreham wrote some 3,000 editorials that appeared weekly in the ''

Hobart Mercury ''The'' ''Mercury'' is a daily newspaper, published in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia, by Davies Brothers Pty Ltd (DBL), a subsidiary of News Corp Australia, itself a subsidiary of News Corp. The weekend issues of the paper are called ''Mercury on ...

'' for 47 years between 1912 and 1959, and others in the ''

Melbourne Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory ...

''. He was calling on these works for yet another book, with one article for each day of the year, when he died. He published some 46 books with Epworth Press, the last ''The Tide Comes In'' in 1958, only months before his death. Many of these books received wide international acclaim. Most famous is his series of five books, published between 1920 and 1928, derived from the 125

sermon A sermon is a religious discourse or oration by a preacher, usually a member of clergy. Sermons address a scriptural, theological, or moral topic, usually expounding on a type of belief, law, or behavior within both past and present contexts. El ...

s on the theme "Texts that Made History": ''A Bunch of Everlastings'', ''A Handful of Stars'', ''A Casket of Cameos'', ''A Faggot of Torches'', and ''A Temple of Topaz''. *1891 ''Won to Glory'' (with foreword by F.B. Meyer) *1902 ''Loose Leaves'' (travelogue) *1903 ''From England to Mosgiel'' (travelogue) *1903 ''The Whisper of God'' (The Baptist Pulpit series) *1911 ''George Augustus Selwyn'' (biography) *1912 ''The Luggage of Life'' *1914 ''Mountains in the Mist'' *1915 ''The Golden Milestone'' *1915 ''Mushrooms on the Moor'' *1916 ''Faces in the Fire'' *1917 ''The Other Side of the Hill'' *1918 ''The Silver Shadow'' *1919 ''The Uttermost Star'' *1920 ''A Bunch of Everlastings'' *1920 ''A Reel of Rainbow'' *1921 ''The Home of the Echoes'' *1922 ''A Handful of Stars'' *1922 ''Shadows on the Wall'' *1923 ''Rubble and Roseleaves'' *1924 ''A Casket of Cameos'' *1924 ''Wisps of Wildfire'' *1925 ''The Crystal Pointers'' *1926 ''A Faggot of Torches'' *1926 ''A Tuft of Comet's Hair'' *1927 ''The Nest of Spears'' *1928 ''A Temple of Topaz'' *1928 ''The Fiery Crags'' *1929 ''The Three Half Moons'' *1930 ''The Blue Flame'' *1930 ''An Arch of Roses'' *1931 ''When the Swans Fly High'' *1932 ''A Witch's Brewing'' *1933 ''The bachelors of Mosgiel'' *1933 ''The Drums of Dawn'' *1934 ''The Ivory Spires'' *1935 ''The Heavenly Octave'' *1935 ''Ships of Pearl'' *1936 ''The Passing of John Broadbanks'' *1939 ''I Forgot to Say'' *1940 ''My Pilgrimage'' (autobiography) *1941 ''The Prodigal'' *1944 ''Boulevards of Paradise'' *1945 ''A Late Lark Singing'' *1948 ''Cliffs of Opal'' *1948 ''The Man Who Saved Gandhi'' (a short biography of J. J. Doke, republished in 2007 as ''Lover of Life'') *1950 ''The Little Palace Beautiful'' *1951 ''Arrows of Desire'' *1953 ''My Christmas Book'' *1954 ''Dreams at Sunset'' *1954 ''In Pastures Green'' *1955 ''The Gospel of Robinson Crusoe'' *1956 ''The Gospel of Uncle Tom's Cabin'' *1958 ''The Tide Comes In'' *1961 ''The Last Milestone'' Edited compilations: *''Second Thoughts'' *''The Chalice of Life'' In 2016, nearly 50 years after Boreham's death, John Broadbanks Publishing published two volumes of previously unpublished material: ''Nuggets of Romance'' and ''Slices of Infinity''. In addition, Pioneer Library and John Broadbanks Publishing are seeking to revive many of his out-of-print books.

Popular Culture

Steven James Steven James (born 1969) is the author of more than forty books, including the critically acclaimed Bowers Files, an eleven-book series of psychological thrillers that consists of ''Opening Moves'', ''Every Crooked Path'', ''Every Deadly Kiss'', ...

references Boreham several times in ''Synapse''.

References

External links

'The Dr. F.W. Boreham Tribute Site'
* ttp://jmm.aaa.net.au/articles/4636.htm 'So This is Boreham!' by Jeffrey S. Cranstonbr>Review of 'Lover of Life'

Electronic editions

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Boreham, Frank W 1871 births 1959 deaths 19th-century English Baptist ministers 20th-century Australian Baptist ministers Australian Baptist theologians Baptist writers British emigrants to Australia British expatriates in New Zealand New Zealand Baptist ministers Officers of the Order of the British Empire People from Mosgiel People from Royal Tunbridge Wells