George Pritchard (1 August 1796 – 6 May 1883) was a British Christian missionary and diplomat. Pritchard was born in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

and studied at the mission seminary at

Gosport Gosport ( ) is a town and non-metropolitan borough on the south coast of Hampshire, South East England. At the 2011 Census, its population was 82,662. Gosport is situated on a peninsula on the western side of Portsmouth Harbour, opposite t ...

. In 1824 he travelled to the

Society Islands The Society Islands (french: Îles de la Société, officially ''Archipel de la Société;'' ty, Tōtaiete mā) are an archipelago located in the South Pacific Ocean. Politically, they are part of French Polynesia, an overseas country of the F ...

to undertake work for the

London Missionary Society The London Missionary Society was an interdenominational evangelical missionary society formed in England in 1795 at the instigation of Welsh Congregationalist minister Edward Williams. It was largely Reformed in outlook, with Congregational miss ...

. While there, he campaigned against rival French Catholic missionaries, leading the French to demand compensation and threaten to bombard Papeete. In 1837 he was appointed British consul at

Tahiti Tahiti (; Tahitian ; ; previously also known as Otaheite) is the largest island of the Windward group of the Society Islands in French Polynesia. It is located in the central part of the Pacific Ocean and the nearest major landmass is Austr ...

, advising Queen

Pōmare IV Pōmare IV (28 February 1813 – 17 September 1877), more properly ʻAimata Pōmare IV Vahine-o-Punuateraʻitua (otherwise known as ʻAimata – "eye-eater", after an old custom of the ruler to eat the eye of the defeated foe), was the Queen of ...

. The Islands were annexed by France in spite of his protests, in 1843. He was compelled to leave the islands in 1844 and returned to England. In 1845 he was appointed British consul at

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands (Manono Island, Manono an ...

, resigning in 1856 and subsequently living in retirement in England. In 1844 he published his memoir ''The Missionary's Reward: Or, the Success of the Gospel in the Pacific'', with a second printing in the year of publication.

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*
Pritchard, George (1796-1883), missionary and diplomatist
by Samuel Timmins rev. Jane Samson in

Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...

1796 births 1883 deaths People from Birmingham, West Midlands English Anglican missionaries Protestant missionaries in French Polynesia British diplomats British expatriates in French Polynesia British expatriates in Samoa {{christian-bio-stub

See also

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