The Very Revd Gonville Aubie ffrench-Beytagh (26 January 1913 – 10 May 1991) was an
Anglican
Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...
priest who served as the
Dean
Dean may refer to:
People
* Dean (given name)
* Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin
* Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk
* Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean
Titles
* ...
of
Johannesburg
Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...
. He was also an
anti-apartheid activist and was held in solitary confinement before going on trial for his activism.
Childhood
Gonville ffrench-Beytagh was born on 26 January 1912 in
Shanghai
Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...
, China, the oldest son of Leo Michael ffrench-Beytagh, an Irish cotton company executive and Edith McIlraith nee Watson, an Englishwoman who was born in
Yokohama
is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of To ...
. His mother and father separated when Gonville was a young boy and his mother left for South Africa. His father handed over care of Gonville, together with his younger brother Michael and his younger sister Patricia, to Miss Esylt Newbery, a young female teacher who the family had met in Shanghai. She had no familial connection to the family and received a monthly retainer for several years. She took the children to England to be educated. Gonville attended
Monkton Combe School
(Thy Word is Truth)
, established =
, type = Public schoolIndependent schoolBoarding school
, founder = The Revd Francis Pocock
, head_label = Head Master
, head ...
near Bath from 1926 to 1927 and then
Bristol Grammar School
Bristol Grammar School (BGS) is a 4–18 mixed, independent day school in Bristol, England. It was founded in 1532 by Royal Charter for the teaching of 'good manners and literature', endowed by wealthy Bristol merchants Robert and Nicholas Thorn ...
from 1927 to 1928.
[Monkton Combe School archives] His experience of school chapel, Sunday school, confirmation classes and summer camps made him determined never to attend church again. Aged 17 he left England for New Zealand to learn agriculture at
Waitaki Boys' High School
Waitaki Boys' High School is a secondary school for boys located in the northern part of the town of Oamaru, Otago, New Zealand, with day and boarding facilities, and was founded in 1883. , it has a school roll of approximately 400 students.
The ...
. He was expelled from Waitaki for misbehaviour. After a time in casual labour, a chance encounter with a distant relative persuaded him to travel to South Africa in 1932, where his mother was now living.
South Africa
In South Africa he took odd jobs including an office job with
Toc H
Toc H (also TH) is an international Christian movement. The name is an abbreviation for Talbot House, "Toc" signifying the letter T in the signals spelling alphabet used by the British Army in World War I. A soldiers' rest and recreation centre ...
in Johannesburg. He was still an irreverent agnostic, but at Toc H he soon became friends with Jonathan Graham, a
religious brother
A religious brother is a member of a Christian religious institute or religious order who commits himself to following Christ in consecrated life of the Church, usually by the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. He is a layman, in the sense o ...
in the
Community of the Resurrection
The Community of the Resurrection (CR) is an Anglican religious community for men in England. It is based in Mirfield, West Yorkshire, and has 13 members as of February 2021. The community reflects Anglicanism in its broad nature and is strong ...
, Bishop
Geoffrey Clayton of Johannesburg later
Archbishop of Cape Town, and
Alan Paton
Alan Stewart Paton (11 January 1903 – 12 April 1988) was a South African writer and anti-apartheid activist. His works include the novels ''Cry, the Beloved Country'' and '' Too Late the Phalarope''.
Family
Paton was born in Pietermaritzbu ...
, author of ''
Cry the Beloved Country''. After a hospitalisation during which he was visited by Alan Paton he underwent a religious conversion on Christmas Eve in
St Mary's Cathedral, Johannesburg
Saint Mary's Cathedral, officially the Cathedral Church of Saint Mary the Virgin, is the cathedral of the Anglican Diocese of Johannesburg, South Africa. In late 2015 Xolani Dlwati was appointed as the dean until 27th of November 2022.
Histo ...
, where the dean had locked the door to keep drunken revellers from the Midnight Mass:
In 1936, aged 24 and a year after his conversion experience, ffrench-Beytagh was sent by Bishop Clayton to
St Paul's Theological College, Grahamstown He later recalled: Clayton urged him to persevere, and made him deacon in 1938 and ordained him priest in 1939.
Ministry
He served in a number of parishes in the then
Transvaal Province
The Province of the Transvaal ( af, Provinsie van Transvaal), commonly referred to as the Transvaal (; ), was a province of South Africa from 1910 until 1994, when a new constitution subdivided it following the end of apartheid. The name "Trans ...
, including
Springs and
St Boniface Church Germiston
St Boniface Church is the mother church of the Anglican parish of Germiston, Gauteng which also includes the chapelries of St Mary and St John in Lambton, and St Mark in Rosedeep. The parish is part of the Diocese of the Highveld, which is in ...
. In 1952, he was made a
canon
Canon or Canons may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* Canon (fiction), the conceptual material accepted as official in a fictional universe by its fan base
* Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture
** Western ca ...
of
St Mary's Cathedral, Johannesburg
Saint Mary's Cathedral, officially the Cathedral Church of Saint Mary the Virgin, is the cathedral of the Anglican Diocese of Johannesburg, South Africa. In late 2015 Xolani Dlwati was appointed as the dean until 27th of November 2022.
Histo ...
, and appointed priest-in-charge of St Alban's Mission for
coloured
Coloureds ( af, Kleurlinge or , ) refers to members of multiracial ethnic communities in Southern Africa who may have ancestry from more than one of the various populations inhabiting the region, including African, European, and Asian. South ...
people near Johannesburg. At an early stage in his ministry he not developed a political consciousness. At Saint Alban's, with his first true contacts outside white society, "the utter nonsensicality of racial discrimination really hit me." He grew increasingly disillusioned with the stealthy encroaches of apartheid. In 1953, he resigned his South African passport in protest at the passing of the
Bantu Education Act
The Bantu Education Act 1953 (Act No. 47 of 1953; later renamed the Black Education Act, 1953) was a South African segregation law that legislated for several aspects of the apartheid system. Its major provision enforced racially-separated educati ...
.
From 1954 to 1964 he was the Dean of the Cathedral of St Mary and All Saints in Salisbury (now
Harare
Harare (; formerly Salisbury ) is the capital and most populous city of Zimbabwe. The city proper has an area of 940 km2 (371 mi2) and a population of 2.12 million in the 2012 census and an estimated 3.12 million in its metropolitan ...
) in
Southern Rhodesia
Southern Rhodesia was a landlocked self-governing British Crown colony in southern Africa, established in 1923 and consisting of British South Africa Company (BSAC) territories lying south of the Zambezi River. The region was informally kn ...
(now
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...
). He brought the cathedral building near to completion, but his reputation as an outspoken preacher and an opponent of racism was gathering pace, making him one of the most controversial figures in
Ian Smith
Ian Douglas Smith (8 April 1919 – 20 November 2007) was a Rhodesian politician, farmer, and fighter pilot who served as Prime Minister of Rhodesia (known as Southern Rhodesia until October 1964 and now known as Zimbabwe) from 1964 to ...
's Rhodesia in the period preceding the
Unilateral Declaration of Independence
A unilateral declaration of independence (UDI) is a formal process leading to the establishment of a new state by a subnational entity which declares itself independent and sovereign without a formal agreement with the state which it is secedi ...
(UDI).
He returned to South Africa in 1965 as Dean of St Mary's Cathedral, Johannesburg, and
Archdeacon
An archdeacon is a senior clergy position in the Church of the East, Chaldean Catholic Church, Syriac Orthodox Church, Anglican Communion, St Thomas Christians, Eastern Orthodox churches and some other Christian denominations, above that o ...
of Johannesburg Central. There he found Alan Paton had his passport confiscated, and many white people he knew and trusted had been imprisoned or exiled for speaking out for freedom. He quickly became a prominent opponent of apartheid, condemning it as "blasphemous against God and man." ffrench-Beytagh campaigned against the continuing house arrest of
Helen Joseph
Helen Beatrice Joseph (''née'' Fennell) (8 April 1905 – 25 December 1992) was a South African anti-apartheid activist. Born in Sussex, England, Helen graduated with a degree in English from the University of London in 1927 and then departed ...
, a member of the cathedral congregation, first met
Winnie Mandela
Winnie Madikizela-Mandela (born Nomzamo Winifred Zanyiwe Madikizela; 26 September 1936 – 2 April 2018), also known as Winnie Mandela, was a South African anti-apartheid activist and politician, and the second wife of Nelson Mandela. She serv ...
, and opened his cathedral doors to black protesters chased up the cathedral steps by police beating them with
sjambok
The sjambok () or litupa is a heavy leather whip. It is traditionally made from an adult hippopotamus or rhinoceros hide, but is also commonly made out of plastic.
A strip of the animal's hide is cut and carved into a strip long, tapering from ...
s, police dogs snapping at their heels.
Anti-apartheid activism
In 1970, while, on leave in London, he arranged with
Canon John Collins
Canon or Canons may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* Canon (fiction), the conceptual material accepted as official in a fictional universe by its fan base
* Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture
** Western can ...
of
St Paul's Cathedral
St Paul's Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in London and is the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London. It is on Ludgate Hill at the highest point of the City of London and is a Grad ...
, chairman of the
International Defence and Aid Fund for Southern Africa (IDAF) and a leading figure in the
Anti-Apartheid Movement
The Anti-Apartheid Movement (AAM), was a British organisation that was at the centre of the international movement opposing the South African apartheid system and supporting South Africa's non-White population who were persecuted by the policie ...
, for the IDAF to send aid through Alison Norman, a mutual friend who ffrench-Beytagh met in
Harare
Harare (; formerly Salisbury ) is the capital and most populous city of Zimbabwe. The city proper has an area of 940 km2 (371 mi2) and a population of 2.12 million in the 2012 census and an estimated 3.12 million in its metropolitan ...
, to a humanitarian fund managed by ffrench-Beytagh, as the dean in Johannesburg to help black families in the
townships
A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries.
Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Ca ...
around Johannesburg. The money would buy food and children's clothes, pay rents and school fees, and help pay for prison visits, especially long journeys to places such as
Robben Island
Robben Island ( af, Robbeneiland) is an island in Table Bay, 6.9 kilometres (4.3 mi) west of the coast of Bloubergstrand, north of Cape Town, South Africa. It takes its name from the Dutch word for seals (''robben''), hence the Dutch/Afrik ...
.
Arrest and trial
He was being watched closely by the
Bureau of State Security
The Bureau for State Security ( af, Buro vir Staatsveiligheid; also known as the Bureau of State Security (BOSS)) was the main South African state intelligence agency from 1969 to 1980. A high-budget and secretive institution, it reported directly ...
(BOSS). He was arrested on 20 January 1971 and was held in solitary confinement and brutally interrogated.
At first, he was accused of furthering the unlawful activities of the
African National Congress
The African National Congress (ANC) is a Social democracy, social-democratic political party in Republic of South Africa, South Africa. A liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid, it has governed the country since 1994, when ...
(ANC) and the
South African Communist Party
The South African Communist Party (SACP) is a communist party in South Africa. It was founded in 1921 as the Communist Party of South Africa (CPSA), tactically dissolved itself in 1950 in the face of being declared illegal by the governing Na ...
, and of possessing their pamphlets. Alison Norman was named as a co-conspirator. During his detention, demonstrations and vigils were held throughout South Africa, and the cathedral bells and the bells of many suburban churches were chimed each day in protest.
On 2 August 1971 the trial of the Very Rev. Gonville Aubie ffrench-Beytagh began in the Pretoria Supreme Court before Justice
P. M. Cillié, ffrench-Beytagh was represented by Advocate
Sydney Kentridge
Sir Sydney Woolf Kentridge (born 5 November 1922) is a South African-born lawyer, judge and member of the Bar of England and Wales. He practised law in South Africa and the United Kingdom from the 1940s until his retirement in 2013. In South Af ...
. The main prosecution witness was Kenneth Jordaan, an informer placed by BOSS as one of the dean's altar servers and confidants. Jordaan claimed to have heard the dean inciting the
Black Sash
The Black Sash is a South African human rights organisation. It was founded in Johannesburg in 1955 as a non-violent resistance organisation for liberal white women.
Origins
The Black Sash was founded on 19 May 1955 by six middle-class white ...
to commit acts of violence against the state, and alleged the dean was involved in a conspiracy to overthrow the state by violence, saying revolution was justified under certain circumstances.
On 1 November 1971 ffrench-Beytagh was found guilty of 10 counts of subversive activity against the state.
On 14 April 1972 the appeal by ffrench-Beytagh against his conviction and sentence under the Terrorism Act, was upheld in the Appellate Division of the South African Supreme Court in Bloemfontein. The Dean thereupon left South Africa for London on the same day.
Final years
He found it difficult to get a parish in England; he did, however, accept a curacy at
St Matthew's, Westminster
St Matthew's Church, Westminster, is an Anglican church in Westminster, London. Located in the heart of the capital, close to the Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey and Church House, St Matthew's has been closely associated with the recovery ...
. He moved in 1974 to become rector of
St. Vedast-alias-Foster. This church in the City of London is a parish without resident parishioners, which gave ffrench-Beytagh space to concentrate on writing and spiritual direction. He retired from St Vedast's in Christmas 1986, and went to live with friends, including Alison Norman, in an informal community in Tower Hamlets. He died in the London Hospital in Mile End on 10 May 1991, almost twenty years after his forced exile from South Africa.
Publications
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See also
References
Notes
Citations
Sources
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External links
Letter from Gonville ffrench-Beytagh written on his conviction on terrorsim charges
{{DEFAULTSORT:ffrench-Beytagh, Gonville
1912 births
1991 deaths
Archdeacons of Johannesburg
Deans of Johannesburg
People educated at Monkton Combe School
People educated at Bristol Grammar School
People educated at Waitaki Boys' High School
20th-century South African Anglican priests
White South African anti-apartheid activists
Anglican anti-apartheid activists