James George Deck (1 November 1807 – 14 August 1884) was a
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
-born
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 ...
evangelist
Evangelist may refer to:
Religion
* Four Evangelists, the authors of the canonical Christian Gospels
* Evangelism, publicly preaching the Gospel with the intention of spreading the teachings of Jesus Christ
* Evangelist (Anglican Church), a c ...
.
Life
![James George Deck as a young man](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dd/James_George_Deck_as_a_young_man.jpg)
Deck was born in
Bury St Edmunds,
Suffolk,
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 ...
, to John Deck, a
postmaster, and Mary (''née'' Welch or Welsh).
His ancestors included
Huguenot
The Huguenots ( , also , ) were a religious group of French Protestants who held to the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, the Genevan burgomaster Be ...
s who left
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
before the revocation of the
Edict of Nantes
The Edict of Nantes () was signed in April 1598 by King Henry IV and granted the Calvinist Protestants of France, also known as Huguenots, substantial rights in the nation, which was in essence completely Catholic. In the edict, Henry aimed pr ...
in 1685.
Well-educated, he could speak fluent French and was literate in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin.
After receiving military training in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
at the age of 17 he joined the
British East India Company
The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and South ...
, and he purchased a military commission with the 14th Madras Infantry, where he served from 1824 to 1826.
After returning to England, Deck experienced an evangelical conversion and entered a private Anglican theological college, at
Westbury-on-Trym
Westbury on Trym is a suburb and council ward in the north of the City of Bristol, near the suburbs of Stoke Bishop, Westbury Park, Henleaze, Southmead and Henbury, in the southwest of England.
With a village atmosphere, the place is partly ...
. On 22 April 1829 he married Alicia Feild, the daughter of his tutor the Rev. Samuel Feild.
In India, he resigned his commission in 1835 for religious reasons, and returned to England, tutoring the sons of Indian Army officers.
Intending to enter the
Anglican ministry, he became involved with the
Plymouth Brethren instead; he was
baptised by full immersion and became an evangelist for the movement, preaching first in
Taunton
Taunton () is the county town of Somerset, England, with a 2011 population of 69,570. Its thousand-year history includes a 10th-century monastic foundation, Taunton Castle, which later became a priory. The Normans built a castle owned by the ...
and then in
Weymouth.
When the Bethesda controversy came to a head in 1848, the Brethren movement split into the
Exclusive Brethren
The Exclusive Brethren are a subset of the Christian evangelical movement generally described as the Plymouth Brethren. They are distinguished from the Open Brethren from whom they separated in 1848.
The Exclusive Brethren are now divided i ...
(led by
John Nelson Darby
John Nelson Darby (18 November 1800 – 29 April 1882) was an Anglo-Irish Bible teacher, one of the influential figures among the original Plymouth Brethren and the founder of the Exclusive Brethren. He is considered to be the father of moder ...
) and the
Open Brethren
The Open Brethren, sometimes called Christian Brethren, are a group of Evangelical Christian churches that arose in the late 1820s as part of the Assembly Movement within the Plymouth Brethren tradition. They originated in Ireland before spread ...
(led by
George Mueller). Deck unsuccessfully attempted reconciliation, and then after suffering a stroke and partial paralysis decided to emigrate to New Zealand.
With his wife and eight surviving children, he arrived in
Wellington
Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by metr ...
on 13 August 1853, and moving to 240 ha of land purchased at
Waiwhero,
Ngātīmoti
Ngātīmoti or Ngatimoti is a town near Motueka in New Zealand's South Island.
The town lies on the banks of the Motueka River and has been inhabited since 1855 when the Salisbury brothers arrived in the river valley. The local economy includes ...
, in
Nelson Province, joining other former Indian Army officers.
Only a few weeks later his wife Alicia died, and his 20-year-old daughter Mary began caring for the family.
In July 1855 Deck married Lewanna Atkinson, who bore five children before she and her youngest son died of measles in 1865.
On the first day of 1863 Deck founded the first "formal" Brethren assembly at Ngātīmoti, along with local families such as the Salisburys, although historian
Peter Lineham
Peter may refer to:
People
* List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name
* Peter (given name)
** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church
* Peter (surname), a sur ...
believes that there had already been an informal group meeting on Brethren lines in nearby Motueka for some time.
The Nelson Brethren Assemblies rapidly developed thereafter, and when the family moved to Wellington in 1865 Deck's preaching had such effect that more Assemblies were established. After five years he returned to
Motueka
Motueka is a town in the South Island of New Zealand, close to the mouth of the Motueka River on the western shore of Tasman Bay / Te Tai-o-Aorere. It is the second largest in the Tasman Region, with a population of as of
The surrounding ...
.
![James George Deck late in life](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a6/James_George_Deck_late_in_life.jpg)
Deck had kept little contact with British Brethren and was unwilling to import the Exclusive-Open schism from the United Kingdom. But in 1875 the news of the division that had occurred in England became known in New Zealand, and with visits by Exclusive Brethren leaders
George Wigram
George Vicesimus Wigram (28 March 1805 – 1 February 1879) was an English biblical scholar and theologian.
Early life
He was the 20th child (hence his middle name) of Sir Robert Wigram, 1st Baronet, a famous and wealthy merchant, and the 14th c ...
and John Nelson Darby the division was enforced, effectively splitting the Brethren movement in New Zealand almost a generation after the split had occurred in the British Isles. After Darby's visit Deck, perhaps reluctantly, sided with the Exclusive Brethren, but refused to isolate himself from assemblies that sided with the Open Brethren. According to Lineham, Deck has some claim to be the founder of both the Exclusive and Open Brethren in New Zealand.
Deck appears to have been emotionally affected by the schism, so much so that he ceased writing hymns, for which he is internationally known. He died on 14 August 1884 at Motueka.
Impact
Within 40 years of Deck's first Brethren meeting the 1900 census revealed that nearly 2% of the New Zealand population were Brethren.
The Brethren movement in New Zealand had an influence in New Zealand's rapid social development despite Deck's followers remaining outside of political institutions. One person brought up in the Motueka Assembly who left the Brethren and involved himself in politics was
Keith Holyoake
Sir Keith Jacka Holyoake, (; 11 February 1904 – 8 December 1983) was the 26th prime minister of New Zealand, serving for a brief period in 1957 and then from 1960 to 1972, and also the 13th governor-general of New Zealand, serving from 1977 ...
who went on to become a long serving
Prime Minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...
and then
Governor General
Governor-general (plural ''governors-general''), or governor general (plural ''governors general''), is the title of an office-holder. In the context of governors-general and former British colonies, governors-general are appointed as viceroy ...
.
Family
Deck had fourteen children, nine with Alicia and five with Lewanna. Twelve children survived childhood. After Lewenna's death, Mary again took over caring for the children, and with her sisters established a boarding school for girls at their family home in the Waiwhero Valley and later at "Sandridge", the home on Motueka's Thorp Street where James George Deck lived from around 1874 until his death. Deck's sons and descendants were involved in both "open" and "exclusive" assemblies. His son John, along with his wife Emily, helped found the
South Seas Evangelical Mission
The South Sea Evangelical Church (SSEC) is an evangelical, Pentecostal church in Solomon Islands. In total, 17% of the population of Solomon Islands adheres to the church, making it the third most common religious affiliation in the country behind ...
in
Australia in 1877.
References
Further reading
*Lineham, P. J. (1977). ''There we found Brethren.'' Palmerston North, NZ
{{DEFAULTSORT:Deck, James George
1807 births
1884 deaths
British East India Company Army officers
British Plymouth Brethren
New Zealand evangelical leaders
New Zealand evangelists
New Zealand Plymouth Brethren
Military personnel from Bury St Edmunds
English emigrants to New Zealand