Joseph Horner Fletcher (1 October 1823 – 30 June 1890) was a

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greate ...

-born

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's ...

minister of

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

descent and was the founding Principal of

Wesley College, Auckland Wesley College is a secondary school in Paerata, at the northern edge of Pukekohe, Auckland Region, New Zealand. The school provides education from year 9 to 13. The school was founded by members of the Methodist Church in 1844, making it one ...

and the second President of

Newington College , motto_translation = To Faith Add Knowledge , location = Inner West and Lower North Shore of Sydney, New South Wales , country = Australia , coordinates = , pushpin_map = A ...

, Sydney. He was elected as first president of the NSW and Qld Wesleyan Methodist Conference and later as president of the General Conference of Australasia.

Early life

Fletcher was born in St Vincent,

Windward Islands french: Îles du Vent , image_name = , image_caption = ''Political'' Windward Islands. Clockwise: Dominica, Martinique, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Grenada. , image_alt = , locator_map = , location = Caribbean Sea No ...

, and was the eldest son of a

Wesleyan Wesleyan theology, otherwise known as Wesleyan– Arminian theology, or Methodist theology, is a theological tradition in Protestant Christianity based upon the ministry of the 18th-century evangelical reformer brothers John Wesley and Charle ...

missionary A missionary is a member of a religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Mi ...

. His mother was Mary Horner, daughter of another Wesleyan Minister. From 1830 until 1837 he attended first of all

Kingswood School (''In The Right Way Quickly'') , established = , closed = , type = Independent , religious_affiliation = Methodist , president = , head_label = Headmaste ...

, England, and then a school in Bath kept by his uncle, W. G. Horner, a former headmaster of Kingswood School. In 1842 he started a business before becoming a local preacher. He trained at Richmond College, Surrey, and in 1845 was ordained into the Wesleyan ministry. Three years later he married Kate Green.

Ministry

Fletcher was posted to

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about ...

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 ...

, and was the founding principal of Wesley College. Due to poor health he was forced to retire from Wesley and undertake circuit work. He was in Auckland and New Plymouth during the

New Zealand Wars The New Zealand Wars took place from 1845 to 1872 between the New Zealand colonial government and allied Māori on one side and Māori and Māori-allied settlers on the other. They were previously commonly referred to as the Land Wars or the ...

. In 1861, he moved to

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...

and in 1863 was appointed the first chairman of the

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...

Wesleyan District. In 1865 Fletcher succeeded John Manton as President of Newington College, Sydney. He saw Newington as providing a secular education with a Christian ethos and hoped to overcome sectarianism through education. Newington students were examined by outside academics at his instigation. Fletcher was a strong supporter of the education policies of

Henry Parkes Sir Henry Parkes, (27 May 1815 – 27 April 1896) was a colonial Australian politician and longest non-consecutive Premier of the Colony of New South Wales, the present-day state of New South Wales in the Commonwealth of Australia. He has ...

and opposed corporal punishment in schools. Under Fletcher Newington moved from Silverwater to the present campus at Stanmore. His work led to the creation of the Central Methodist Mission in Sydney. Fletcher was elected as the first president of the New South Wales and Queensland Wesleyan Methodist Conference in 1874 and again in 1884, when he was also president of the General Conference of the Australasian Wesleyan Methodist Church.

Sons

In 1892 Fletcher's eldest son, Joseph James Fletcher, edited a memorial edition of his Sermons, Addresses & Essays. His second son was William Horner Fletcher and his youngest child was Norman Vyner Fletcher.Ancestry.com
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fletcher, Joseph Horner 1823 births 1890 deaths Staff of Newington College Australian Methodist ministers People educated at Kingswood School, Bath Wesleyan Methodists Protestant ministers and clergy in Australia 19th-century Australian Methodist ministers