Joseph Waterhouse (February 1828 – 29 April 1881) was an
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 ...
-born
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 ...
n
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 b ...
missionary
A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, 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.Tho ...
in
Fiji
Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...
. He is credited with having converted
Seru Epenisa Cakobau
Ratu Seru Epenisa Cakobau (; occasionally spelled ''Cacobau'' or phonetically ''Thakombau'') (c.1815 – 1 February 1883) was a Fijian Ratu and warlord ('' Vunivalu'') who united part of Fiji's warring tribes under his leadership, establishing ...
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 ...
Waterhouse was the ninth born child of the Methodist minister John Waterhouse and was born in
Halifax, Yorkshire
Halifax () is a minster and market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Calderdale in West Yorkshire, England. It is the commercial, cultural and administrative centre of the borough, and the headquarters of Calderdale Council. In the 15th cent ...
. He attended
Kingswood School
(''In The Right Way Quickly'')
, established =
, closed =
, type = Independent
, religious_affiliation = Methodist
, president =
, head_label = Headmaste ...
,
Bath
Bath may refer to:
* Bathing, immersion in a fluid
** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body
** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe
* Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities
Plac ...
from 1832 until 1836. The Waterhouse family migrated to Australia in 1839 where John Waterhouse became general superintendent of the Wesleyan Methodist Mission in Australia and Joseph attended St Andrew's Presbyterian school, Hobart. Waterhouse married Elizabeth (née Watson) on 26 March 1850.
Church career
Waterhouse joined the Methodist society at 14 and in 1849 joined the ministry as a missionary to Fiji where he served until 1857. After two years in Australia he returned to Fiji in 1859 as chairman of the district and while touring the islands campaigned against cession to
Britain
Britain most often refers to:
* The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands
* Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...
. After a period of ill health, Waterhouse left Fiji in 1864 and worked in
Tasmania
)
, nickname =
, image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdi ...
and
Victoria
Victoria most commonly refers to:
* Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia
* Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada
* Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory
* Victoria, Seychelle ...
. Following the annexation of Fiji to Britain, Waterhouse returned to the islands and led the Training Institution until 1878 when he returned to Australia. Waterhouse was drowned when the ''
SS Tararua
SS ''Tararua'' was a passenger steamer that struck the reef off Waipapa Point in the Catlins on 29 April 1881, and sank the next day, in the worst civilian shipping disaster in New Zealand's history.New Zealand Disasters – SS Tararua Shipwrec ...
'' was wrecked off the coast of
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 ...
and was survived by his wife and ten children.
Legacy
Waterhouse was a supporter of local teachers in Fiji and is said to have converted fierce cannibal
Seru Epenisa Cakobau
Ratu Seru Epenisa Cakobau (; occasionally spelled ''Cacobau'' or phonetically ''Thakombau'') (c.1815 – 1 February 1883) was a Fijian Ratu and warlord ('' Vunivalu'') who united part of Fiji's warring tribes under his leadership, establishing ...
, who as
Vunivalu of Bau
Turaga na Vunivalu na Tui Kaba is the Paramount Chief of the Kubuna Confederacy, loosely translated the title means ''Warlord of Bau'' or Root of War. The succession to the title does not follow primogeniture, but the candidate must be a high-r ...
(Paramount Chief of Bau) became
King of Fiji
The monarchy of Fiji arose in the nineteenth century, when native ruler Seru Epenisa Cakobau consolidated control of the Fijian Islands in 1871 and declared himself King or paramount chief of Fiji ( fj, Tui Viti). In 1874, he voluntarily ced ...
when he formed the first unified Fijian state in 1871.
Publication
* Vah-tah-ah - The Feejeean Princess (London, 1857)
* The Native Minister (London, 1858)
* The King and People of Fiji (London, 1866)
* The Ocean Child - Memoir of Mrs Anna M. Rooney (London, 1868)
References
;Sources
* J. Colwell (ed), A Century in the Pacific ' (Syd, 1914)
* S. Dunn, ''The Missionary of Australasia and Polynesia'' (Lond, 1842)
* G. J. Waterhouse (ed), ''A Brief Account of the Life and Activities of Rev. John Waterhouse'' (Syd, 1937)