James Egan Moulton (4 January 1841 – 9 May 1909) 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 Australian

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 and

headmaster A head master, head instructor, bureaucrat, headmistress, head, chancellor, principal or school director (sometimes another title is used) is the staff member of a school with the greatest responsibility for the management of the school. In som ...

and school president.

Early life

Moulton was born in

North Shields North Shields () is a town in the Borough of North Tyneside in Tyne and Wear, England. It is north-east of Newcastle upon Tyne and borders nearby Wallsend and Tynemouth. Since 1974, it has been in the North Tyneside borough of Tyne and Wea ...

Northumberland Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey. It is bordered by land ...

. Many members of his family were Methodist ministers and he attended the

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 ...

school Kingswood in Bath. In 1863 he was the founding headmaster 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 ...

while awaiting a posting to

Tonga Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in ...

. Before leaving, he married Emma Knight and they had three sons and three daughters together.

Tongan ministry

In Tonga he presided over the Methodist church and established Tupou College, patronised by

King George Tupou I George Tupou I (4 December 1797 – 18 February 1893), originally known as Tāufaʻāhau I, was the first king of modern Tonga. He adopted the name Siaosi (originally Jiaoji), the Tongan equivalent of '' George'', after King George III of the ...

. During his time in Tonga, a schism formed within the church leading to the creation of the

Free Church of Tonga The Free Church of Tonga ( Tongan: ''Siasi ʻo Tonga Tauʻatāina'') is a religious denomination of Methodist extraction in the Kingdom of Tonga. The Church was established in 1885 by King George Tupou I and his government at Lifuka, Ha'apai, as ...

. Throughout the dispute, Moulton managed to stay on good terms with the new movement. He translated several texts into Tongan, including Milton's Paradise Lost.

Australian ministry

Moulton returned to Sydney in 1893 and took up the presidency 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 ...

. In 1895, Moulton was the inaugural President of the Old Newingtonians' Union. During this time, he completed translating the Bible into Tongan, which is still in use today in Tonga. In 1896 the first Tongan students arrived at Newington. They appear in admission records with anglicised names as Moulton Finau, Saul Funaki, Tonga Latu, Charles Liu, John Otuhoume, Egan Tatafu and Tugi William Tuboulaki. The initial seven arrived at the beginning of the school year with Solo Ula arriving some time between April and June of that year.

Death

Moulton died, aged sixty-eight, in Lindfield and is buried in

Gore Hill Gore Hill is an urban locality on the Lower North Shore of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Gore Hill is located within the southern part of the suburb of Artarmon, and the north-west of the suburb of St Leonards. History It takes its na ...

cemetery.

References

External links

* * S. G. Claughton,
Moulton, James Egan (1841 - 1909)
, Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 5, MUP, 1974, pp 305–306.

Bibliography

* D. S. Macmillan, Newington College 1863-1963 (Syd, 1963) * P. L. Swain, Newington Across the Years 1863-1998 (Syd, 1999) {{DEFAULTSORT:Moulton, James Egan 1841 births 1909 deaths Australian Methodist ministers Australian headmasters Methodist theologians James Egan English theologians Translators of the Bible into Polynesian languages Staff of Newington College People educated at Kingswood School, Bath Old Newingtonians' Union presidents 19th-century Methodist ministers 20th-century Methodist ministers People from North Shields Australian expatriates in Tonga Burials at Gore Hill Cemetery Protestant ministers and clergy in Australia