John Williams (29 June 1796 – 20 November 1839) was an English
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 ...
, active in the
South Pacific.
Early life
He was born in
Tottenham
Tottenham () is a town in North London, England, within the London Borough of Haringey. It is located in the ceremonial county of Greater London. Tottenham is centred north-northeast of Charing Cross, bordering Edmonton to the north, Wal ...
, near
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
, to Welsh parents. In 1810 the family moved to north London and there he served as a clerk to an
iron foundry
A foundry is a factory that produces metal castings. Metals are cast into shapes by melting them into a liquid, pouring the metal into a mold, and removing the mold material after the metal has solidified as it cools. The most common metals pr ...
. He also took some interest in smithing. There his employer's wife first took him to church and he was immediately drawn to this, and the pastor, Rev Nathan Wilks, enrolled him in a class to prepare for the ministry. However, his heart quickly became set on missionary work.
In September 1816, the
London Missionary Society
The London Missionary Society was an interdenominational evangelical missionary society formed in England in 1795 at the instigation of Welsh Congregationalist minister Edward Williams. It was largely Reformed in outlook, with Congregational m ...
(LMS) commissioned him as a missionary in a service held at
Surrey Chapel, London.
South Pacific missionary
On 17 November 1816, John Williams and his wife, Mary Chawner Williams, set sail from London to voyage to the
Society Islands
The Society Islands (french: Îles de la Société, officially ''Archipel de la Société;'' ty, Tōtaiete mā) are an archipelago located in the South Pacific Ocean. Politically, they are part of French Polynesia, an overseas country of the ...
, a group of islands that included
Tahiti
Tahiti (; Tahitian ; ; previously also known as Otaheite) is the largest island of the Windward group of the Society Islands in French Polynesia. It is located in the central part of the Pacific Ocean and the nearest major landmass is Austra ...
, accompanied by
William Ellis and his wife. Travelling via Sydney in Australia they initially only reached as far as
Eimeo, west of Tahiti. He then spent at least 6 months there helping to build a boat before eventually reaching Tahiti in the autumn of 1817.
John and Mary established their first missionary post on the island of
Raiatea
Raiatea or Ra'iatea ( Tahitian: ''Ra‘iātea'') is the second largest of the Society Islands, after Tahiti, in French Polynesia. The island is widely regarded as the "centre" of the eastern islands in ancient Polynesia and it is likely that the ...
. From there, they visited a number of the Polynesian island chains, sometimes with Mr and Mrs Ellis and other London Missionary Society representatives. Landing on
Aitutaki in 1821, they used Tahitian converts to carry their message to the Cook islanders. One island in this group,
Rarotonga (Captain
John Dibbs
Captain John Dibbs (8 November 1790–1872) was a master mariner prominent during 1822–1835 in the seas around the colony of New South Wales, New Zealand and the Society Islands (now part of Tahiti). Dibbs was master of the colonial schooner ...
of the colonial schooner ''Endeavour'' in August 1823 was the first European to sight the islands, with Rev. Williams on board), rises out of the sea as jungle-covered mountains of orange soil ringed by coral reef and turquoise lagoon; Williams became fascinated by it. John and Mary had ten children, but only three survived to adulthood. The Williamses became the first missionary family to visit
Samoa
Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands ( Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands ( Manono and Apolima); ...
.
In 1827 Williams had heard of other heathen islands in the vicinity and in order to expand his ministry he built a ship from local materials, the ''
Messenger of Peace
''Messenger of Peace'' is a 1947 American drama film directed by Frank Strayer, which stars John Beal, Peggy Stewart, and Paul Guilfoyle. The screenplay was written by Glenn Tryon from an original story by Henry Rische. It was produced by the ...
'', in fifteen weeks. He set sail by November 1827 for the ''
Society Islands
The Society Islands (french: Îles de la Société, officially ''Archipel de la Société;'' ty, Tōtaiete mā) are an archipelago located in the South Pacific Ocean. Politically, they are part of French Polynesia, an overseas country of the ...
'', not returning till February 1828, when he then removed his family to
Raiatea
Raiatea or Ra'iatea ( Tahitian: ''Ra‘iātea'') is the second largest of the Society Islands, after Tahiti, in French Polynesia. The island is widely regarded as the "centre" of the eastern islands in ancient Polynesia and it is likely that the ...
.
John Williams arrived in Samoa in 1830, among his crew, a Samoan couple, Fauea and his wife Puaseisei, who joined them on their voyage and proved pivotal in the mission in Samoa. They set foot on the island of Savaii at Puaseisei's village of Safune, before arriving at Sapapalii on the 24th of August, 1830, to meet with Malietoa Vaiinuupo who had sole power over Samoa following the death of his rival Tamafaiga. Williams' meeting with Malietoa proved a success, as Malietoa accepted Christianity immediately.
The Williamses returned in 1834 to Britain, where John supervised the printing of his translation of the
New Testament
The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Chri ...
into the
Rarotongan language. They brought back a native of Samoa named Leota, who came to live as a Christian in London. At the end of his days, Leota was buried in
Abney Park Cemetery with a dignified headstone paid for by the London Missionary Society, recording his adventure from the South Seas island of his birth. Whilst back in London, John Williams published a ''"Narrative of Missionary Enterprises in the South Sea Islands"'', making a contribution to English understanding and popularity of the region, before returning to the Polynesian islands in 1837 on the ship ''Camden'' under the command of Captain
Robert Clark Morgan
Robert Clark Morgan (13 March 1798 – 23 September 1864) was an English sea captain, whaler, diarist, and, in later life, a missionary. He captained the '' Duke of York'', bringing the first settlers to South Australia in 1836. His life in the ...
.
Death
Most of the Williamses' missionary work, and their delivery of a cultural message, was very successful and they became famed in Congregational circles. However, in November 1839, while visiting a part of the
New Hebrides
New Hebrides, officially the New Hebrides Condominium (french: link=no, Condominium des Nouvelles-Hébrides, "Condominium of the New Hebrides") and named after the Hebrides Scottish archipelago, was the colonial name for the island group ...
where John Williams was unknown, he and fellow missionary James Harris were killed and eaten by
cannibal
Cannibalism is the act of consuming another individual of the same species as food. Cannibalism is a common ecological interaction in the animal kingdom and has been recorded in more than 1,500 species. Human cannibalism is well documented, bo ...
s on the island of
Erromango
Erromango is the fourth largest island in the Vanuatu archipelago. With a land area of it is the largest island in Tafea Province, the southernmost of Vanuatu's six administrative regions.
Name
The Exonym and endonym, endonym for Erromango in Er ...
during an attempt to bring them the Gospel.
A memorial stone was erected on the island of
Rarotonga in 1839 and is still there. Mrs. Williams died in June 1852. She is buried with their son Rev Samuel Tamatoa Williams, who was born in the New Hebrides, at the old Cedar Circle in London's
Abney Park Cemetery; the name of her husband and the record of his death were placed on the most prominent side of the stone monument.
John Williams' remains (bones) were shipped and are buried in Apia, Samoa. A monument was erected in front of the LMS church of Apia, and the six-storey headquarters of the Congregational Church of Samoa is named after John Williams, commemorating his work in the Samoan islands.
Legacy
The LMS successively operated
seven missionary ships in the Pacific which were named after John Williams. They were funded by donations from children. The first,
''John Williams'', was launched in 1844, and the last, ''John Williams VII'', was decommissioned in 1968.
In December 2009 descendants of John and Mary Williams travelled to Erromango to accept the apologies of descendants of the cannibals in a ceremony of reconciliation. To mark the occasion, Dillons Bay was renamed Williams Bay.
Notes
References
* French, James. 1888. ''Walks in Abney Park Cemetery.''
* Hiney, Tom. 2000. ''On the Missionary Trail: a journey through Polynesia, Asia and Africa with the London Missionary Society.''
* Prout, Ebenezer
''Memoirs of the Life of the Rev. John Williams, Missionary to Polynesia.''* Williams, John
''A Narrative of Missionary Enterprises in the South Sea Islands: With Remarks Upon the Natural History of the Islands, Origin, Traditions, and Usages of the Inhabitants'' George Baxter Publisher
{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, John
1796 births
1839 deaths
People from Tottenham
English Congregationalist missionaries
English evangelicals
Congregationalist missionaries in French Polynesia
Congregationalist missionaries in Samoa
Congregationalist missionaries in the Cook Islands
Congregationalist missionaries in Vanuatu
Foundrymen
British people murdered abroad
People murdered in Vanuatu
Translators of the Bible into Polynesian languages
19th-century Protestant martyrs
Cannibalised people
British expatriates in French Polynesia
British expatriates in Samoa
British expatriates in the Cook Islands
British expatriates in Vanuatu
British evangelicals
19th-century translators
Missionary linguists