Shirley Waldemar Baker (1836 – 16 November 1903) was a

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 ...

missionary in

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 ...

. He was the founder 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 ...

and enjoyed significant influence during the reign of

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 th ...

, who made him

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 is n ...

Early life

Baker was born in

London London is the capital and 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 down to the North Sea, and has been a major s ...

, England, to Jane (née Woolmer) and George Baker. He arrived in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a metrop ...

in 1852 during the

Victorian gold rush The Victorian gold rush was a period in the history of Victoria, Australia approximately between 1851 and the late 1860s. It led to a period of extreme prosperity for the Australian colony, and an influx of population growth and financial capita ...

, as a stowaway. He subsequently worked on the goldfields as a farmhand, miner and apothecary's assistant. In 1855, Baker became a teacher at a Wesleyan school in Castlemaine. He married Elizabeth Powell in 1859.

Tonga

In 1860, Baker was ordained as a Wesleyan minister and went to

as a missionary. He became head of the mission and was involved in the councils of King

, who made him his

in 1880. A disagreement arose with the Wesleyan authorities at

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountains ...

in 1879, and Baker founded an independent body under the title of the "

". Some of the natives, however, were loyal to their original church and much strong feeling was aroused, which resulted with an attempt to shoot Baker in 1887. He escaped unhurt, but his son and daughter were both wounded. Six Tongans were

executed Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...

for this crime, and many were deported to other islands. In 1888, the Rev. George Brown visited Tonga to inquire into the position and to endeavour to heal the breach between the two churches. He did not succeed, and his reports show that Baker was using his power to the disadvantage of those who were not adherents of the Free Church. In 1890, Sir John Bates Thurston visited Tonga and deported Baker at short notice 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 It ...

for being 'prejudicial to the peace and good order of the Western Pacific'.

Late life

Baker lived in Auckland for some years but suffered financial losses in the 1890s slump. Baker paid a short visit to Tonga in 1897, settled there again in 1900, and died there on 16 November 1903. His grave and monument still stand as a tourist attraction in Pangai on

Lifuka Lifuka is an island in the Kingdom of Tonga. It is located within the Haapai Group in the centre of the country, to northeast of the national capital of Nukualofa. It is the administrative centre of the Haapai group of islands with Pangai bein ...

Haʻapai Haʻapai is a group of islands, islets, reefs, and shoals in the central part of Tonga. It has a combined land area of . The Tongatapu island group lies to its south, and the Vavaʻu group lies to its north. Seventeen of the Haʻapai islands are ...

. Baker's side of the case may be found in Mennell's ''Dictionary of Australasian Biography'', published in 1892. An opposing view is in

Basil Thomson Sir Basil Home Thomson, (21 April 1861 – 26 March 1939) was a British colonial administrator and prison governor, who was head of Metropolitan Police CID during World War I. This gave him a key role in arresting wartime spies, and he was cl ...

's ''The Diversions of a Prime Minister'', pp. 3 to 25. R. L. Stevenson, who called Baker "the defamed and much-accused man of Tonga" found him "highly interesting to speak to" (Vailima Letters, p. 41).

Notes

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Baker, Shirley Waldemar 1836 births 1903 deaths Methodist missionaries in Tonga History of Tonga Prime Ministers of Tonga Tongan people of British descent People from Haʻapai English emigrants to colonial Australia Australian Methodist missionaries

Early life

Tonga

Late life

See also

Notes

References