Wellington Valley Mission was a

Church Missionary Society The Church Mission Society (CMS), formerly known as the Church Missionary Society, is a British mission society working with the Christians around the world. Founded in 1799, CMS has attracted over nine thousand men and women to serve as mission ...

(CMS)

mission Mission (from Latin ''missio'' "the act of sending out") may refer to: Organised activities Religion *Christian mission, an organized effort to spread Christianity *Mission (LDS Church), an administrative area of The Church of Jesus Christ of ...

near to

Wellington, New South Wales Wellington is a city in the Central Western Slopes region of New South Wales, Australia, located at the junction of the Wambuul Macquarie and Bell Rivers. It is within the local government area of Dubbo Regional Council. The city is northwest o ...

and one of the earliest to "Civilize and Christianize" Aboriginal people in Australia. It was founded in 1830 and closed 12 years later in 1842. The CMS established the mission in 1832 with Rev. William Watson and Rev. Johann Simon Christian Handt as the missionaries. They were granted and £500 per annum to run the mission. A drought in the early days made it almost impossible to provide enough food for the mission. On Saturday 2 March 1833 Watson recorded the following in his journal. "Our men attempted to plow ic but broke the coulter

lade Lade may refer to: People * Brendon Lade (born 1976), an Australian rules footballer * Sir John Lade (1759–1838), a baronet and Regency horse-breeder * Heinrich Eduard von Lade (1817–1904), a German banker and amateur astronomer * The Jarls ...

immediately owing to the ground being so dry and hard. We have had very little rain for a long time. Our garden and indeed vegetation in general is almost parched up. Scarcely any food for the cattle." The mission was also plagued by internal quarreling and misdealings. In 1837 Handt moved away because of his wife's poor health and was replaced by James Günther who also fought with Watson. Another man, William Porter, joined the mission to assist with the cultivation of the land, but was later found to have acted inappropriately towards some of the Aboriginal women around the mission. Watson attempted to gain control of any Aboriginal children he could get his hands on, gaining a reputation as an eagle hawk, and kidnapper among the Aboriginal women. Eventually Watson left Wellington Valley and, taking the children with him, established a new mission called Apsley. The mission was closed in 1842 after ten years of difficulty and little success.

References

External links

The Wellington Valley Project
Australian Aboriginal missions 1832 establishments in Australia 1842 disestablishments in Australia {{Christian-org-stub

See also

References

External links