It was brought to my attention that September 20th 2021 marks the 150th anniversary of the death of John Coleridge Patteson (1 April 1827 – 20 September 1871), an English Anglican bishop, missionary to the South Sea Islands, and an accomplished linguist, learning 23 of the islands' more than 1,000 languages. There is a large memorial to him in our churchyard, near the south entrance.
Patteson grew up in Feniton, East Devon. He went to school in Ottery St. Mary and later attended Eton College and then Balliol College, Oxford. By September 1854, he had been ordained a priest at Exeter Cathedral and he soon began his missionary work, travelling from Devon to Melanesia (in the South Pacific) as a Christian missionary in 1855. Patteson was consecrated the first Bishop of the Diocese of Melanesia and head of the Melanesian Mission in 1861 and was martyred on the island of Nukapu in 1871. However the church he created in the South Pacific lives on, Christians in Melanesia still revere him as a martyr and the Diocese of Exeter retains close links with the Anglican Province of Melanesia.
So why, might you ask, does St. Mary le Tower have such an ostentatious memorial to Patteson and what is its relevance a century and a half after his death?
Attempting a narrative of his life might seem relatively straightforward, establishing the facts about or reasons for Patteson’s death is much more of a challenge, involving a mix of indigenous histories, eye-witness accounts, and subsequent interviews. Writer Charlotte Yonge was Patteson’s cousin. She had provided financial support for her cousin’s missionary work in the Pacific by sharing the profits from two of her romantic novels and she used her skills to write a two-volume biography (1873, 1874) of the martyred bishop which made use of a rich collection of family letters. It is a complex story with relevance to the current debate about Britain’s colonial history.
At first sight there was little to differentiate Patteson from the multiple colonial evangelists at the time. A talented linguistic with a thirst for adventure, Patteson learnt Latin, Greek, German, Hebrew, and Arabic and travelled in Europe before venturing further afield to New Zealand and the islands of the Pacific. Patteson sailed around the islands preaching to the communities he discovered and setting up schools. But here was the key difference which was to mark him out from the crowd. He held a deep respect for the cultures and customs he encountered and learnt 23 of the local languages (even translating the Gospel of Luke into Mota). His ambition was to educate local boys in Christianity so that they could lead the next generation, to inspire and share – not to indoctrinate and rule.
Patteson had been living in Auckland but he set up home on Norfolk Island in 1867. His own house served as a school, a mission station, and a chapel. His ultimate goal was to have a native ministry and he campaigned tirelessly to supress the slavery and ‘blackbirding’ (kidnapping people to work as poorly paid labourers) that were commonplace in Melanesia.
On 20 September 1871, Patteson was aboard the missionary boat, the Southern Cross II. As they approached a Reef Island called Nukapu, Patteson took the decision to transfer to a native canoe and land alone on the island. Here he would receive fatal wounds to the head.
It is unclear exactly why Patteson was killed, but it is thought to have been a case of mistaken identity: a revenge killing for the abduction of five young men by blackbirders only days earlier. It is said that local people realised their mistake and treated his body with respect, covering it with palm leaves and sending it out to sea in a small boat. It was found by the crew of the Southern Cross.
Whilst Patteson did not see his vision realised, his death had a significant impact. On hearing the news back home, the British Government resolved to stamp out slavery in their Pacific territories. The slave-trade was technically illegal in the South Pacific at that time, but the laws were only laxly enforced and in fact slave-raiding was a flourishing business. Patteson was actively engaged in the effort to stamp it out.
On the Islands themselves, Patteson’s legacy is evident. The church of St Barnabus was erected on Norfolk Island in 1882 in his memory and is still used today; the ‘Bishop Patteson Theological College’ in the Solomon Islands is a thriving institution; and, in 1963 and 1975 respectively, the first Melanesian Bishops and Archbishop were consecrated. A new boat – the Southern Cross IX – now travels around the islands, continuing the Mission’s work.
Relevance today
Most people are a product of their time and status, but Patteson was blessed with something quite unique for the time he lived in. He held a deep respect for his fellow human beings and does not seem to have suffered the same delusions of white superiority and viewed the people he met as equals. He valued and respected difference, learning new languages to engage better with others on common ground.
Today this seems obvious, although far too many fall short of this ideal. One hundred and fifty years ago, in the golden age of the British Empire, this was revolutionary. The entire machinery of Victorian Britain depended on the foundation of national superiority - slavery might have been abolished in officially in 1807, but it was not until the late 1960s that most of our former colonies gained independence.
Which is why Patteson holds such relevance for Christians today. Differences of skin colour, language, belief, and opinion should never be cause for lack of respect. Our humanity is what matters - in the eyes of God, family, society, and the world. Without respect for each other we cannot hope to share ideas, work together or connect.
At a time when we are seeking to grow our congregation and renew our Mission here in Ipswich, we should perhaps first look inwards, at ourselves. The way we connect with people is founded on our view of ourselves and our place in the world. If we hope to inspire others and make a difference here, then we must lead by example. Spreading Christianity is about sharing and inspiring, not telling.
Because Mission and growth can never be sustained without respect and equality.
