William Anderson (missionary)

Last updated
Reverend William Anderson
Revwilliamanderson.jpg
Missionary to Southern Africa
Born1 December 1769
London, United Kingdom
Died24 September 1852
Pacaltsdorp, South Africa
Other namesReverend William Anderson of Griquatown
Occupation Missionary
Known forOne of the first Christian missions to the area

The Reverend William Anderson of Griquatown (1 December 1769 – 24 September 1852) was an English Christian missionary who relocated to South Africa under the auspices of the London Missionary Society. He was one of the earliest missionaries in the region. Anderson was instrumental in the foundation of the South African town Griquatown.

England Country in north-west Europe, part of the United Kingdom

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to the west and Scotland to the north-northwest. The Irish Sea lies west of England and the Celtic Sea lies to the southwest. England is separated from continental Europe by the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south. The country covers five-eighths of the island of Great Britain, which lies in the North Atlantic, and includes over 100 smaller islands, such as the Isles of Scilly and the Isle of Wight.

Christianity is an Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth, as described in the New Testament. Its adherents, known as Christians, believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and savior of all people, whose coming as the Messiah was prophesied in the Old Testament.

Missionary member of a religious group sent into an area to do evangelism

A missionary is a member of a religious group sent into an area to proselytize or perform ministries of service, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development. The word "mission" originates from 1598 when the Jesuits sent members abroad, derived from the Latin missionem, meaning "act of sending" or mittere, meaning "to send". The word was used in light of its biblical usage; in the Latin translation of the Bible, Christ uses the word when sending the disciples to preach The gospel in his name. The term is most commonly used for Christian missions, but can be used for any creed or ideology.

Contents

Early life

Anderson was born in London, the eldest son of silk merchant William Anderson who was originally from Aberdeen. His mother was Catherine Turner who came from Devon. Like his parents, William was active in the Nonconformist movement. He was greatly influenced by the preaching of John Wesley and by the call of William Carey for the church to take the gospel to those who had never heard. Anderson was at the founding of the London Missionary Society (LMS) in September 1795 and he signed up for missionary service wherever the Society felt he could be of use. Due to family needs, his departure was delayed, but at the age of 30 he sailed for the Cape on 10 April 1800.

London Capital of the United Kingdom

London is the capital and largest city of both England and the United Kingdom. Standing on the River Thames in the south-east of England, at the head of its 50-mile (80 km) estuary leading to the North Sea, London has been a major settlement for two millennia. Londinium was founded by the Romans. The City of London, London's ancient core − an area of just 1.12 square miles (2.9 km2) and colloquially known as the Square Mile − retains boundaries that follow closely its medieval limits. The City of Westminster is also an Inner London borough holding city status. Greater London is governed by the Mayor of London and the London Assembly.

Aberdeen City and council area in Scotland

Aberdeen is a city in northeast Scotland. It is Scotland's third most populous city, one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas and the United Kingdom's 37th most populous built-up area, with an official population estimate of 196,670 for the city of Aberdeen and 228,800 for the local council area.

Devon County of England

Devon, also known as Devonshire, which was formerly its common and official name, is a county of England, reaching from the Bristol Channel in the north to the English Channel in the south. It is part of South West England, bounded by Cornwall to the west, Somerset to the north east, and Dorset to the east. The city of Exeter is the county town. The county includes the districts of East Devon, Mid Devon, North Devon, South Hams, Teignbridge, Torridge, and West Devon. Plymouth and Torbay are each geographically part of Devon, but are administered as unitary authorities. Combined as a ceremonial county, Devon's area is 6,707 km2 and its population is about 1.1 million.

Missionary work in Griquatown

Anderson was one of four new recruits in the second group sent to the Cape by the LMS. He arrived in Cape Town in September 1800 and some months later, in 1801, moved beyond the borders of the Cape Colony and settled amongst the Griqua people north of the Orange River. He and a Dutch colleague Nicholas Kramer encouraged the Griqua, who had hitherto lived mainly by hunting, to settle at a place they called Klaarwater (meaning Clear Water) and plant gardens and grow wheat and other crops. Klaarwater, later renamed Griquatown, became a centre for agriculture (as a result of irrigation) and education and a thriving church was established.

Cape Town Capital city of the Western Cape province and legislative capital of South Africa

Cape Town is the oldest city in South Africa, colloquially named the Mother City. It is the legislative capital of South Africa and primate city of the Western Cape province. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality.

The Griqua are a subgroup of Southern Africa's heterogeneous and multiracial Coloured people, who have a unique origin in the early history of the Cape Colony.

Orange River river

The Orange River is the longest river in South Africa and the Orange River Basin extends extensively into Namibia and Botswana to the north. It rises in the Drakensberg mountains in Lesotho, flowing westwards through South Africa to the Atlantic Ocean. The river forms part of the international borders between South Africa and Namibia and between South Africa and Lesotho, as well as several provincial borders within South Africa. Except for Upington, it does not pass through any major cities. The Orange River plays an important role in the South African economy by providing water for irrigation and hydroelectric power. The river was named the Orange River in honour of the Dutch ruling family, the House of Orange, by the Dutch explorer Robert Jacob Gordon. Other names include Gariep River, Groote River or Senqu River.

Anderson briefly returned to Cape Town where he met and married Johanna Maria Schonken, the daughter of descendants of early Dutch and French Huguenot settlers. Anderson and his wife became an integral part of the life of Griquatown. Johanna Anderson worked with the women in teaching hygiene and dress-making. Anderson befriended local chiefs such as Adam Kok and Barend Barends and baptised them into the Christian faith. Another younger leader during Anderson's time in Griquatown was Andries Waterboer who later would head the independent British Colony Griqualand. Whilst serving amongst the Griqua the Andersons also worked with the Khoikhoi and had considerable contact with the Tswana people. In 1813, Anderson together with LMS colleagues John Campbell and James Read, Griquatown colleague Lambert Jansz and Griqua chiefs Cornelius and Adam Kok, presented the Christian gospel for the first time to the Tswana king, Chief Mothibi. Fellow LMS missionary Robert Moffat was in close contact with the Andersons during his time in Griquatown.

Andries Waterboer South African politician

Andries Waterboer was a leader ("kaptijn") of the Griqua people.

Khoikhoi ethnic group

The Khoikhoi are the traditionally nomadic pastoralist non-Bantu indigenous population of southwestern Africa. They are grouped with the hunter-gatherer San under the compound term Khoisan.

The Tswana are a Bantu-speaking ethnic group who are native to Southern Africa. The Tswana language belongs to the Bantu group. Ethnic Tswana made up approximately 85% of the population of Botswana in 2011.

Issues with Cape authorities

For some years Anderson found himself wedged between the Griqua and the demands of the Cape government. He tried to keep good relations with the authorities in the Cape upon whom the community depended for supplies of gunpowder (necessary for hunting and protection) and for permits (which Anderson was allowed to issue) for those Griquas wishing to travel to the Cape or engage in trade with farmers. However, successive governors were not always favourable to the work of the missionaries and Anderson had often been criticized by the authorities in the Cape. In 1814 Governor John Cradock demanded that Anderson make sure that "all deserters criminals, slaves, (Hottentot or Bastard)"{quote taken from LMS reports in the archives of London University School of Oriental and African Studies} who had escaped north of the Orange River to Griquatown should be returned to the Cape Colony. In addition, the Governor demanded that Anderson arrange for twenty local youths, between the ages of 17 and 20, to join the Cape Hottentots Regiment. Anderson was outraged and found it extremely hard to explain these demands to the Griqua as few had any loyalty to the Cape which lay hundreds of miles to the south.

John Cradock, 1st Baron Howden British peer, politician and soldier

General John Francis Cradock, 1st Baron Howden was a British peer, politician and soldier.

Cape Corps

The Cape Corps and its predecessor units were the main military organisations in which the Coloured members of South Africa's population served.

When Anderson wrote to the Cape authorities to argue his case he received an even stronger reply from the new governor Lord Charles Somerset on 4 July 1814. Somerset wrote "...it is true that you may urge that your Institution is without the Colonial border and therefore not properly subject to the Government of this territory, but it is to be remarked that you have on every occasion received protection from the Colony..."{LMS archives SOAS, London} Somerset went on to threaten that all communication with the Cape would be broken if Anderson did not cooperate.

Lord Charles Somerset British politician

General Lord Charles Henry Somerset PC, born in Badminton, England, was a British soldier, politician and colonial administrator. He was governor of the Cape Colony, South Africa, from 1814 to 1826.

It became clear to Anderson that the future of his work with the Griqua was under threat. He saw that threat as coming from his own countrymen and he began to doubt their claims to be civilised and Christians. [1] Towards the end of 1814, Anderson himself went to Cape Town and met with Governor Lord Somerset to intercede on behalf of the Griqua and the community in Griquatown. An uneasy truce was the result, but the authorities in the Cape were no longer as favourable towards Anderson and the LMS in general.

Problems for the missionaries in Griquatown

Trouble surfaced in Griquatown when a European outlaw from justice in the Cape, Conrade Buys, who a large following amongst the Khoikhoi (and several wives in addition to his Dutch wife) came to the area north of the Orange River. Buys was a gifted orator who was passionately opposed to the British and played on the dissatisfaction of the Griqua people. He asked the local people why they should worry about Anderson and their traditional chiefs when they could be free and when it was easier and more profitable to trade "illegally" with farmers in the remote border areas of the Cape Colony. He asked them why they should bother to get a letter or pass from Anderson. By 1816 a group of disaffected Griqua, known collectively as the Hartenaars, moved further east to the Harts River. A few years later many Hartenaars did return to Griquatown but the conflict between some of their leaders and also some of their own fellow Griqua took much longer to heal.

Anderson was overburdened by his missionary responsibilities and coping with the political tensions over the Hartenaars. It was an issue Robert Moffat clearly pointed out; there had to be "a clear division between the work of the Church and the running of what amounted to the emerging Griqua state." [1] Unknown to Anderson, Moffat and John Campbell, James Read was complicating the local situation by spending time with certain Griqua leaders and undermining Anderson's reputation. Tensions increased following a major blow to the reputation and work of the LMS in southern Africa when in 1817 it was discovered that Read had committed adultery. By early in 1820, William and Johanna Anderson felt they needed to leave Griquatown to avoid being a stumbling block for the Church and community moving forward. It was a painful parting and many Griqua were sad to see their pastor and leader leave after almost 20 years amongst them. Subsequent events proved the problems of Griquatown could not be solved simply by the departure of the Andersons. In terms of organization and governance, there had to be a separation between Church and "state" even if the community at large and her leaders held onto their Christian faith and values.

Life after Griquatown

William and Johanna Anderson relocated to the southern Cape. They had a brief tenure on an LMS station in Zuurbraak and then took over the work in Pacaltsdorp, near George. There followed a further 30 years of extremely fruitful service amongst the Khoikhoi and mixed race people (later called Cape Coloureds) in a scenic part of South Africa. Pacaltsdorp became one of the most successful stations of the LMS. On 19 June 1825 the great stone church in Pacaltsdorp was officially opened. It is now a provincial heritage site.

Johanna Anderson died in Pacaltsdorp in 1848 and William Anderson died four years later in 1852. Their children were active both in Pacaltsdorp and other centres with youngest son Bartholemew Ebenezer becoming a leading pastor in the Congregational Church in Oudtshoorn. A multi-racial church, it was one of the largest at the time in South Africa with some 2000 members.

Related Research Articles

History of the Cape Colony from 1806 to 1870

The history of the Cape Colony from 1806 to 1870 spans the period of the history of the Cape Colony during the Cape Frontier Wars, which lasted from 1811 to 1858. The wars were fought between the European colonists and the native Xhosa who, having acquired firearms, rebelled against continuing European rule.

Griqualand West

Griqualand West is an area of central South Africa with an area of 40,000 km² that now forms part of the Northern Cape Province. It was inhabited by the Griqua people - a semi-nomadic, Afrikaans-speaking nation of mixed-race origin, who established several states outside the expanding frontier of the Cape Colony. It was also inhabited by the pre-existing Tswana and Khoisan peoples.

Philippolis Place in Free State, South Africa

Philippolis is a small town in the Free State province of South Africa. The writer and intellectual Sir Laurens van der Post was born here. It is regarded as one of the first colonial period settlements in the Free State.

Campbell, Northern Cape Place in Northern Cape, South Africa

Campbell is a small town situated on the edge of the Ghaap Plateau in the Northern Cape province of South Africa. It is located 48 km east of Griquatown. It was originally known as Knovel Valley and then Groote Fontein, but was renamed in honour of the Reverend John Campbell who visited the Cape Colony in 1813.

Griekwastad Place in Northern Cape, South Africa

Griekwastad is a country town in South Africa. It is sometimes still called Griquatown, a name which is now considered historical. The town is in the Northern Cape Province of South Africa 168 kilometres (104 mi) by road west from the city of Kimberley. It was the first town to be established in the country north of the Orange River.

Robert Moffat (missionary) Scottish missionary

Robert Moffat was a Scottish Congregationalist missionary to Africa, father-in-law of David Livingstone, and first translator of the Bible into Setswana.

The Oorlam or Orlam people are a subtribe of the Nama people, largely assimilated after their migration from the Cape Colony to Namaqualand and Damaraland.

The Khoikhoi–Dutch Wars were a series of conflicts that took place in the last half of the 17th century in what was known then as the Cape of Good Hope, in the area of present-day Cape Town, South Africa, between Dutch settlers who came from the Netherlands and the local African people, the indigenous Khoikhoi, who had lived in that part of the world for millennia.

Johannes van der Kemp Dutch missionary

Dr Johannes Theodorus van der Kemp was a military officer, doctor and philosopher who became a missionary in South Africa.

Richard Miles was a Motswana (Tswana) catechist and preacher "to the native tribes beyond the border" in South Africa.

Pacaltsdorp Place in Western Cape, South Africa

Pacaltsdorp is a suburb of George, Western Cape. In the Apartheid era, it was the coloured township associated with George but administrated independently. The N2 highway provided the natural boundary between the two, enforced by a curfew.

Asbestos Mountains

The Asbestos Mountains is a range of hills in the Northern Cape province of South Africa, stretching south-southwest from Kuruman, where the range is known as the Kuruman Hills, to Prieska. It passes Boetsap, Danielskuil, Lime Acres, Douglas and Griekwastad. The range lies about 150 km west of Kimberley and rises from the Ghaap Plateau.

John Campbell (missionary) Scottish missionary and traveller

John Campbell, was a Scottish missionary and traveller.

Pella, Northern Cape Place in Northern Cape, South Africa

Pella is an oasis in Namakwa (Bushmanland) in the Northern Cape province of South Africa. Earlier known as Cammas Fonteyn, the spring was used by a nearby stronghold of San people. In 1776 a South African Dutch farmer called Coenraad Feijt settled there and lived in harmony with the San despite their fondness for raiding the cattle of the Dutch farmers in the Hantam. A nearby farm called Aggeneys later became the site of the modern mining town of that name.

Nicolaas Waterboer South African politician

Nic(h)olaas Waterboer was a leader ("Kaptijn") of the Griqua people.

John Mackenzie was a Scottish Christian missionary who worked in Southern Africa, and who argued for the rights of the native Africans.

Burchell’s Shelter is a small rock overhang and archaeological site located in a kloof in the Ghaap Escarpment at Campbell in the Northern Cape, South Africa. As an archaeological site it has a shallow deposit containing late Holocene, mainly nineteenth century remains. Further interest in the shelter derives from the existence of an eyewitness description by the traveller William Burchell of the last Stone Age hunter-gatherers who inhabited the shelter. Hence it presented an opportunity, recognised by archaeologist Anthony Humphreys, to examine the occupation of the shelter from both an historical and an archaeological point of view.

Griqua coinage

The Griqua coinage was the first community coinage in South Africa and was introduced by the London Missionary Society.

References

  1. 1 2 Anderson, Peter S (1995). Weapons of Peace, The Story of William and Johanna Anderson. Logos Production House. ISBN   962-457-091-4.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.