Chapter V

BISHOP WEBB'S return from England--Large accession to the Mission Staff--Rev. C. B. Maude and Rev. N. A. B. Borton sent to Kimberley--The Theological College begun--Commencement of the Mission in Basutoland--Mr. Bevan and Mr. Crisp sent to Bechuanaland--Hostility of the Batlhaping Chief--Destruction of Church Building at Phokoane--Retirement of the Missionaries--Work among the natives and half-castes at Kimberley--The Carnarvon Hospital--Third Session of the Synods--Rev. W. A. Holbech--Churches built at Bethlehem, Harrismith, and Rouxville--Death of Mr. Lacy--Retirement of Canon Doxat--Rev. R. K. Champernowne--Arrival of Father Douglas--The Sisterhood supply nurses during the Basuto, Zulu, and Transvaal Wars--S. Michael's Home.

ON January 24th, 1876, Bishop Webb, on his return from England, landed at Capetown, accompanied by three priests, the Revs. C. B. Maude, M.A., N. A. B. Borton, M.A., F. R. T. Balfour, M.A., and by the Rev. C. F. Tobias, LL.B., (whom he had ordained Deacon in England). With him also came two laymen and nine lady workers.

On the following clay the Provincial Synod began its second session in Capetown Cathedral, at which the Diocese was represented by Archdeacon Croghan, the Revs. J. Bell and W. H. R. Bevan, and by Mr. G. Goch and Mr. George Home.

Mr. Maude and Mr. Borton at once proceeded to Kimberley, and undertook the care of the Parish of S. Cyprian, Mr. Rickards having returned to England. Mr. Tobias was placed at Rouxville, a village twenty miles from Smithfield, where periodical services had for some years been held by Mr. Bell. Mr. Balfour at first acted' as chaplain to the Bishop, but was soon sent to Dutoitspan, Canon Doxat having removed from thence to Barkly, where he had established a Grammar School, besides undertaking the care of the parish.

Still another addition to the clerical staff was made during the early part of 1876, by the arrival of the Rev. A. S. Allum, whom also the Bishop had ordained in England.

The Bishop returned to the Diocese on March 6th, and at once applied himself to the task of establishing a Theological College at Bloemfontein. Some time before he had left for England, a very generous offer had reached him from some of his former Cuddesdon friends, foremost among whom was the Rev. Bernard Puller. They desired to set on foot in Bloemfontein a memorial of the recently-deceased Bishop Wilberforce, whose fostering care of the Colonial Churches, and especially of the South African Church, had been so remarkable. They wished it to take the form of a Theological College. Mr. Puller himself gave £500 towards it, but he was called to his rest before much further effort was made. Another benefactor was our own Canon Balfour, and during his visit to England the Bishop had interested Dr. King (then a Canon of Christ Church), the present Bishop of S. Andrew's (then Vicar of S. Peter's, Eaton Square), and many others, besides gaining considerable assistance from S.P.C.K. In 1874 a property near to the Cathedral had been purchased; some necessary alterations were now made, and in the beginning of 1877 the building was formally dedicated and named S. Cyprian's Theological College. Mr. Gaul undertook its management at first. In 1878 the Rev. C. O. Miles, M.A., came out, and remained in charge till 1882, being in 1880 made Canon and Chancellor of the Cathedral. Before leaving England he collected a considerable library of books, which now form part of the Diocesan Library.

The College was instrumental in training several clergy who have since done service to the Church. Of these the Revs. J. Glover, T. Woodman, J. W. Stenson, H. Crostli-waite, VV. Griffiths, and M. A. Reading are still in the active service of the Diocese; the Revs. W. H. Robins and C. B. Shaw are respectively engaged in the Dioceses of Zululand and Pretoria; while others are working in England or in other colonies. The Revs. A. S. Allum and C. F. Tobias were both for a while resident students at S. Cyprian's. The instruction of native readers was carried on side by side with that of the training of clergy until the middle of 1880.

But the College proved to be a premature venture. The vacancies in the Diocese itself became filled, and with no other means of travelling than expensive passenger-carts, the exceedingly long distances prevented its being of service to other parts of the Province. He would have been a sanguine man who would have prophesied the advent of the railway in another seven years. The time of serious depression of which we shall have to speak set in, and, in 1883, it was found necessary to close S. Cyprian's, and to make arrangements at S. Andrew's College for any students who might present themselves.

In 1876 two important advances into the mission-field were made with the assistance of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel. Mr. Widdicombe undertook a Mission in the north of Basutoland, with Mr. Lacy as his companion. Mr. Bevan and Mr. Crisp were placed in the new Mission in South Bechuanaland; while Mr. Mitchell, who had returned from England, remained to carry on the work at Thabanchu. We must say a few words as to each of the new works.

In 1874, the Rev. E. W. Stenson had left Barkly West for Basutoland, being charged with the special task of ministering to the many Europeans now scattered up and down in it, as well as with direct missionary work. For a time he had settled in Maseru, the residence of the Chief Magistrate, but in 1876 he began the Station at Mohali's Hoek, in the south of the country. Mr. Widdicombe pitched his tent in the extreme north, at Thlotse Heights, which had just become the seat of a Magistracy, naming his new work S. Saviour's. A few months later he was joined by Mr. Balfour, by whom a mission named The Epiphany was established in 1877 at Sekubu, about 30 miles to the N.E. of Thlotse, to which after his ordination to the Diaconate in February, 1878, Mr. Woodman was sent as assistant.

The Mission in South Bechuanaland was a continuation of the work already described at Phokoane and the district along the Vaal river. Mr. Bevan and Mr. Crisp made a stay of six weeks with David and his people at S. John's. Their circumstances had much improved since 1873. The reed huts had given place to neat Secoana houses, and the brushwood enclosure had been discarded for a neat chapel with wattle-and-daub walls and a thatched roof. At the beginning of October they moved on to Phokoane. Botlhasitse, the local chief, had all along viewed the Mission with suspicion, but he made no opposition at first, and the two priests settled themselves down in the village with which most of the converts were connected, on a rocky ridge above the principal town. They had a tent to live in, and their travelling wagon to sleep in, but no other protection from the sun, while the services had to be held in a small, roofless enclosure formed of branches of trees. They had intended to press on to a Barolong town by a large salt lake, say 150 miles further to the N.W., but so much work lay ready to their hand at Phokoane, that their advance was deemed unwise. On November ijth the Chief sent to them, and ordered them to leave, but fixed no time for their doing so. A week or two later a body of British police from the neighbouring colony of Griqualand West was sent to chastise a petty chief living near the border of his country, but returned to Kimberley without coming to Phokoane. The Chief fancied that the presence of the Missionaries had been a protection to him. So, a few days later, he spoke kindly to them, and asked why they did not put up some covering to keep off the sun. This was taken to be a permission to build, and the Christian natives set to work to cut down enough trees, for at that time Bechuanaland was a plentifully wooded country, for the erection of a church 50 feet long by 18 broad. During a visit to Bloemfontein to attend the Synod in January, 1877, Mr. Crisp bought doors, &c., and got some hints as to the building work. On February 21st the roof of the new church was being finished, for the Christian people had worked with a will, when a new outburst of suspicion arose, and word was sent from the Chief to discontinue building. The Missionaries and their principal converts came together to consider what to do, when a band of men, led by the Chief's brother, who was especially-hostile, came and pulled clown the building, and brought the Missionaries before the Chief. They were then ordered to leave the country on the following Sunday, and were told that if they did so they would be allowed to pay periodical visits to their converts, who it was promised would be left free to exercise their religion, but they were also told that if they persisted in staying, the cattle of the Christians would be confiscated and their houses burnt. Exposure and some privations had told upon the health of the Missionaries, and they decided to withdraw to Barkly West. After Easter they visited Phokoane. The Chief kept his word, and their visit of eight days met with no opposition. During the Easter season they baptized fifty-two persons, young and old, and admitted many to Holy Communion. On returning to the Diamond Fields, Mr. Crisp left for a visit to England, while Mr. Bevan undertook a work among the natives at Kimberley. From thence he was able, occasionally, to visit Phokoane. Left to themselves the converts built a smaller church with the materials of the building which had been demolished, and maintained, with great pains and regularity, such services as could be supplied by a native catechist. The little church was dedicated in October, 1877, and in the following February the Bishop visited them and confirmed forty-four converts.

Mr. Bevan's work at Kimberley was to carry on one which, aided by S.P.G., had been for some time in operation among the Becoana, though it had not before had the advantage of a Priest who could speak their language. Canon Doxat could speak Dutch, and from the first he had gathered together the half-caste people, who had come from the Cape Colony, and ministered to them. He was assisted by an excellent catechist named Salem, who as a child had been kidnapped by slave-traders, brought to South Africa and sold as a slave. He was brought up a Christian, and after the emancipation of the slaves had come northwards. The Canon's first service-tent at Dutoitspan was one which, originally brought out by the Universities' Mission, had been left behind at Capetown by Bishop Mackenzie in 1861. What he could not do himself, Canon Doxat was forward to help others to undertake, whether by liberal gifts or sympathetic counsel. The Kafir-speaking Christians from the Cape Colony and the Zulus from Natal met together in his church-tent and conducted their services. He had, as has been said, now removed to Barkly West, but he had not withdrawn his hand from helping the work at the Dry Diggings of which he was still the Rural Dean.

Mr. Bevan built a small church at Kimberley, dedicated to S. Matthew, with a tiny dwelling-room attached to it; and settled down to his new work, living the frugal life of which mention has been made, unaffected by the wealth and luxury which had already begun to manifest themselves at Kimberley.

This new native work was not the only noteworthy effort made by the Church at Kimberley at this time. On January, 1877, a band of ladies headed by Sister Henrietta, began the nursing-work there which has made the Carnarvon Hospital at Kimberley a household word throughout South Africa. Enteric fever and pneumonia had soon shewn themselves at the Diamond Fields, and forlorn indeed was the state of those laid up with sickness in their tents or little wooden or iron houses. The majority of, the residents were bachelors, and native servants, always inefficient, would often take fright and desert their masters in illness. Men helped one another with a tenderness difficult to describe, but what could they do with the many claims which such a busy life as theirs made upon them? As ministering angels indeed Sister Henrietta's devoted following came to their rescue, with comfort for the sick and tender care of the dying. In 1878 the Sisterhood also commenced a High School for Girls at Kimberley.

We must go back somewhat to Bloemfontein and the work in the Free State. The third session of the Diocesan Synod was begun in the Cathedral on the Epiphany, 1877. It was attended by sixteen priests, two deacons, and thirteen laymen. The matters discussed at it were less formal than the constitutional provisions which had occupied the two former sessions. One or two burning questions cropped up, but fairness and breadth of sympathy always marked Bishop Webb's presidency, and they were discussed with good temper and charity. One of the provisions made at this Session was that of a College of Education, a Corporation of which the Chancellor is Provost, consisting of a number of Fellows who constitute a Board of Education for the oversight of school-work in the Diocese. Mr. McKenzie had been appointed to a Canonry on Low Sunday, 1876, and on the Sunday during the Synod's session announcement was made of his appointment as Chancellor, Canon Beckett having resigned that office. The minutes of the Clerical Synod were kept by a priest who had recently arrived from England, the Rev. W. A. Holbech, M.A., a son of the Archdeacon of Coventry, whose Warwickshire home was near to the Bishop's former parish of Avon Dassett. Mr. Holbech at once became one of the Bishop's Chaplains, and after the Synod was made Vicar of Dutoitspan, relieving Mr. Balfour, who had taken charge of that parish after Canon Doxat's removal.

In the Free State many new works had been begun. In September, 1876, the Rev. A. S. Allum had gone to live at Bethlehem. He had been an architect before his admission to Holy Orders, and had already given much skilled assistance to the Diocese. The first Carnarvon Hospital at Kimberley, the alterations to the Theological College building, a double-storied addition to S. Michael's Home, and an annexe to the Cathedral (built with £500 given by J. G. Hubbard, Esq., afterwards Lord Addington), were among the works which he had carried out. He was appointed Diocesan Architect, and, partly with money thus earned by him, he built a charming little church at Bethlehem (consecrated on October 7th, 1877) and a parsonage.

As early as October, 1873, the Rev. W. Clark had been stationed at Harrismith. In 1876 he was ordained Priest, and on the Feast of the Purification, 1877, S. John Baptist's Church there was consecrated by the Bishop.

In the south of the Diocese, at Rouxville, on February 22nd, 1877, a church dedicated to S. Matthias was set apart by the Bishop, and on June 28th, the Rev. G. M. Russell, an alumnus of the Theological College, was ordained Deacon and sent to Rouxville.. In May, 1878, a church (S. Mark's) was built there for a native congregation and licensed for service.

Just before Michaelmas, 1877, the Metropolitan (the Most Rev. W. W. Jones, D.D.) paid a visit to Bloemfontein, and after a stay of a few days, during which every effort was made by resident Churchmen to show respect for his high office, he left with Bishop Webb on a tour of visitation through the Transvaal to Zululand and Natal.

On the 9th November, 1877, a grievous loss fell upon the young Mission of S. Saviour's, Thlotse Heights. Mr. W. Lacy, the pure-minded lay helper, who had come into the Diocese while still a lad, and who had won the affectionate regard of all who knew him, was drowned in the Caledon river while crossing it on his return from a visit to the Free State. More than a year passed by before assistance could be given to Mr. Widdicombe, but on December 1st, 1878, Mr. M. A. Reading, of Warminster College, arrived and was sent to Thlotse Heights.

During the summer of 1877, Canon Doxat's health showed signs of failing. He was suffering from the effect of a sunstroke, and early in 1878 determined to return to England. But his interest in the Diocese did not cease, and his English home was one in which workers from Bloemfontein always found a ready welcome. Fifteen years afterwards, in 1892, he cast in his lot with the Mission to Corea. His parish and school at Barkly were undertaken by the Rev. N. A. B. Borton.

In 1878 the second conference of Bishops was held at Lambeth, and the Bishop left Bloemfontein in February to attend it. On May 2nd Mr. Crisp returned from England, having spent a month en route helping at Kimberley, and was placed in charge of the Native Department at the Theological College, with the care of S. Patrick's Mission, and, during the Bishop's absence, the Chaplaincy of the Sisterhood.

The Bishop returned to the Diocese on February 28th, 1879, bringing with him a party of seventeen workers, most of them being ladies to help in the Sisterhood Schools and Hospitals. We write the last word in the plural advisedly, for during his Lordship's absence a Cottage Hospital known as S. George's had been opened in Bloemfontein, built on a plot of ground close to S. Michael's Home, and relying upon the Sisterhood for nurses

The Rev. R. K. Champernowne returned with the Bishop from a visit to England. Since his ordination to the Diaconate he had gone here and there, helping now at the Theological College, now in charge of Philippolis. After a year spent in his Devonshire home, he came back determined to attach himself to S. Saviour's, Thlotse Heights. He was ordained priest in the Cathedral on Low Sunday, and soon afterwards left for Basutoland with his eldest sister, who had accompanied him from England.

The Bishop had been preceded in his arrival by a clergyman who had been attracted to the Diocese during this visit to England, and who was for the remaining fifteen years of his life to win a peculiar place in the affectionate regard and esteem of Churchmen throughout South Africa. Father Douglas, under the shadow of whose recent death these words are being written, had been a member of the Brotherhood begun by Mr. Corbett at Stoke in 1867, having previously been assistant curate to the celebrated Mission preacher, Canon Body, at Kirkby Misperton. The community at Stoke had become dissolved, and Father Douglas offered to cast in his lot with the Brotherhood at Modderpoort. Canon Beckett had repeatedly expressed his desire to be relieved of the position of Superior, and his well-known humility of mind assured the Bishop that he had not only the will but the power to rejoice in seeing the work entrusted to younger hands. From the first week of his coming among us, Father Douglas' power as a fervid and earnest preacher became recognised. He reached Bloemfontein on January 12th, and did not leave for Modderpoort till April 26th, preaching a course of sermons during Lent in the Cathedral. His formal induction by the Bishop as Superior of S. Augustine's Brotherhood took place on May 8th, 1880.

In April, 1879, during the Zulu war, the Sisterhood were applied to by the Surgeon-General of the British forces to take charge of the Base Hospital established by the military authorities at Ladysmith in Natal. On April i8th the Mother Superior left for this work with three assistants, among them being Sister Louisa and Miss Langlands, whose zeal and skill in military nursing were afterwards recognised by the bestowal of the Red Cross. This was not the only instance in which the Sisterhood were engaged in military nursing. During the war between the Colony and the Basuto in 1880 they had charge of the Hospital which the Free State authorities allowed to be established at Wepener, and again in that which preceded the withdrawal from the Transvaal, the care of the Military Hospital at Newcastle was in their hands. The thanks of Her Majesty the Queen were afterwards conveyed to them by the Secretary of State.

By this time (1879) the Sisterhood, which had taken the name of the Community of SS. Michael and All Angels, had become well established, and found many friends. One of these, an English benefactor, gave them a sum of money for the erection of their beautiful chapel, which, dedicated on S. Barnabas' Day, 1877, has since been the centre of their worship. Their High School at Bloemfontein was the only boarding-school for Church girls within the reach of Kimberley. As many as ninety boarders were at one time inmates of it. This demanded extensive accommodation, and "The Home," as it was commonly called, was already an imposing pile of buildings. At the time of which we are writing it stood at some distance from other houses, but the extension of Bloemfontein has since considerably outstripped it. On December 3oth, 1879, the first death occurred among the members of the Community--that of Sister Georgina, who died of fever contracted when in charge of the Kimberley school. She had been a Sister of great worth of character, and sweetness of disposition, and her loss was keenly felt by the young community. In 1879 a branch house was opened at Harrismith, which has continued to do a work of well-recognised excellence as a High School for girls, and has undertaken from time to time many other works of piety.

At the close of 1879 the Bishop decided to create a second Archdeaconry, that of Harrismith, and appointed Canon McKenzie to it. This was publicly announced in the Cathedral on Sunday, December 7th.

Project Canterbury