Daniel James DRAPER

DRAPER, DANIEL JAMES (b. Wickham, Hampshire, England, 28 Aug 1810; d. at sea, 11 Jan 1866). Wesleyan Methodist minister.

Draper was brought up as an Anglican but, after a spiritual awakening at the age of 17, he joined the Wesleyan Methodist chapel at Fareham in Hampshire. Apprenticed to his father as a carpenter, he moved to Brecon in Wales where he was active in the Methodist church as a local (lay) preacher. In 1834 he was received as a candidate for the Wesleyan ministry, and appointed as a probationary minister to a circuit. There was at that time a need for young ministers in the growing colonies of Australia and Draper was asked to volunteer. He assented and was ordained on 7 Oct 1835. A few days later Draper and his wife whom he had married shortly before, sailed from England. He expressed in a letter to the WMMS the hope that he might convey 'in some humble manner the light of life to the ends of the earth'. The couple arrived in Hobart in Tasmania in Feb 1836.

Draper spent 30 years in the ministry in the colonies of NSW, SA and Vic; roughly ten years in each. Although of rather limited education he proved himself to be an able leader and he contributed significantly to the growth of Wesleyan Methodism in the areas in which he served. It was a period of rapid growth in population, especially in the 1850s during the gold rushes to Victoria. By his evangelical preaching and constant pastoral care he was assiduous in seeking to bring new and old settlers within the ambit of Methodist influence. He was remembered as a great builder of churches (some of which survive) in towns and new settlements.

Draper's first appointment was to Parramatta in NSW where he built two new churches. This was followed by appointments to the Bathurst and Sydney circuits. His first wife died in childbirth while at Parramatta and he later married the daughter of a missionary from Tonga.

In 1846 Draper was transferred to Adelaide where he built the Pirie Street Church which was the 'cathedral' of South Australian Methodism for over a hundred and twenty years. During his ten years in SA thirty new churches were built and Wesleyan Methodist membership grew tenfold. He responded to the exodus of men to the goldfields by sending a minister to care for the miners and, not very successfully, to raise money for the support of struggling churches in SA.

Draper's term in Adelaide was marked by controversy over whether or not the Wesleyans should receive government aid for the erection of buildings and the maintenance of the ministry. Dissenting influence in the colony was strong and, within the Wesleyan church itself, there were opponents of state aid to religion in any form. These advocates of the voluntary principle included some of the leading members of the Adelaide circuit. But Draper had no scruples about taking government money for religious and moral purposes. He had been familiar with government grants in NSW and saw no reason why the same system should not apply in SA. He acted on the majority decision of his church meeting. This resulted in some secessions and the formation of a short-lived Representative Methodist Church. State aid was discontinued in 1851 and, while it had undoubtedly helped Wesleyan Methodism during the five years it had been in operation the church's own offerings for its work had also increased.

The Australasian Wesleyan Conference, independent of yet affiliated with that in Britain, was set up in 1854 and Draper was transferred to Melbourne as chairman of the Vic district. There he continued his church-building and he was also a founder of Wesley College, one of the leading boys' schools in the colony. In 1859 he was president of the Australasian Conference.

In 1865 Draper went to Britain where he represented the Australian church at the British and Irish Conferences. He spent a year visiting churches, speaking about the work in Australia and encouraging the emigration of ministers.

On 5 Jan 1866 Draper and his wife boarded the London for their return to Australia. A few days later the ship was caught in a storm in the Bay of Biscay and sank with only 17 survivors out of 263 on board. These told of Draper calling people to prayer and exhorting them to accept Christ in the final hours before the vessel was submerged. A verse from Charles Wesley which friends recalled as being from one of his favourite hymns became for Draper a tragic reality in the heaving waters off the coast of France

Happy if with my latest breath

I may but gasp His name

Preach Him to all and cry in death

Behold, behold the Lamb.

ADB 1; C I Benson, A Century of Victorian Methodism (Melbourne, 1935); A D Hunt, This Side of Heaven. A History of Methodism in South Australia (Adelaide, 1985); J C Symons, Life of Daniel James Draper (London, 1870)

ARNOLD D HUNT