Joseph Horner FLETCHER

FLETCHER, JOSEPH HORNER (b. Biabou, St Vincent, West Indies, 1 Oct 1823; d. Stanmore, NSW, 30 June 1890). Methodist preacher and educationalist.

Born to the Rev Joseph Fletcher and his wife Mary (née Horner), who were proclaiming the gospel and opposing slavery in the West Indies, Joseph Horner Fletcher learnt from his parents a love for Christ and the practice of devout prayer. His mother devoted him to mission work, though it 'tore her heart'. Educated at Kingswood School in England, Fletcher then entered into an apprenticeship, experienced personal conversation and became a hired local preacher at Dunster. A candidate for the Wesleyan Methodist ministry in 1845, he prayed, 'Oh, could I love and imitate my Saviour as I desire, how happy should I be!'

Following training at Richmond he offered for mission work abroad and was designated for New Zealand. He married Kate Green and on 18 Dec 1848 they sailed for Auckland. Fletcher's main responsibility was the establishment of a day and boarding school, principally for the children of missionaries, named the 'Wesleyan College and Seminary' (later 'Wesley College'). As he lacked teacher training the work brought him much stress. In 1855 he transferred as senior minister in the Auckland circuit, though in 1857 he combined this with further involvement at the school. A letter dated 1857 shows his evangelical feelings: 'I am thankful for that Methodist training of mine which has inlaid the doctrine of Christ crucified so firmly in my heart, and therefore given it a prominence which it does not always seem to have in the theology of modern Christendom'.

Fletcher moved in April 1858 to New Plymouth, where he sought 'a great revival' and experienced the Maori wars. He transferred to Brisbane in 1861 and then became the first chairman of the Wesleyans' Queensland District. After a year at Ipswich he was appointed to Sydney to succeed the Rev John A Manton (q.v.) as president of the Wesleyan Collegiate Institution at Newington House near Parramatta.

Coming to Newington in April 1865 when it was under two years old, Fletcher devoted the next twenty-three years of his life to shaping and strengthening the college, which included theological students as well as schoolboys. In 1874 he was elected as first president of the NSW and Qld Wesleyan Methodist Conference, and again in 1884 when he was also president of the General Conference of Australasia.

Forced to move from Newington House on the Parramatta River, Fletcher and his Council planned a new college on land at Stanmore. Despite the 'stupendous labour to be accomplished' in funding, building and establishing the new institution, Fletcher wrote, 'But faith in God removes mountains'. Overcoming daunting problems, Fletcher thanked God 'for converting mercies, for providential care, for Divine patience and help', and in July 1880 the college transferred to Stanmore. It retained the name 'Newington', and enrolments grew rapidly under Fletcher's leadership.

A fine preacher whose words 'sometimes cut like knives or scorched like a hot iron', Fletcher also wrote extensively for the Weekly Advocate. In 1887 he handed over the college presidency to the Rev Dr William Kelynack (q.v.), having been appointed full-time tutor in charge of the theological college. His health deteriorated and he died on 30 June 1890. Unable to speak, but with his face glowing, he wrote his last words on a slate: 'Heaven! Light! Life!', a eulogy indicating that he was 'called away in the mellow eventide of a consecrated life, fruitful in good deeds and gracious memories'.

Peter L Swain, A Quarter Past the Century: A History of Newington College 1863-1988(Sydney, 1988); ADB 1; J J Fletcher, Joseph Horner Fletcher, Sermons, Addresses & Essays(Sydney, 1892); James Colwell, The Illustrated History of Methodism (Sydney, 1904), 565-577

PETER L SWAIN