Walter LAWRY

LAWRY, WALTER (b. Bodmin, Cornwall, England, 3 Aug 1793; d. Parramatta, NSW, 7 April 1859). Wesleyan Methodist missionary to Australia and Tonga.

Walter Lawry arrived in Sydney in May 1818 to be the second WMMS missionary there. Working with colleague Samuel Leigh (q.v.), new chapels were opened and societies multiplied. Lawry married Mary Hassall, daughter of LMS missionaries, in 1819, causing a rift with Leigh, who had also been a suitor. Lawry and Leigh, both good men, had differences on many issues, with serious results for their work. Lawry had a vision for missionary work in the Pacific, with Sydney as a base, but when he learned that he had been appointed by WMMS to pioneer a work in remote Tonga he felt it was ill-considered. Nonetheless, he sailed for Tonga in June 1822. The Tongans welcomed the Lawrys at first and they settled in a chiefly community. However, after their ship left, Tongan opinion turned against them, tribal wars threatened their safety and the missionary group suffered illness and depression. Though they began to see signs of spiritual response, their ship returned, bringing letters of censure from the WMMS in London, based on out of date complaints against Lawry by Leigh. Lawry sailed for London with his wife, arriving in 1825, where he was exonerated by the WMMS Committee. He then advised on improved methods for WMMS work in Tonga.

After serving in English Methodist circuits 1825-43, Lawry was appointed as general superintendent of WMMS in the Pacific 184454, when he retired to NSW. Based in New Zealand, he initiated education for missionaries' children and Maori Christian leaders. In 1847 and 1850 he revisited thriving WMMS work in Fiji and Tonga.

Walter Lawry, Diary 1818-25 (ms, Mitchell Library, NSW); Missionary Correspondence, Bonwick transcripts Box 49-51, Mitchell Library

MARGARET REESON