ROGER C. G. PAGE

PAGE, ROGER C G (b. 18 Oct 1878, d. 2 July 1965). Methodist missionary in Tonga.

Page came from a devoted church family in Grafton NSW. He went to Tonga in 1908. His work commenced when the great schism in the church led to the establishment of the Free Church of Tonga. When it broke away from the Wesleyan Church there remained division in almost every part of Tongan society. Page as a young man set out to heal the deep wound in the life of the church. He very early gained the confidence of the Head of the Free Church, Her Majesty Queen Salote Tupou and her husband Prince Tungi. The union of the divided church came in 1924, with the Queen Salote and Roger Page being to a large extent instrumental in the reunion and the formation of the Free Wesleyan Church of Tonga. Page very early became the president of the new conference, a post he held until his retirement in 1946.

He was not greatly known outside Tonga, perhaps because of his own natural humility and perhaps Tonga was not much in the news until the war years and after. Those of us who knew him well and worked with him closely will always think of him as 'Page of Tonga'. For over those forty years he was a most notable figure in the church, the government and the community, revealing political insights which were valuable in church and community. These may have flowed from his family background: his brother Earle Page was one of the founders of the Country Party. Preeminently Roger Page was a preacher of the gospel, fluent in the Tongan language. Probably no other non-Tongan understood the Tongan people more than Roger Page nor loved them more.

CECIL GRIBBLE