Stephen RABONE

RABONE, STEPHEN (b. Tipton, Staffordshire, England, 13 Jan 1811; d. Sydney, NSW, 21 July 1872). Wesleyan minister and missionary.

The son of Thomas and Hannah Rabone, Stephen received a sound education and became an acceptable local preacher in his early teens. He was ordained and appointed to the Appleby Circuit in 1833 but having m. Eliza Thomas 15 Sept 1834, left for the Friendly Islands towards the end of 1834. Shipwreck near Bona Vista in the Cape Verde Islands on 18 Dec 1834 caused his return to England and he did not finally arrive at his station until 1837 after having spent some time in Hobart en route. Apart from the successful conduct of the normal work in all three main areas of the island missions, Rabone compiled vocabularies and undertook translation work.

Family reasons forced his return to NSW in 1850 and he thereafter served in the Hunter River, Sydney North, Parramatta, Newtown and Chippendale circuits before becoming General Secretary of Overseas Missions. He also served as first clerical treasurer of the Church Sustentation and Extension Society (1858) district chairman, president of the Australasian Wesleyan Methodist Conference (1861) president of Newington College (1864) and book steward (1861-72). In 1869 he was a member of a deputation to examine the state of the South Sea Missions. He was regarded as a 'solid, earnest, loving and successful preacher' and was unostentatious in his approach to evangelism. Rabone died in the street on his way to preach.

DON WRIGHT