John SMITHIES

SMITHIES, JOHN (b. Sheffield, England, c. 1800; d. Barrington, Tas, 1872). Wesleyan missionary.

Ordained in 1827, Smithies was appointed to Newfoundland in 1828 by WMS. Two years later, his fiancée, Hannah, followed him to Newfoundland where they were married in 1830. They gave dedicated service to the isolated settlers around Hant's Harbour and, later, St Johns. The Smithies, however, found the Protestant/Catholic struggle for political dominance distressful, and Newfoundland did not seem to provide them with the challenging missionary life they desired. They returned to England in 1837.

In 1839, WMS appointed Smithies to the Swan River Colony (WA) in response to the pleas of Methodist colonists; his double mandate was the pastoral care of the settlers and the evangelisation of the Aborigines.

Arriving in 1840, Smithies struggled to fulfil both demanding tasks, but his interest lay with the Aborigines, as he showed in the text of his first sermon in the colony: 'Unto me, who am less than the least of all the Saints, is the grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ' (Ephesians 3 8).

From the outset, the Smithies were enthusiastically supported and materially assisted by Joseph Hardey (q.v.), Francis Armstrong (q.v.) and the other Wesleyans of the colony. The Smithies, immediately on their arrival, began caring for several Aboriginal children in their home. Within a month Smithies commenced his Wesleyan Mission School in Perth: thirty Aboriginal children lived in the Smithies' own home, worked as domestics in Perth homes in the mornings and attended formal schooling in the afternoons. Smithies' plan was both to 'civilize' and to 'Christianize'. The number of deaths among the children was very disillusioning, an experience and a response both common to many missions to Aborigines in the mid 19th century. But there were encouraging signs, both spiritually and educationally, among the Aboriginal young people.

Smithies also took seriously his responsibility to the colonists. He commenced regular services in Perth and Fremantle, and organised fully Methodist ownership of the Subscription Chapel in Perth. Soon after his arrival he negotiated for land in Fremantle and Perth with Governor Hutt. He obtained the 1.6 ha on William St which retains its Wesleyan associations today. A chapel was opened in Fremantle in 1841. Smithies' preaching led to some dramatic conversions among both Aborigines and colonists, and in 1844 there was a small revival. 'The feeling and fire are spreading from house to house. O may it run through the land' (Smithies' journal, 24 April 1844).

With the central strategy of training Aboriginal young people to live by farming, Smithies moved the mission to farmland outside Perth at Wanneroo in 1845. The mission struggled against declining finances, poor soil, bad seasons and the proximity of immoral Perth settlers. Smithies moved the mission yet again in 1851 to York, 100 km west of Perth. Aboriginal people were reluctant to move so far away, and were increasingly deterred by the number of deaths among them. With the number of residents dwindling, Smithies closed the mission in 1854. The Smithies then moved to Tas, where they ministered to Wesleyan congregations.

A jovial, popular and hard-working man, Smithies was among those many early Australian missionaries whose work was severely hampered by circumstances beyond their control. Smithies, however, believed it to have been worthwhile. 'I do not feel that the mission has been to no avail ... Some twenty of the natives have reached the heavenly state and a good many more are in the bush and have the fear of God within their hearts and read the scriptures' (Smithies' letters, 15 July 1854, Battye Library, MN172).

J Harris, One Blood (Sutherland, 1990); W Mcnair and H Rumley, Pioneer Aboriginal Mission (Nedlands, 1981)

JOHN HARRIS