John WATERHOUSE

WATERHOUSE, JOHN (b. Rawdon, Yorkshire, England, 10 May 1789; d. Hobart, VDL, 30 March 1842). Wesleyan minister.

Committing his life to Christ in 1803 Waterhouse became a local preacher serving circuits at Alnwick (from 1809), North Shields and Huddersfield. He was accredited as a Wesleyan Methodist minister in 1813 and subsequently served at Reading, London East Penzance, Manchester South, Halifax, Dudley, Birmingham and the City Road Chapel (1836-38). In 1838 Waterhouse was appointed general superintendent of Wesleyan Missions in the South Seas based at Hobart. He arrived on 1 Feb 1839, and completed the Melville Street Church in 1840. He undertook two lengthy missionary voyages embracing principally New Zealand, Tonga and Fiji. His last words were 'Missionaries, Missionaries, Missionaries'. Of his 12 children, three became Wesleyan ministers: Jabez (1821-91), Joseph (1828-81) and Samuel (1830-1918), while George (1824-1906) was briefly Premier of South Australia (1861) and New Zealand (1872-3).

M Olsson, The Waterhouse/Padman Story (Brisbane, 1987)

ROWLAND S WARD