The Reverend John Smithies (1802–1872) was a

Wesleyan Wesleyan theology, otherwise known as Wesleyan–Arminian theology, or Methodist theology, is a theological tradition in Protestant Christianity based upon the ministry of the 18th-century evangelical reformer brothers John Wesley and Charle ...

Methodist missionary who served in

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the population ...

, the

Swan River Colony The Swan River Colony, also known as the Swan River Settlement, or just ''Swan River'', was a British colony established in 1829 on the Swan River, in Western Australia. This initial settlement place on the Swan River was soon named Perth, an ...

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

, and

Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...

Early days

Born in Yorkshire, Smithies was living in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...

in 1827 when he was received into the Methodist ministry. In 1828 the Wesleyan Missionary Society appointed him as a missionary to Newfoundland where he spent nine years. In 1832 he was married to Hannah, his fiancée from England who assisted him in his work of "visiting the sick, leading classes and prayer meetings, as well as conducting the school".McNair, William and Rumney, Hillary. ''Pioneer Aboriginal Mission: The Work of Wesleyan Missionary John Smithies in the Swan River Colony 1840-1855'', University of Western Australia Press, 1981. . In 1837, following sectarian tensions on the island, he returned to England for two years, including 12 months in

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...

Western Australia

He was assigned to Western Australia in 1839 and, aboard the ''Prima Donna'', landed near

Fremantle Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia located at the mouth of the Swan River (Western Australia), Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australi ...

on 22 June 1840 with his wife and four children, one of whom had been born at sea two weeks earlier. He was immediately introduced to an established fellow missionary, Francis Armstrong. Smithies' double mandate was "the pastoral care of colonists and the Christianization of the Aborigines". Smithies established a mission near what is now

Wanneroo Wanneroo is a northern suburb of Perth, Western Australia, located within the City of Wanneroo. Geography As it is on the Swan Coastal Plain, the Wanneroo wetlands stretch parallel to the coastline and to the north and south of the suburb. Ed ...

in July 1840. The "Perth Native School" was announced with an advertisement in the Inquirer on 18 August 1841, including the Board of Management and the Rules and Regulations. By 1847, Smithies decided that

York York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...

would be a better site for a Native Mission than Wanneroo. In 1851, an application was made to Governor Fitzgerald for of good wheat land at York (some kilometres to the north on east side of the Avon River) “to be held for the improvement of the Natives for ever”. There was a proviso that if there were no Aboriginals present, the land was to revert to the government. Smithies wrote on 26 September 1851 that eight Aboriginals and one white man had travelled to York from Wanneroo with a bullock team, a journey which had taken three days. The party set up tents and cleared of ground at the selected farm location ready for planting the next year. The mission was to be called Gerald Mission in honour of the Governor. The purpose of the mission was to train Aboriginal children in farm work.Collins, Doris, The Establishment of Methodism in York, Balaardong, No 3, 2002, The York Society. On 13 November 1850, Smithies and his wife visited Eliza Brown, wife of Thomas Brown, at Grass Dale near York, and in one of her letters to her father, she said of Smithies: "S sat fast asleep in his chair nearly all the time of this polite visit." In 1853, the Government granted the Mission land for the Mission, and a salary of £100 a year for Smithies. A further were granted in the York townsite on which to build a schoolroom, a chapel and a Manse and provide Glebe lands. The Mission was even given a right of commonage, a right to graze sheep, in the township, over an area of on which to run “thirty horned cattle”. This was opposed by engineer Solomon Cook who was in the process of constructing his mill in the town. So much time and labour was spent on clearing of land and the construction of buildings, and with Rev Smithies often unavoidably away and with few others helping him, the Aboriginal children drifted away from the mission school and the mission failed. The Protector of Natives in York, Walkinshaw Cowan blamed the loss of students from the mission school to "yearning" or "strong particularity" to their own districts but also due to high death rates from influenza at the institution.CSR 230, Cowan to Colonial Secretary 3 March 1852. In all, the Wesleyan church spent £12,000 on the missions to Aboriginals.

Van Diemen's Land

Smithies was transferred to

Van Diemen's Land Van Diemen's Land was the colonial name of the island of Tasmania during the European exploration of Australia, European exploration and colonisation of Australia in the 19th century. The Aboriginal Tasmanians, Aboriginal-inhabited island wa ...

(

) in 1855 and remained there until his death in 1872.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smithies, John 1802 births 1872 deaths Clergy from Yorkshire English Methodist missionaries English emigrants to colonial Australia Methodist missionaries in Canada Methodist missionaries in Australia Newfoundland Colony people Van Diemen's Land people