Joseph Horner Fletcher (1 October 1823 – 30 June 1890) was a

West Indies The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island country, island countries and 19 dependent territory, dependencies in thr ...

-born

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

minister of English descent and was the founding

Principal Principal may refer to: Title or rank * Principal (academia), the chief executive of a university ** Principal (education), the head of a school * Principal (civil service) or principal officer, the senior management level in the UK Civil Ser ...

Wesley College, Auckland Wesley College is a secondary school in Paerata, at the northern edge of Pukekohe, Auckland Region, New Zealand. The school provides education from year 9 to 13. The school was founded by members of the Methodist Church in 1844, making it one ...

and the second President of

Newington College Newington College is a multi-campus Independent school, independent Uniting Church in Australia, Uniting Church Single-sex education, single-sex and Mixed-sex education, co-educational Pre-school education, early learning, Primary school, primar ...

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

. He was elected as first president of the NSW and Qld Wesleyan Methodist Conference and later as president of the General Conference of Australasia.

Early life

Fletcher was born in St Vincent,

Windward Islands The Windward Islands are the southern, generally larger islands of the Lesser Antilles of the Caribbean islands or the West Indies. Located approximately between latitudes 10° and 16° N and longitudes 60° and 62° W, they extend from D ...

, and was the eldest son of 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 ...

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group who is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thoma ...

. His mother was Mary Horner, daughter of another Wesleyan Minister. From 1830 until 1837 he attended first of all

Kingswood School Kingswood School is a private day and boarding school in Bath, Somerset, England. The school is coeducational and educates over 1,000 pupils aged 9 months to 18 years. It was founded by John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, in 1748, and is the ...

, England, and then a school in Bath kept by his uncle, W. G. Horner, a former headmaster of Kingswood School. In 1842 he started a business before becoming a local preacher. He trained at Richmond College,

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

, and in 1845 was ordained into the Wesleyan ministry. Three years later he married Kate Green.

Ministry

Fletcher was posted to

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

, and was the founding principal of Wesley College. Due to poor health he was forced to retire from Wesley and undertake circuit work. He was in Auckland and

New Plymouth New Plymouth () is the major city of the Taranaki region on the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand. It is named after the English city of Plymouth, in Devon, from where the first English settlers to New Plymouth migrated. The New Pl ...

during the

New Zealand Wars The New Zealand Wars () took place from 1845 to 1872 between the Colony of New Zealand, New Zealand colonial government and allied Māori people, Māori on one side, and Māori and Māori-allied settlers on the other. Though the wars were initi ...

. In 1861, he moved to

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

and in 1863 was appointed the first chairman of the

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

Wesleyan District. In 1865 Fletcher succeeded

John Manton John Allen Manton (17 August 1807 – 9 September 1864) was an English-born Australian Methodist minister, school principal and founding President of Newington College, Sydney. Early life Manton was born in Biggleswade, Bedfordshire. As a tee ...

as President of Newington College, Sydney. He saw Newington as providing a secular education with a Christian ethos and hoped to overcome sectarianism through education. Newington students were examined by outside academics at his instigation. Fletcher was a strong supporter of the education policies of

Henry Parkes Sir Henry Parkes, (27 May 1815 – 27 April 1896) was a colonial Australian politician and the longest-serving non-consecutive Premier of New South Wales, premier of the Colony of New South Wales, the present-day state of New South Wales in ...

and opposed corporal punishment in schools. Under Fletcher Newington moved from

Silverwater Silverwater is a suburb in western Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Silverwater is located 15 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district on the southern bank of the Parramatta River within the local government ar ...

to the present campus at

Stanmore Stanmore is part of the London Borough of Harrow in Greater London. It is centred northwest of Charing Cross, lies on the outskirts of the London urban area and includes Stanmore Hill, one of the List of highest points in London, highest point ...

. His work led to the creation of the Central Methodist Mission in Sydney. Fletcher was elected as the first president of the New South Wales and Queensland Wesleyan Methodist Conference in 1874 and again in 1884, when he was also president of the General Conference of the Australasian Wesleyan Methodist Church.

Sons

In 1892 Fletcher's eldest son,

Joseph James Fletcher Joseph James Fletcher (7 January 1850 – 15 May 1926) was an Australian biologist, winner of the 1921 Clarke Medal. Fletcher was born at Auckland, New Zealand the son of the Joseph Horner Fletcher, Rev Joseph Horner Fletcher, a Methodism, Met ...

, edited a memorial edition of his Sermons, Addresses & Essays. His second son was William Horner Fletcher and his youngest child was Norman Vyner Fletcher.Ancestry.com
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fletcher, Joseph Horner 1823 births 1890 deaths Staff of Newington College Australian Methodist ministers People educated at Kingswood School, Bath Wesleyan Methodists 19th-century Australian Methodist ministers