Lelean Memorial School

Lelean Memorial School is the largest school in Fiji. It was established in 1943 and is run by the Methodist Church of Fiji and Rotuma. It is co-located at the Davuilevu Methodist Compound with th
Davuilevu Theological College
and the Young People's Department, which runs training for Methodist catechists.

Overlooking Fiji's largest river, the Rewa, the school gate faces the Rewa Bridge that was funded by the European Union and opened in 2006. Directly across the river is the village of Nausori and the old sugar town of the same name. The school roll for 2023 is 1,400. Lelean Memorial School caters for students in the Tailevu, Naitasiri and Rewa provinces but it also accepts those who apply from other parts of Fiji.

History

In late 1942, the Pacific Campaign of World War II was at its peak and the Colonial Authority was issued a command that all urban schools should close and surrender their compounds for use as military camps for forces fighting the Japanese threat. At that time, William Ewart Donnelly, a missionary teacher from New Zealand, was principal of Toorak Boys’ School or the Suva Methodist Boys' School — renamed the Suva Methodist Primary School in the 1970s or 1980s. Donnelly served as a teacher and General Secretary of the Students’ Christian Movement in the early 1930s and early 1940s and remained principal of Lelean from 1943 to 1945, when he returned to New Zealand.

Other overseas teachers immediately left Fiji to await the end of the war elsewhere. But Donnelly, the determined missionary principal, sent a circular to all members of the senior classes (classes six, seven, and eight) of Toorak Boys School, inviting volunteers to accompany him to continue their education. After consultation with the heads of the Methodist Church, he received permission to use the Principal's residence at the Davuilevu Technical School, in Nausori.

As a result, he and 50 volunteers from Toorak Boys School met at the Principal's residence 3 March 1943. Their first classrooms were the two master bedrooms with the long verandah on the east side of the structure serving as the library. There were only two classes and the only teacher in addition to Donnelly was Semesa Sikivou.

During the 1943 Methodist Church Annual Conference, Donnelly received permission to expand his school along the same ridge and as a result, the boys themselves, with his guidance, built three large bures, where the teachers staff quarters presently stand. The conference also directed him to name the new facility Lelean Memorial School in memory of the Reverend Charles Oswald Lelean, an Australian missionary who served in Fiji for 36 years. For 20 of those years, 1914 to 1934, Rev. Lelean held the position of Senior Superintendent of the Davuilevu Mission and principal of the Methodist Theological College. Charles Oswald Lelean (O.B.E) was born in 1867 in Tasmania, Australia and died at the age of 72 on 14 September 1942. He had spent a considerable part of his life being a missionary in Fiji.

Under Donnelly's guidance, the Lelean school created its motto, “Seek wisdom and spiritual understanding”.

History of the Leleans

For many years the Lelean family believed that their name was French and that their ancestor could have been a Huguenot who fled France following the St Bartholomew's Day massacre. Research carried out in the 1960s by Leonard Lelean and Ronald Lelean Sharman however suggests that the name is much older than the time of the Huguenots, and may well derive from a Cornish place-name, Leighlean, meaning 'a flat, muddy place.

Other variants of the name are Lalean, Le Lean and Le Lane.

Rev Charles Lelean's great-great-great-grandfather, James Lelean was a contemporary of the great English evangelist, John Wesley. Rev Wesley had referred to Mr James Lelean as the kind farmer who showed him kindness amongst a hostile mob when he visited Mevagissey, Cornwall in 1753. John Wesley then presented James Lelean and his wife Mary with his silver buckles in thanks. The buckles are now in the Wesley Museum, City Road, London.

The http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~sterth/wills1777_81.htm Cornish Will Abstracts of 1777 - 1781] however records James Lelean as a fisherman of Mevagissey.

C.O Lelean's grandfather, John moved to Australia in the 1800s.

The Leleans in Fiji

Rev C.O Lelean married Edith Annie Shoebridge in April 1897 i
Bushy Park
Tasmania, daughter of William Ebenezer Shoebridge and Anne Benson Mather. They had one daughter, Ella Lelean. Edith Lelean died in Fiji on 15 May 1906.

The early Methodist missions in Fiji served as education centres where students were taught to read and write as well as a rudimentary knowledge of medicine. This laid the foundations of formal education in Fiji. Fijian Methodist Ministers and Catechists were not only instrumental in spreading the Christian Gospel, but were also very effective in showing Fijians the benefits of literacy and proper hygiene.

Rev C.O Lelean spent twenty years of his service in Fiji as Senior Superintendent of the Davuilevu Mission and principal of th
Methodist Theological College
from 1914 to 1934.

He succeeded Reverend William Bennett as principal of the Fiji Methodist Theological College which was moved from Navuloa to Davuilevu in 1907.

Charles Lelean's nephew, Rev Arthur D. Lelean, worked as a missionary in Fiji from 1918 to 1936.

Lelean Memorial School

When, due to the military needs of the Pacific Campaign of the Second World War, a school for boys was moved from the Toorak Boys School in Suva and established in 1943 at the Davuilevu, Methodist Church of Fiji and Rotuma compound by Mr William Earnest Donnelly of New Zealand, the Davuilevu Council instructed Donnelly to name it the Lelean Memorial School after Reverend Charles Oswald Lelean. Rev C.O Lelean had impacted numerous lives and generations of Fijians through his long and dedicated service and was a much loved minister.

List of principals at Lelean

* 1943-45: W.E Donnelly
* 1945-48: S.G Andrews
* 1953: F.A Crane
* 1954-59: R.S Udy
* 1959-69: R.L Northcott
* 1970: P. Furnival
* 1971: W.E Donnelly
* 1971-73: T.G.M Spooner
* 1974-76: N. Rika
* 1976-79: S. Finau
* 1980-82: P. Tiqatabua
* 1983: M.Koroi
* 1984: N. Rika
* 1985-86: A.Daunakamakama
* 1986-88: N. Rika
* 1988-89: A. Daunakamakama
* 1989-90: P. Sotutu
* 1991-92: Joeli Nabuka
* 1993: A. R. Rarokoliwa
* 1993-96: A. D. Racule
* 1997-99: S. Vadiga
* 2000–2013: A. R. Rarokoliwa]
* 2013-16: Ledua Colati
* 2017-2019: Laisa Kalidole Soko
* 2020- 2022: Mohammed Feroz
* 2023-2024 : Sakiusa Tukana
* 2025 - : Napolioni Silatolu

Sports

Lelean has won the coveted Deans Trophy for the FSSRU Under-19 competition, 14 times and drawn five times since it entered the competition in the mid-1940s. It was the first school to have won all the Fiji Secondary Schools' Rugby Union (FSSRU) Competition trophies on offer in 1952. That record has since been equalled by Ratu Kadavulevu School in the 2017 FSSRU Competition. Lelean last held the Deans Trophy in 2014. Their previous victory in the Fiji secondary schools' competition was in 2010 after winning the Deans finals for the third consecutive year since 2008. Lelean also takes part in athletics, netball, soccer, hockey and cricket. The Fiji Rugby Union has established a High Performance Gymnasium at the school's Rugby Academy which is also used by the Tailevu Rugby Union, Naitasiri and Rewa Rugby Unions.

Notable alumni

Academia

* Rusiate Nayacakalou - first Pacific Islander with a PhD
* Epeli Hau'ofa - late former university administrator
* Tupeni Baba
* Jimione Samisoni - late former Dean of the Fiji School of Medicine

Armed Forces

* Lieutenant Colonel Viliame Seruvakula - former Commanding Officer, 3rd Battalion, Fiji Infantry Regiment

Civil service

* Jioji Kotobalavu - former Permanent Secretary to the Prime Minister, later CEO, Prime Minister's Office

Clergy

* Paula Niukula - former President of the Methodist Church of Fiji and Rotuma
* Tomasi Kanailagi - former President of the Methodist Church of Fiji and Rotuma
* Akuila Yabaki - Director of the Citizens' Constitutional Forum, a prominent Civil Rights organisation in Fiji

Diplomatic Corps

* Sailosi Kepa - former High Commissioner to Great Britain
* Pita Nacuva - former Ambassador to USA and Canada
* Viliame Navoka - former Consul General, Sydney, Australia
* Joji Kotobalavu - former Ambassador to Japan

Education

* Joeli Nabuka

Law

* Kelemedi Bulewa
* Ratu Etuate Tavai
* Kishore Govind
* Sailosi Kepa
* Alipate Qetaki

Medicine

* Jimione Samisoni

Politics

* Ati George Sokomanu - first President of the Republic of Vanuatu
* Tomasi Vakatora - former Speaker of the Fiji House of Representatives
* Ratu Etuate Tavai - Attorney General
* Pita Nacuva - Former Speaker of the House of Representatives
* Viliame Navoka- Late Senator and Fiji Consul General to Sydney
* Tupeni Baba - founding member of Fiji Labour Party
* Mitieli Bulanauca - Former Senator
* Joeli Nabuka - Member of Parliament
* Jone Usamate, Minister for Employment Opportunities, Productivity and Industrial Relations, Fiji First Government
* Semi Koroilavesau, Minister for Fisheries, Fiji First Government
* Timoci Lesikivatukoula Natuva, Former Minister for Defence, Fiji First Government

Trade unions

* Ted Young

Athletics

* Makelesi Bulikiobo, Gold Medallist SPG 2003, 2005 - 100m, 200m, 400m, 4 X 100m

Cricket

* Joeli Nabuka
* Joe Rika

Rugby

* Akapusi Qera
* Alipate Ratini
* Apisai Domolailai
* Apolosi Satala
* Dale Tonawai
* Fero Lasagavibau
* Isikeli Vuruna
* Iliesa Keresoni
* Joe Ravouvou
* Josua Vici
* Kameli Ratuvou
* Metuisela Talebula
* Manasa Saulo
* Napolioni Nalaga
* Pita Nacuva
* Ravai Fatiaki
* Saula Radidi
* Sailosi Kepa
* Saiasi Fuli
* Sireli Naqelevuki
* Seta Tamanivalu - New Zealand
* Seremaia Bai
* Tevita Kuridrani - Australia
* Waisale Serevi
* Waisea Daveta
* Eroni Mawi
* Peni Matawalu

Rugby League

* Suliasi Vunivalu - Melbourne Storm

Judo

* Josateki Naulu

Soccer

* Simione Tamanisau

References

* Colin George, History, Australian Defence Force Academy, UNSW. Awarded by, University of New South Wales – Australian Defence Force Academy. School of History, 2000
Raicakacaka
'walking the road' from colonial to post-colonial mission, the life, work and thought of the Reverend Dr. Alan Richard Tippett, Methodist missionary in Fiji, anthropologist and missiologist, 1911-1988.
* Garret, John, To live among the stars, Institute of the Pacific Studies; 1985
* Tippett, A.R., 1954, The Christian (Fiji 1835–1867), Auckland Institute and Museum, Auckland
* Baleiwaqa, Tevita, 1996, ‘Josua Mateinaniu/Ko Josua Mateinaniu’, in Thornley and Vulaono 1996:20–30
* Kanailagi, Tomasi, 1996, ‘The Life and Work of Rev John Hunt/Ko Jione Oniti’, in Thornley and Vulaono 1996.
* Meo, Jovili, 1966, ‘Methodist Education/Na Vuli e na Lotu Wesele’, in Thornley and Vulaono 1996:160–76.
* Thornley, Andrew, and Tauga Vulaono, 1996, Mai Kea Ki Vei: Stories of Methodism in Fiji and Rotuma, 1835–1995, Methodist Church of Fiji and Rotuma.
* Lelean Makes Deans History, Fiji Times 22 Aug 2010
Lelean makes Dean history
* A New Chapter at 74, Fiji Times, 28 Jan 2012
Radike Qereqeretabua

Lelean Sings the Blues
Fiji Times, 24 August 2009


Melbourne Storm, 20 February 2015

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lelean Memorial School
Educational institutions established in 1942
Methodist Church of Fiji and Rotuma educational institutions
Schools in Fiji
1942 establishments in Fiji