Robert Henry Codrington (15 September 1830,
Wroughton,
Wiltshire – 11 September 1922)
[Davidson, Allan K. "The Legacy of Robert Henry Codrington." ''International Bulletin of Missionary Research.'' Oct 2003, Vol. 27 Issue 4, p. 171-176]
full text
was an
Anglican
Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...
priest and
anthropologist
An anthropologist is a person engaged in the practice of anthropology. Anthropology is the study of aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology, cultural anthropology and philosophical anthropology study the norms and ...
who made the first study of
Melanesian
society and
culture. His work is still held as a classic of
ethnography
Ethnography (from Greek ''ethnos'' "folk, people, nation" and ''grapho'' "I write") is a branch of anthropology and the systematic study of individual cultures. Ethnography explores cultural phenomena from the point of view of the subject o ...
.
Codrington wrote, "One of the first duties of a missionary is to try to understand the people among whom he works,"
[''The Melanesians.'' Robert Codrington.] and he himself reflected a deep commitment to this value. Codrington worked as headmaster of the
Melanesian Mission school on
Norfolk Island
Norfolk Island (, ; Norfuk: ''Norf'k Ailen'') is an external territory of Australia located in the Pacific Ocean between New Zealand and New Caledonia, directly east of Australia's Evans Head and about from Lord Howe Island. Together with ...
from 1867 to 1887.
Over his many years with the Melanesian people, he gained a deep knowledge of their society, languages, and customs through a close association with them. He also intensively studied "
Melanesian languages", including the
Mota language
Mota is an Oceanic language spoken by about 750 people on Mota island, in the Banks Islands of Vanuatu. The language (named after the island) is one of the most conservative Torres–Banks languages, and the only one to keep its inherited five-v ...
.
Bibliography of works by Codrington
* ''A Sketch of Mota Grammar.'' (1877).
full text from the Internet Archive.
* ''The Melanesian Languages.'' (1885). Oxford: Clarendon Press.
full text from the Internet Archive.
''The Melanesians: Studies in their Anthropology and Folk-Lore'' (1891). Oxford: Clarendon Press.
full text from the Internet Archive.
* ''A Dictionary of the Language of Mota, Sugarloaf Island, Banks' Islands: With a short grammar and index.'' London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge.
* "Melanesians." ''Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics''. Ed. James Hastings. Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 8:529–38.
References
External links
*
Bibliography of works by or about Codringtonfrom
Project Canterbury Project Canterbury (sometimes abbreviated as PC) is an online archive of material related to the history of Anglicanism. It was founded by Richard Mammana, Jr. in 1999 with a grant from Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Frank T. Griswold, and is ho ...
1830 births
1922 deaths
Anglican saints
People from Wroughton
19th-century English Anglican priests
20th-century English Anglican priests
English anthropologists
Ethnographers
20th-century Christian saints
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