Incomplete letter containing minutes from Joseph Rennard Orton to the Secretaries of the Wesleyan Missionary Society, 7 February 1835

MLMSS 11938

fonds

1835

9675407

0.01 metres of textual material (1 folder)

Joseph Rennard Orton (1795—1842) had entered the Wesleyan Mission in 1826 and was first posted to Jamaica, where his concern for the enslaved workers landed him in jail. After recuperating in England, he came to Sydney in 1831, becoming an indefatigable traveller, making multiple journeys across the Blue Mountains and spending time as far afield as New Zealand, Launceston and Melbourne. In Melbourne, Orton is recorded to be the first clergyman to preach (on 24 April 1836). Orton was known as a great supporter of the Indigenous population. In 1836 he published ‘Aborigines of Australia’.

References:
Compiled from the Library's acquisition file
Orton, J. Russell. "Orton, Joseph Rennard (1795–1842)." Australian Dictionary of Biography. Accessed 11 July 2023. https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/orton-joseph-rennard-2526

The letter was formerly part of a private collection.

Incomplete letter written by ‘William Simpson Secretary’ on behalf of Joseph Rennard Orton ‘Chairman’, to ‘The Secretaries, of The Wesleyan Missionary Society, 77 Hatton Garden, London’. Manuscript letter, wove paper, three pages on bifolium with address panel on fourth page, 32.5 x 20.3 cm. Includes various postal stamps, which indicate that the letter was sent on 7 February 1835, and received on 25 June 1835. The letter also contains a nearly intact red wax seal.

The letter, signed by both Joseph Rennard Orton and William Simpson, is marked ‘No. 4 Origl. Minutes NSW’ and forms part of the minutes of the Wesleyan Mission in Sydney intended for the Committee in London. The items covered are numbered and organised according to a ‘Q’ and ‘A’ structure. The first section is missing.

The minutes provide a comprehensive overview of the Wesleyan Mission’s state of affairs and activities in New South Wales and Tasmania (Van Diemen’s Land). Matters discussed include the need for a second preacher in Sydney for ‘the efficient operation of our cause’ and the recent establishment of a ‘Strangers Friend Society’ in Sydney, ‘the operation of which promises to be of great service to the spiritual interest of our cause as well as the temporal relief of the sick and distressed’. On the subject of ‘new Stations to be recommended to the attention of the Committee’, ‘the District’ proposes Bathurst and Hunter River, adding that the Hunter River ‘population is considerable and they are comparatively destitute of the means of grace’.

The minutes also outline the difficulties of settling Mission property due to ‘the peculiar tenure on which property is held’ and the recently instituted ‘Commissioners Court’ for land claims. Although the Wesleyan Mission have made successful claims on some of their principal properties, less significant properties ‘remain unsettled and in a precarious state’ owing to the considerable expense of the process. Settling property has been further complicated by the fact that ‘there are several Properties for which we have no means of establishing a claim, the parties in whose names they were temporarily settled having left the Colony without transferring their right. The parties are Messrs Leigh, Lawry, Carvosso & Horton’.

With regard to Van Diemen’s Land, topics include the question of a preacher for Port Arthur, a request for a horse for Brother Manton in Launceston, and a possible attachment of Port Arthur to ‘the Hobart Town Circuit’ and Van Diemen’s land becoming a separate district.

A plead is also being made for an increase of allowance in Sydney given ‘the very considerable addition to the prices of the principal articles of provision most of which have risen 100 Per Cent within the last two years especially the staple commodity of flour which has occasionally advanced 200 Per Cent and is likely to continue at a high rate which bears particularly hard upon those Brethren who have families the Quarterage for Children and Servants barely meeting the expences [sic] independently of board.’

The minutes conclude with the notice of forthcoming Missionary and District meetings in the regions of Windsor, Parramatta and Sydney.

Out of copyright: Author(s) died more than 70 years ago
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