Letter from George Erskine and Samuel Leigh to Reverend J. James, 12 May 1831

MLMSS 11926

fonds

1831

9675411

0.01 metres of textual material (1 folder)

George Erskine (1781-1834) was a Wesleyan missionary who arrived in Sydney in 1822. He served as Superintendent of the Wesleyan mission in the Australian Colonies and the South Sea Islands for many years.

Reference:
Sydney Monitor. “Erskine, George (1781–1834).” Obituaries Australia. Accessed 30 June 2023.
https://oa.anu.edu.au/obituary/erskine-george-27963


Samuel Leigh (1785-1852) arrived in Sydney in 1815 and established the first Wesleyan circuit in New South Wales and the first Wesleyan mission in New Zealand. On returning to Sydney he worked in the Australian ministry until 1831.

Reference:
R.H. Doust. “Leigh, Samuel (1785–1852).” Australian Dictionary of Biography. Accessed 30 June 2023. https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/leigh-samuel-2348


Ralph Mansfield (1799-1880) arrived in Sydney in 1820 and soon became a prominent but controversial member of the Wesleyan Mission as secretary of the Auxiliary Wesleyan Mission Society and editor of the Australian Magazine. At this time tension was growing between colonial missionaries and the British Committee. Mansfield was reprimanded for preaching during church hours and then the committee reduced the family allowances for colonial missionaries. In protest Mansfield resigned his position in 1828 and began working on the Sydney Gazette as well as continuing as a local preacher. He would go on to become editor of the Sydney Morning Herald in 1841.

Reference:
Vivienne Parsons. “Mansfield, Ralph (1799–1880).”
Australian Dictionary of Biography. Accessed 30 June 2023. https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/mansfield-ralph-2429.

The letter previously belonged to a collector of Australian postal history.

Letter written by George Erskine and co-signed by Samuel Leigh, addressed to ‘The Rev. J. James, 77 Hatton Garden, London’, dated ‘Sydney May 12. 1831’. Autograph letter, laid paper with ‘W. Brookman 1829’ watermark, three pages (on bifolium), 32.3 x 20.2 cm. Includes postal stamps, a fragment of a black wax seal and ‘Favoured by W.J. Browne Esq.r’. A note has been added in a different hand that the letter has been received on December 5, 1831.

Written to their superiors of the British Committee, Erskine and Leigh address the split between the Wesleyan Mission and Ralph Mansfield, an active but controversial member. Caught up in the growing tension between the British Committee and the colonial missionaries, Mansfield resigned as a missionary in October 1828 but continued to serve as a local preacher.

In their letter, Erskine and Leigh express sympathy for Mansfield's case: ‘We would beg leave to say that in the case of Br. M. leaving the active work, we think there were some alleviations. We were just then placed in peculiar circumstances. And if all was known none more tried than Br. M.’

Erskine and Leigh further report that Ralph Mansfield had consulted them as to his future proceedings and that they have advised him to return to England and ‘cast himself on the mercy of the Committee’. They conclude the letter with a final wish: ‘We unite to say that for his soul’s sake, and for the sake of God’s cause, we wish he was a travelling Preacher in England. And his conduct towards us and his concern for our cause Justify us in what we have now said.’

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