George Brown (missionary)

George Brown (7 December 1835 – 7 April 1917) was an English Methodist missionary and ethnographer.

George Brown was born at Barnard Castle, Durham, England, the son of George Brown, barrister, and his wife Elizabeth, née Dixon, sister of the wife of Rev. Thomas Buddle, missionary in New Zealand. Brown was educated at a private school and on leaving, became an assistant in a doctors surgery, was afterwards with a chemist, and then in a draper's shop. Brown reacted to his stepmother's discipline and attempted to run away to sea.

Brown, when 16 years old, sailed in a large East Indiaman chartered by the government as a troop-ship. After going to the Mediterranean it went to Quebec. There Brown had an accident and broke his leg, fortunately in his case, as the vessel was lost with all hands on her next voyage. After a short stay in Canada, Brown returned to England but could not settle down.

In March 1855 Brown migrated to New Zealand, among the other passengers being Bishop Selwyn and the Rev. J. C. Patteson, afterwards bishop of Melanesia. He joined Patteson's bible class, but "could not remember receiving any great spiritual benefit at that time". Landing at Auckland he went to Onehunga where he was kindly received by an uncle and aunt, the Rev. Thomas and Mrs Buddle.

Under their influence Brown experienced a conversion and became a local preacher. In 1859 he decided to offer himself as a missionary to Fiji, and at the Sydney Methodist conference of 1860 was appointed. On 2 August 1860 he was married to Miss Sarah Lydia Wallis, daughter of the Rev. James Wallis. They left next month for Sydney where Brown was ordained, and going on to Samoa, arrived on 30 October 1860. He lived in Samoa between 1860 and 1874, mostly on the island of Savai'i. He learned the language and wrote about Samoan culture. He was a key figure in the early days of training Samoans for the ministry and the establishment of Piula Theological College on the north coast of Upolu Island in Samoa. Brown began writing his manuscript journals in Samoa, recording his experience as a missionary in the Pacific. When Brown began his work most of the natives were already professing Christians, and he immediately set to work building churches and mission houses and attending to the education of the children. He quickly learned the language, and every condition seemed favourable, but there was one disturbing feature. Germany was extending her influence in the islands, and some of her traders far from trying to keep the peace were selling arms and ammunition to the natives. One day war broke out between the natives of an adjoining district and those of his own centre, and Brown immediately hastened to place himself between the contending parties, and sat for the remainder of the day in the sun trying to make a truce between them. In this he was not successful and there was much fighting for some time. Brown, however, became a great figure among the Samoans. His varied experiences as a youth in the doctor's surgery and chemist's shop helped him in the simple doctoring of native ills, and his career as a sailor had taught him many useful things. His mastery of the language was a great asset, and his human charity helped much in all his relations with both the natives and the white beachcombers living on the islands. He left Samoa in 1874 with the intention of being transferred to New Britain and New Ireland, and travelled through Australia appealing for funds. In August 1875 Brown went to the New Britain group of islands and began his work there. In the early days he was constantly in danger of losing his life, as he worked among cannibalistic natives who were constantly fighting among themselves. In 1878 he led a punitive expedition against a cannibal chief responsible for the of Christian native teachers, this caused an uproar in the Australian press and was known as the 'Blanche Bay affair'. However it did improve the situation for Europeans, later Brown's wife could join him. He was there a little more than five years and returned to Sydney in the beginning of 1881.

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