James Henry Pope
| James Henry Pope | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Personal details | |
| Born |
11 September 1837 St Helier, Channel Islands |
| Died | 3 August 1913 (aged 75) 6 Marama Cres, Wellington, New Zealand |
| Spouse(s) | Helen Grant Rattray (m. 1862) |
| Children | 12 |
James Henry Pope (1837–1913) was a New Zealand teacher, school inspector, educationalist, amateur astronomer and writer. He was the first Inspector of Native schools in New Zealand in 1980. Pope was one of the founders of the Polynesian Society and was its President from 1899 to 1900. He was the father of the poet, cricketer and teacher Robert J. Pope
James Henry Pope was born in St Helier, Channel Islands in 1837., on 11 September 1837, the son of Jane Dacombe and her husband James Pope, a retired English confectioner who migrated from Hampshire to Jersey in the early 1830s. He was educated privately in Jersey where he became fluent in French before he emigrated to Melbourne, Australia, with his parents in 1852 aged 15, on the "Castle Eden" and landed at Port Phillip, Melbourne.
Pope spent the next five or so years in the Victorian gold diggings, pursuing his studies at the same time. His scholastic efforts were rewarded with the highest attainable honours of the Victorian Denominational School Board. On 22 December 1862, at Ballarat he married Helen Grant Rattray, daughter of the Sexton of the Ballarat Cemetery, in a Presbyterian service: they were to have 12 children; eight boys and four girls; two of the girls dying at an early age.
In 1858 he was appointed Headmaster of a large primary school in Ballarat, a position he held until 1863. In 1864 Pope moved to Dunedin, New Zealand to become assistant master at the High School of Otago (later Otago Boys High School). He was soon respected for his breadth of knowledge, energy and teaching ability. He was large, untidy, apparently vague in manner, and considered to be unconventional in his methods, but he knew everything that went on in the classroom and kept strict order. He was an accomplished linguist, equally at home, it was said, in Greek, Latin, French and German, and well versed in Hebrew. He was an enthusiastic astronomer and botanist and an accomplished musician. Although unassuming, he had the confidence of his colleagues, and was acting Rector of the school from 1868 to 1869. He transferred to the Otago Girls' High School in 1873, where the principal, Margaret Burn, regarded him as her right-hand man.
In 1876 Pope went back to Ballarat to become Rector of Ballarat College, but his health broke down after a few months and he resigned and returned to Dunedin to recuperate. There was a staffing disruption at the Girls' High School in 1878 and as one of the steps to restore confidence in the school, Pope was appointed Deputy Principal. He continued to be dogged by ill health, and retired at the end of the year, highly esteemed by staff and students alike.
...
Wikipedia