Life of John Coleridge Patteson : Missionary Bishop of the Melanesian Islands — John Shaqi
Life of John Coleridge Patteson : Missionary Bishop of the Melanesian IslandsYonge, Charlotte M. (Charlotte Mary)
Religion
Life of John Coleridge Patteson : Missionary Bishop of the Melanesian Islands
Yonge, Charlotte M. (Charlotte Mary)
Missions -- Melanesia; Patteson, John Coleridge, 1827-1871
Hitherto No. 33 Bedford Square had been the only home of the Patteson
family. The long vacations were spent sometimes with the Judge's
relations in the Eastern counties, sometimes with Lady Patteson's in the
West. Landwith Rectory, in Cornwall, was the home of her eldest brother,
Dr. James Coleridge, whose daughter Sophia was always like an elder
sister to her children, and the Vicarage of St. Mary Church, then a
wild, beautiful seaside village, though now almost a suburb of Torquay,
was held by her cousin, George May Coleridge; and here the brothers and
sisters climbed the rocks, boated, fished, and ran exquisitely wild
in the summer holidays. Christmas was spent with the Judge's mother at
Ipswich, amongst numerous cousins, with great merriment and enjoyment
such as were never forgotten.
Colonel Coleridge had died in 1836, his widow in her daughter's house
in 1838, and Heath's Court had become the property of Mr. Justice
Coleridge, who always came thither with his family as soon as the
circuit was over. In 1841, Feniton Court, about two miles and a half
from thence, was purchased by Judge Patteson, much to the delight of his
children. It was a roomy, cheerful, pleasantly-situated house, with a
piece of water in the grounds, the right of shooting over a couple of
farms, and all that could render boy life happy.
Feniton was a thorough home, and already Coley's vision was, 'When I am
vicar of Feniton, which I look forward to, but with a very distant
hope, I should of all things like Fanny to keep house for me till I am
married;' and again, when relating some joke with his cousins about
the law-papers, of the Squire of Feniton, he adds: 'But the Squire of
Feniton will be a clergyman.'
Whether this were jest or earnest, this year, 1841, brought the dawn
of his future life. It was in that year that the Rev. George Augustus
Selwyn was appointed to the diocese of New Zealand. Mrs. Selwyn's
parents had always been intimate with the Patteson family, and the
curacy which Mr. Selwyn had held up to this time was at Windsor, so
that the old Etonian tie of brotherhood was drawn closer by daily
intercourse. Indeed, it was from the first understood that Eton, with
the wealth that her children enjoyed in such large measure, should
furnish 'nerves and sinews' to the war which her son was about to wage
with the darkness of heathenism, thus turning the minds of the boys to
something beyond either their studies or their sports.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account