Biographical entry: Welchman, Henry Palmer (1850 - 1908)
- Born
- 1850
- Died
- 12 November 1908
Details
Born in Lichfield England in 1850, and educated at Queen's College in Birmingham, Henry Palmer Welchman qualified as a surgeon and worked in his father's practice. He was also involved in local mission outreach. In the 1880s, he grew interested in the Blue Ribbon movement and became a total abstainer. He held a licence as a lay reader and preacher, and had contacts with former Melanesian Mission (q.v.) staff, including Bishop J. R. Selwyn (q.v.). Welchman joined the Melanesian Mission in 1888 as a layman. After a short posting on Santa Cruz, he arrived on Isabel Island in 1890. He returned to Norfolk in 1890 to nurse the ailing Bishop Selwyn, and accompanied him to Sydney and finally to England, in 1891. He was ordained a deacon in Auckland in March 1892 and a priest in June 1893, and then divided his next years between Isabel and Norfolk Island. In July 1896 he married a member of the Norfolk Islands staff, Helen C. Rossiter. They moved to Siota (q.v.), and she became one of the first European women to live in the Solomon Islands, until her death there from dysentery three months later, on 12 January 1897.
Welchman chose to devote himself to the people of Isabel and never again returned to Norfolk. He became a common sight travelling around Isabel on his small schooner Ruth, which friends had purchased for him. He lived in local style and was much loved by the people. He spent time at Siota in the late 1890s developing medical facilities there, and opened a new station on Lilihigua (Mara na Tabu Island) adjacent to Isabel. His health began to fail and he returned to England in 1901 and to New Zealand in 1906. When he died, on about 12 November 1908, Resident Commissioner Woodford (q.v.) wrote that he 'admired and respected him, perhaps more than any other man I know'. Bishop Wilson (q.v.) said that Isabel Island owed its Christianity to Welchman, but privately complained in his journals of Welchman's constant criticism of what he saw as slackness in the Mission, including Wilson's leadership. (Fox 1958, 197, 224; Hilliard 1978a, 302; Wilson 1932, 244; SCL Jan. 1909, 112-113, Feb. 1909, 132-136; Terry Brown, personal communication, 22 Nov. 2011)
Related entries
Published resources
Books
- Fox, Charles E., Lord of the Southern Isles: Being the Story of the Anglican Mission in Melanesia, 1849-1949, Mowbray, London, 1958. Details
- Hilliard, David, God's Gentleman: A History of the Melanesian Mission, 1849-1942, University of Queensland Press, St Lucia, 1978a. Details
- Wilson, Cecil, In The Wake of the Southern Cross: Work and Adventures in the South Seas, John Murray, London, 1932. Details
Reports
- Southern Cross Log (SCL). Details
Images
- Title
- Bishop Wilson and Dr Wenchman at Mindoru, Isabel Island (Solomon Islands)
- Type
- Image
- Date
- 1906
- Source
- Anglican Church of Melanesia
- Title
- Dr Welschman and people, Isabel Island (Solomon Islands)
- Type
- Image
- Date
- 1906
- Source
- Anglican Church of Melanesia
- Title
- Dr Welschman and people, Isabel Island (Solomon Islands)
- Type
- Image
- Date
- 1906
- Source
- Anglican Church of Melanesia
- Title
- Dr Welschman and people, Isabel Island (Solomon Islands)
- Type
- Image
- Date
- 1906
- Source
- Anglican Church of Melanesia
- Title
- Dr Welscman's boat Ruth off Pirihadi Bay, Isabel Island (Solomon Islands)
- Type
- Image
- Date
- 1906
- Source
- Anglican Church of Melanesia
- Title
- Dr. Welchman's Mission Schooner Ruth, Isabel Island (Solomon Islands)
- Type
- Image
- Date
- 1906
- Source
- Anglican Church of Melanesia
- Title
- Dr. Welchman's Mission Schooner Ruth, Isabel Island (Solomon Islands)
- Type
- Image
- Date
- 1906
- Source
- Anglican Church of Melanesia
- Title
- Dr. Welchman's Mission Schooner Ruth, Isabel Island (Solomon Islands)
- Type
- Image
- Date
- 1906
- Source
- Anglican Church of Melanesia
- Title
- Dr. Welshman's House, Mara-na-tabu Island, Isabel Island (Solomon Islands)
- Type
- Image
- Date
- 1906
- Source
- Anglican Church of Melanesia
- Title
- People waiting for Dr Welchman, Isabel Island Solomon Islands)
- Type
- Image
- Date
- 1906
- Source
- Anglican Church of Melanesia