The life and influence of William Shaw, 1820-1856

Abstract

Preface: William Shaw was undoubtedly one of the greatest of the missionary pioneers to work in southern Africa and it is strange that up until now there has been no major research into his time spent in the Cape Colony and beyond. Apart from his own work, The Story of My Mission, and the Memoir of the Rev. William Shaw by William Boyce, published in 1874, there was nothing devoted exclusively to Shaw until Mrs Celia Sadler published extracts from his letters and journals in Never a Young Man, in 1967. Scholars have examined aspects of Shaw's career in a number of theses, articles and books, but, unlike the attention paid to Dr John Philip, William Shaw has never been the subject of close historical scrutiny. This has, most probably, been attributable to the unfortunate gap in the Shaw correspondence from the late 1830's to the 1850's, but, despite this, I have felt that so important a figure in southern African historiography - both ecclesiastical and secular - should be examined regardless of the lacunae which there might be. When - and if - the missing pieces ever come to light, then the time for the definitive study will have arrived, but until such time there is, most decidedly, a need for what we do have access to, to be sifted and placed in historical context. This is what this thesis has attempted to do with specific reference to his work in the Eastern Cape. As General Superintendent of Wesleyan mission work in "South Eastern Africa", Shaw also had oversight of work in the Bechuana country, but that lies outside the scope of this thesis and requires independent examination. Shaw wrote of the work of the missionary - with his own work firmly in mind, " ... I am fully satisfied ... that wherever there is a British colony in juxtaposition with heathen tribes, or natives, it will be our wisdom to provide for the spiritual wants of the Colonists, while at the same time we ought not to neglect taking earnest measures for the conversion of the heathen."¹ Such an approach made Wesleyan endeavours almost unique in mission history. The proponent of such uniqueness requires a sympathetic yet not hagiographical appraisal. This thesis seeks to accomplish just that. ¹ The Story of My Mission p. 213.