221:. He arrived on the island on 4 August 1886. "I think it is my plain duty to throw in my lot with them and minister to their souls", he wrote. He remained at Tristan, for a time without any stipend, until December 1889, when again he had to return to England because of poor health. At that time he remarked, "I have not the slightest intention of going back to Tristan da Cunha. The intellect of the Tristanites is now so dwarfed by reason of their utter isolation that I do not think that I or anyone else could be of use to them. The only thing is to get them all away so that no more children may be brought up there". Tristan remained without a priest until 1906.
185:
both with any likelihood of being intelligible". He continued: "There are about forty children in the school, divided into four classes". With great effort he set about his major tasks as priest and school teacher. He remarked, "They are decidedly a religious people in their simple way." His brother
Charles noted that "At Tristan he was monarch of all he surveyed and could carry on matters ecclesiastical exactly as he liked, which was delightful for such an extreme ritualist as he is".
270:
197:
people and also of the grown-up people". He despaired of the situation, and remarked, "There is not the slightest reason for this island to be inhabited at all. It has been my daily prayer that God would open up some way for us all to leave the island". Thus he advocated the evacuation of
Tristan da Cunha, and on this, he seriously disagreed with Peter Green, the principal spokesman for the island.
237:(1890–1895). He, and his successor, the Rev. T. P. W. Thorman, found the work there discouraging. There was no church and the priest was obliged to use a room let for the purposes of worship. The principal work involved ministry to the English residents, mainly single young men in service of the Brazilian Submarine Telegraph Company.
184:
Shortly after his arrival
Dodgson noted that "There are now 107 persons on the island in sixteen families. They all speak English, slightly Yankeefied. I like them very much They live just like one large family Mostly the women can read a little, and some can write, but there is only one who can do
204:
of Saint Helena granted him permission to return to
England, having heard from a whaling captain of his "very depressed state of mind". He arrived back in England in February 1885, having paid for his own passage. On arrival in England, he was suffering from a concussion as a result of falling down
192:
to
Tristan to deliver books, school materials and a harmonium. With the aid of the harmonium Dodgson introduced daily choral services, even though at the time there was no church. He noted that the daily worship had a good attendance, "with an average congregation of 20 adults plus children" and the
260:
Though not geographically large, the
Jamestown parish was very hilly, and by 1898 Dodgson noted that he "did not feel equal to much locomotion", as his legs and back had been affected by ague in Zanzibar. He left St Helena in June 1899. He then returned to England, living initially with his sisters
196:
However, Dodgson was to lose his optimism. In 1884 he notes "Only three of the children show the smallest improvement in intelligence. I attribute this to the unnatural state of isolation in which they are living. It is simply impossible for you to realize the mindlessness of the children and young
256:
As at
Tristan, so also at St James, Dodgson encouraged choral services and worked hard in the parish. Indeed, this was the only time in his ministry when Dodgson had his own parish church. It appears that his relationship with the elderly Bishop of St Helena was difficult. Another member of the
172:
was chartered at a cost of £35 to take
Dodgson from Saint Helena to Tristan. He landed safely on 25 February 1881. Unfortunately, a gale sprang up and the boat was driven ashore and wrecked at a spot later named in honour of the occasion as Down-Where-The-Minister-Land-His-Things, as it still
216:
Fifteen working men, a large portion of the adult male population of
Tristan, perished in a boat accident in 1885. When Dodgson learned of this he actively sought to aid the surviving inhabitants and the Colonial Office paid for his return to Tristan da Cunha on board
240:
By 1895, Charles
Dodgson was actively seeking an English parish for Edwin and Edwin himself resolved to return to England about this time, with a view to being a prison chaplain. However, he changed his mind and in 1896 he succeeded the Rev. Stephen Ellis as Vicar of
208:
In England, he continued to work for the well-being of the people of Tristan and he was ably assisted in this by his brother Charles. Their efforts to arrange for the migration of the inhabitants of Tristan, which included an interview with the Prime Minister,
19:
261:
at a house called The Chestnuts in Guildford. In 1901, his doctor informed him that his difficulty with mobility was due to damage to the spinal cord and that he hoped to "try a galvanic battery" to assist a cure.
161:, a post which the Bishop of St Helena had been attempting to fill since 1866. Dodgson volunteered to fill the post and the SPG undertook to provide a stipend of £100 a year.
417:
210:
422:
432:
213:, on December 1885, failed. At the beginning of 1886, Salisbury wrote that he considered the migration of islanders and cattle to be "entirely impracticable".
373:
75:, and his wife Frances Jane Dodgson née Lutwidge. His second Christian name is a tribute to Canon George Heron, a Cheshire friend of Archdeacon Dodgson.
442:
437:
387:
188:
In 1882 Dodgson was optimistic about his progress, and his reports to England reflect his enthusiasm and energy. During that year the Admiralty diverted
154:
427:
382:
462:
39:
168:
island. At the time, the population of Tristan da Cunha was about 100 and there was no regular transport to the island. The schooner
447:
358:
337:
164:
Tristan da Cunha is the most isolated human community in the world, 2,173 km (1,350 mi) from the nearest inhabited place,
452:
302:
457:
193:
same year he noted "I have been able to supply everyone on the island who can read with a Bible, Prayer book and hymn book".
99:
257:
clergy on the island wrote, "I am afraid that poor Mr. Dodgson is not the comfort to the Bishop that was anticipated".
78:
Edwin's mother died when he was four years old and he was raised by his maiden aunt Lucy Lutwidge. He was educated at
129:(1877–1879). His subsequent ministry was one of self-sacrifice and dedication, marred by ill health and depression.
370:
234:
72:
91:
64:
319:
Tristan da Cunha has issued postage stamps commemorating Edwin Dodgson's arrival and ministry on the island.
467:
246:
253:. St James is the oldest Anglican place of worship south of the equator, having been consecrated in 1772.
56:
205:
a hatchway on board the ship. The injuries resulting from the fall were to plague him for many years.
412:
407:
350:
242:
181:, and most of his stores were lost, but the communion vessels were saved, as was a stone font.
354:
333:
278:
103:
30:
158:
87:
44:
391:
377:
346:
282:
269:
60:
313:
306:
298:
286:
95:
79:
401:
146:
34:
201:
165:
83:
106:, a tradition which Edwin held dear, to the chagrin of his elder brother Charles.
309:
tradition. He lived there until 1914 when, once more, he returned to Guildford.
173:
appears on maps of the island. All of Dodgson's books (except 100 copies of the
230:
178:
126:
68:
294:
250:
233:, where he was the first person to hold the unusual post of SPG chaplain at
47:
in the South Atlantic Ocean, the most remote human settlement in the world.
43:. He is primarily remembered for his work as a missionary in the island of
293:, from 1902 to 1905. After leaving Essex he returned to the family home in
18:
312:
Edwin Heron Dodgson died at The Chestnuts, Guildford. His grave is in the
142:
122:
114:
200:
Dodgson served as SPG priest in Tristan from 1880 to 1884, when Bishop
150:
118:
110:
290:
268:
17:
138:
353:, vols. I and II, (New York: Oxford University Press, 1979).
153:
was too much for him there". In 1880 he was appointed by the
113:
in 1873, and priest in 1874, and served his first curacy at
29:(30 June 1846 – 3 January 1918) was a clergyman in the
297:
until 1909 when he moved to the Homes of St Barnabas,
330:Churches of the South Atlantic Islands, 1502–1991
305:to provide a home for poor retired clergy of the
332:, (Oswestry, Shropshire: Anthony Nelson, 1992).
273:The grave of Edwin Dodgson in the Mount Cemetery
55:Edwin Heron Dodgson was born on 30 June 1846 in
149:. However, as his brother Charles noted, "the
63:, the eleventh and youngest child of the Rev.
277:Dodgson worked as curate for the villages of
8:
137:Dodgson was appointed as Principal of the (
301:, an institution founded in 1895 by Canon
157:(SPG) as missionary and school teacher to
155:Society for the Propagation of the Gospel
121:. Following this, he served as curate at
418:Alumni of Chichester Theological College
145:in 1879, where he served under Bishop
423:19th-century English Anglican priests
7:
433:People from Richmondshire (district)
102:in September 1871. The college was
14:
443:British expatriates in Cape Verde
438:People educated at Twyford School
394: (archived 26 November 2006)
316:in Guildford. He never married.
125:(1875–1877), and at All Saints,
40:Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
428:People educated at Rugby School
229:From Tristan, Dodgson moved to
388:The Annals of Tristan da Cunha
100:Chichester Theological College
1:
133:Zanzibar and Tristan da Cunha
94:. He worked briefly for the
343:The Letters of Lewis Carroll
33:and the youngest brother of
463:Anglo-Catholic missionaries
86:, where the Headmaster was
484:
448:Burials at Mount Cemetery
51:Early life and ordination
225:Cape Verde and St Helena
92:Archbishop of Canterbury
453:English Anglo-Catholics
90:, who later became the
274:
82:, and in 1860 went to
67:, Rector of Croft and
23:
458:Anglo-Catholic clergy
376:9 August 2011 at the
272:
141:) Kiungani School in
21:
351:Roger Lancelyn Green
383:Dodgson Family Tree
27:Edwin Heron Dodgson
22:Edwin Heron Dodgson
371:The Dodgson family
275:
117:in the Diocese of
24:
175:Mission Hymn Book
31:Church of England
475:
159:Tristan da Cunha
109:He was ordained
98:before entering
88:Frederick Temple
45:Tristan da Cunha
483:
482:
478:
477:
476:
474:
473:
472:
398:
397:
392:Wayback Machine
378:Wayback Machine
367:
347:Morton N. Cohen
328:Edward Cannan,
325:
283:Shellow Bowells
267:
243:St James Church
227:
135:
65:Charles Dodgson
61:North Yorkshire
53:
12:
11:
5:
481:
479:
471:
470:
468:Dodgson family
465:
460:
455:
450:
445:
440:
435:
430:
425:
420:
415:
410:
400:
399:
396:
395:
385:
380:
366:
365:External links
363:
362:
361:
340:
324:
321:
314:Mount Cemetery
307:Anglo-Catholic
303:William Cooper
299:East Grinstead
287:Berners Roding
266:
263:
226:
223:
211:Lord Salisbury
170:Edward Vittery
134:
131:
104:Anglo-Catholic
96:Board of Trade
80:Twyford School
52:
49:
13:
10:
9:
6:
4:
3:
2:
480:
469:
466:
464:
461:
459:
456:
454:
451:
449:
446:
444:
441:
439:
436:
434:
431:
429:
426:
424:
421:
419:
416:
414:
411:
409:
406:
405:
403:
393:
389:
386:
384:
381:
379:
375:
372:
369:
368:
364:
360:
359:0-19-520090-X
356:
352:
348:
344:
341:
339:
338:0-904614-47-6
335:
331:
327:
326:
322:
320:
317:
315:
310:
308:
304:
300:
296:
292:
288:
284:
280:
271:
264:
262:
258:
254:
252:
248:
244:
238:
236:
232:
224:
222:
220:
214:
212:
206:
203:
198:
194:
191:
186:
182:
180:
176:
171:
167:
162:
160:
156:
152:
148:
147:Edward Steere
144:
140:
132:
130:
128:
124:
120:
116:
112:
107:
105:
101:
97:
93:
89:
85:
81:
76:
74:
70:
66:
62:
58:
57:Croft-on-Tees
50:
48:
46:
42:
41:
37:, author of
36:
35:Lewis Carroll
32:
28:
20:
16:
342:
329:
318:
311:
276:
259:
255:
239:
228:
218:
215:
207:
202:Thomas Welby
199:
195:
189:
187:
183:
174:
169:
166:Saint Helena
163:
136:
108:
84:Rugby School
77:
54:
38:
26:
25:
15:
413:1918 deaths
408:1846 births
265:Final years
235:São Vicente
190:HMS Diamond
402:Categories
279:Willingale
231:Cape Verde
219:HMS Thalia
127:Shrewsbury
69:Archdeacon
295:Guildford
251:St Helena
247:Jamestown
179:harmonium
374:Archived
143:Zanzibar
123:Helmsley
115:Odd Rode
73:Richmond
390:at the
345:, eds.
323:Sources
177:), the
119:Chester
357:
336:
285:, and
111:deacon
291:Essex
289:, in
355:ISBN
349:and
334:ISBN
151:ague
139:UMCA
245:in
71:of
404::
281:,
249:,
59:,
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
