Intrigued by the people of different cultures in the world, Missionary Robert Henry Codrington traveled to the Melanesian Islands in 1863 to live and learn about their society. In particularly Codrington was more closely interested in the religious practices and beliefs among the natives living there. In his book titled: The Melanesians: Studies of Their Anthropology and Folk-Lore, he said, “one of the first duties of a missionary is to try to understand the people among whom he works.” First living with the Melanesians for twenty four years, Codrington found that there is so much more to learn of their culture than was even accessible after this tremendous amount of time. He also stated in his book, “when a European has been living for two or three years among savages he is sure to be fully convinced that he knows all about them; when he has been ten years or so among them, if he be an observant man, he finds that he knows very little about them, and so begins to learn.”
Codrington was born in 1830 in Wroughton, Wiltshire England. His father was an Anglican clergyman. Codrington attended Charterhouse, then attended Wadham College, Oxford in 1849. Codrington graduated from Wadham with a B.A. He stayed in Oxford, England after college and spent most of his time at church. He became a Fellow in 1855, when he was ordained. He then served in the Oxford Church as a curate, a member of the clergy engaged as assistant to a parish priest. In 1859 he made a pilgrimage to Rome and was presented to the Pope.
Years later the church Codrington was working at started planning a voyage to the islands of Melanesia. The missions trip was something that was taken very seriously and Bishop Patteson, the head of the mission, had many people trained, including Codrington and sent to the islands. Codrington became one of the head teachers at a mission school that they set up on the Norfolk Island from 1867 to 1887. The school was set up to civilize Christianity into the Melanesian community as well as to educate the uncivilized people. Codrington found himself becoming more and more attached to the people in the community and continued to customize the school and chapel into ways in which the English missionaries could better interact with the people on the island. He added an enormous dining hall that sat 140 people, and continued to cook and serve meals to all who cared to join him. Not only did Codrington teach and serve the people of the community, but over the course of several years, he learned a great deal about their cultural traditions.
In 1871, the head of the mission, Bishop Patteson was killed, giving Codrington the role. He continued his work with the Melanesians making short trips back to his native island to the church from which he was originally sent. Codrington later found himself having to deal with the labor recruiters as well, after finding the recruiters capturing Melanesians for work on sugar plantations in Queensland. Codrington was appalled at the chaos he found the Natives causing. He found that the slaves who came back were often more uncivilized than they were when they had left the island. Codrington sent letters back to the native land about the appalling activities and soon legislation was better regulating the labor traffic.
Over the course of his last days with the Islanders, Codrington worked on translating the Old Testament into Mota, a widely used language in Melanesia. In 1887, he noted that he had translated the historical parts of these books. However, he was not finished with his project until 1912. His goal was to make the Melanesian capable of spreading the Christian religion without the help of missionaries. In 1885, Codrington had a book published called The Melanesian Languages. This book included seventy different words in forty Melanesian languages and the study of grammar of thirty-five different languages. He had distinguished two major language families in Melanesia, which are now called the Austronesian and non-Austronesian. That same year he was awarded an honorary D.D. from Oxford for all the work that he had done with the Melanesians over his many years of being in the Islands.
At the time, the Natives called the Melanesians savages. Codrington was noted, in Edward Tylors book, that he gives credit most deservingly as most people do not, to savages for having plenty of brains. The natives did not exactly think of the Melanesian people they came across as the same status as the Natives. They went to the Island thinking that they had not educated themselves and needing to conform to the same ways as the Natives and all become Christians. Their main goal was to convert them all to living traditional Christian lifestyles.
The most influence that Codrington was said to have made on anthropology was his theory of supernatural power that he called universal mana. He said in a letter of his, “there is a belief in a force altogether distinct from physical power, which acts in all kinds of ways for good and evil, and which it is of the greatest advantage to possess or control. This is Mana.” By Mana he meant an invisible power that can be gained, increased, or lost. He strongly held on to this belief, denying evolution being the cause of creation.
The great contributions that Codrington made to the Melanesian society not only changed the way their society operated forever, but also gave other cultures a better understanding of all the different peoples in the world and the way they lived.
Codrington died on September 11th, 1922 at the age of 91. His obituary said many great things about him including; “his name will be remembered as the Apostle of the Pacific, soundest of scholars, kindliest of teachers, most practical of friends. There was among us no better theologian, no profounder philologist...Never was a master more loved, venerated, and obeyed. Sons of chiefs thronged his school, and he was like the venerable Bede in his power of teaching and learning.”
References:
Codrington, R. H. (1957). The Melanesians: Studies in Their Anthropology and Folk-Lore. Behavior Science Reprints. New Haven, Connecticut.
Davidson, A. K. (2003). The Legacy of Robert Henry Codrington. International Bulletin of Missionary Research. Retrieved: February 26th, 2004. Http://infotrac.galegroup.com
Written by: Rose Hanson, 2004