James Cameron (missionary)

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James Cameron (* 1799 /1800 Perthshire , Scotland ; † 3. October 1875 ) was a Scottish carpentry - craftsmen and missionary whose work in Madagascar with the London Missionary Society (1826-1835; 1861-1875), which extends over a Spanning a period of 23 years, it played a decisive role in the Christianization and industrialization of Madagascar.

Life

youth

Cameron was baptized in Little Dunkeld , Perthshire , Scotland on January 6, 1800. He was a direct descendant of the Chief of Glencoe of the Clan Maclaine of Lochbuie (MacIain). He spent his youth in and around Murthly Castle , where he also learned the carpentry trade. His father Thomas was a servant of the Laird of Murthly. The London Missionary Society in Madagascar, founded in 1820, accepted Cameron's application five years later when he was 25 years old. Before leaving for Madagascar, where he arrived in September 1826, at the time of the progressive King Radama I , he spent a year in Manchester . There he helped manufacture machines that were later used in Amparibe , Madagascar, to modernize the cotton mill .

First missionary visit to Madagascar

At that time Madagascar was under the rule of the Merina monarchy . Cameron began building the first Christian church and the first school based on the European model in Ambatonakanga , where he employed 600 young Madagascans and taught the construction of machines. He introduced brick-making in 1826, a technology that later found expression in a new style of architecture that quickly spread across the Madagascar highlands. Cameron's brick house in Ambatonakanga served as a model. He was also jointly responsible for setting up the first printing press on the island, with which a translation of the Bible into Malagasy was printed. Cameron was also one of the main planners for a powder factory in Imerina and helped manufacture the hydraulics for Lake Anosy, an artificial lake near what is now Antananarivo.

After the death of Radama I in 1828 his wife, Queen Ranavalona I , came to the throne. She tried to free the island again from the influence of foreigners. It forbade Christian proselyting and cruelly persecuted the young believers. An address of mourning at his funeral credits Cameron with the fact that the LMS continued to operate on the island until 1835, albeit with severe restrictions:

“The missionaries were called together and asked if they could teach people something more useful, such as making soap from materials that were available locally. It was obvious that unless a positive answer could be given, the government would expel them. The missionaries looked to Mr. Cameron for help; and after a week of deliberation and trying, he was able to face the government messengers with two small bars of decent white soap and a promise to continue the manufacture ... There is no doubt that the continuation of the mission from 1829 to 1835 was chiefly if not entirely based on government requests for the services of Mr. Cameron and one or two other craftsmen. "

In 1835, however, the pressure on the missionaries had become so strong that the entire LMS team left Madagascar.

South Africa

From 1835 to 1863 Cameron continued his missionary work in the Cape Province in what is now South Africa , where he lived with his wife Mary († October 10, 1864, Cape Town ), his children and grandchildren, worked in trade and at the same time as a surveyor for the Corporation of Cape Town worked. His grandson, Hugh MacDonald Cameron , became the University of Cape Town's first registrar . In 1853, Cameron was successfully used by the government of Mauritius to renegotiate the terms of trade relations with Ranavalona I after trade between Madagascar and Mauritius had come to a standstill in 1845 due to French and British attacks on the commercial port Toamasina in eastern Madagascar.

Second mission visit to Madagascar

Ranavalona's death in 1861 and the subsequent opening by her son Radama II opened Madagascar again to the activities of Christian missionaries. Cameron returned immediately and took on numerous engineering projects in addition to his missionary work. He planned several buildings in the Rova complex in Antananarivo , including the Manampisoa (1866), a royal burial place (1868) and the stone facade of the Queen's Palace (Manjakamiadana, 1869). The towers of Manjakamiadana were reminiscent of the towers of Murthly Castle in Scotland, where Cameron grew up. He oversaw the construction of the Memorial Church at Faravohitra and another at Analakely , the construction of a hospital, several mission houses and village churches as well as a water wheel for the drive of an ammunition factory at Anosimahavelona . He was also the first to measure and map Imerina and the region around Fianarantsoa . In 1864 he was followed by his daughter Mary , who taught in a girls' school in Antananarivo until 1875.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ J. Sibree (ed.): The Late Mr. James Cameron: His Life and Labours. A funeral address by Rev. R. Toy. In: The Antananarivo Annual and Madagascar Magazine. (1). Antananarivo: LMS Press.
  2. ↑ Jean-Louis Acquier: Architectures de Madagascar. Paris: Berger-Levrault 1997.
  3. ^ A b Didier Nativel: Demeures des Grands a Madagascar . Editions Karthala, Paris 2005: 76-77.
  4. ^ TT Matthews: Notes of Mission Work in Madagascar. London: Hodder and Stoughton 1881.
  5. ↑ "The missionaries were called together and asked whether they could not teach the people something more useful, such as soap making from materials found within the country. Evidently unless a favorable answer was forthcoming, the government was contemplating sending them away. It was then to Mr. Cameron that the missionaries looked for help; and taking a week for considering and studying the matter, he was able to meet the messengers of the government with two small bars of tolerably good white soap, with a promise of being able to continue its manufacture ... There is little doubt that the continuation of the mission from 1829 to 1835 was mainly, if not entirely, due to the desire of the government for the services of Mr. Cameron and one or two of the other artisans… “Sibree 1875.
  6. ↑ Campbell 2012: 810.

literature

  • J. Sibree (Ed.): The Late Mr. James Cameron: His Life and Labours. A funeral address by Rev. R. Toy. In: The Antananarivo Annual and Madagascar Magazine. (1). Antananarivo: LMS Press.
  • Jean-Louis Acquier: Architectures de Madagascar. Paris: Berger-Levrault 1997.
  • Didier Nativel: Demeures des Grands a Madagascar. Editions Karthala, Paris 2005: 76-77.
  • TT Matthews: Notes of Mission Work in Madagascar. London: Hodder and Stoughton 1881.
  • Gwyn Campbell: David Griffiths and the Missionary "History of Madagascar". [1] In: Studies in Christian Mission. Brill 2012. ISBN 9004195181 , 9789004195189
  • Daniel Austin, Hilary Bradt: Madagascar. [2] Bradt Travel Guides 2017: 438. ISBN 1784770485 , 9781784770488
  • Dagmar Bechtloff: Madagascar and the missionaries: technical-civilizational transfers in the early and final phases of European expansion efforts. [3]

In: Vierteljahrschrift für Sozial- und Wirtschaftsgeschichte: Beihefte, 158, Franz Steiner Verlag 2002: 23. ISBN 3515078738 , 9783515078733

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Cameron, James
BRIEF DESCRIPTION scottish artisan missionary in Madagascar
DATE OF BIRTH 1799 or 1800
PLACE OF BIRTH Little Dunkeld , Perthshire , Scotland
DATE OF DEATH October 3, 1875