Christoph Eipper, (20 August 1813 - 2 September 1894) was a pioneering
missionaryA missionary is a member of a religion who works to convert those who do not share the missionary's faith; someone who proselytizes. The word "mission" is derived from the Latin missioninimus A missionary is a member of a religion who works to convert those who do not share the missionary's faith;...
and Presbyterian minister in Australia.
Christoph Eipper was born to Georg Christoph Eipper and Sophie Juliane Schaettler. He was the sixth of seven children, two of which were from his father's previous marriage to Elisabetha Dorothea Ohnmaiss.
He studied at the institutions of the Basle Missionary Society,
SwitzerlandSwitzerland , officially the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 states named cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities...
, in 1832-36, and of the Church Missionary Society at Islington in 1836.
However, despite having received financial support from the Church Missionary Society on condition of accepting Church of England ordination, he and his German colleague Gottlieb Schreiner, father of the novelist
Olive SchreinerOlive Schreiner , was a South African author, pacifist and political activist. She is best known for her novel The Story of an African Farm, which has been acclaimed for the manner it tackled the issues of its day, ranging from agnosticism to the treatment of women.-Early life:Olive Emilie...
, refused episcopal ordination because they would not submit to vows of unlimited obedience to a bishop, although they were prepared to receive Lutheran ordination.
Christoph Eipper, (20 August 1813 - 2 September 1894) was a pioneering
missionaryA missionary is a member of a religion who works to convert those who do not share the missionary's faith; someone who proselytizes. The word "mission" is derived from the Latin missioninimus A missionary is a member of a religion who works to convert those who do not share the missionary's faith;...
and Presbyterian minister in Australia.
Christoph Eipper was born to Georg Christoph Eipper and Sophie Juliane Schaettler. He was the sixth of seven children, two of which were from his father's previous marriage to Elisabetha Dorothea Ohnmaiss.
He studied at the institutions of the Basle Missionary Society,
SwitzerlandSwitzerland , officially the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 states named cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities...
, in 1832-36, and of the Church Missionary Society at Islington in 1836.
However, despite having received financial support from the Church Missionary Society on condition of accepting Church of England ordination, he and his German colleague Gottlieb Schreiner, father of the novelist
Olive SchreinerOlive Schreiner , was a South African author, pacifist and political activist. She is best known for her novel The Story of an African Farm, which has been acclaimed for the manner it tackled the issues of its day, ranging from agnosticism to the treatment of women.-Early life:Olive Emilie...
, refused episcopal ordination because they would not submit to vows of unlimited obedience to a bishop, although they were prepared to receive Lutheran ordination. They consequently ceased their connexion with the Basle Committee. Eipper, together with Schreiner, applied in March 1837 to Rev. John Dunmore Lang for appointment as missionaries to the
AboriginalsAustralian Aborigines are a class of people who are identified by Australian law as being members of a race indigenous to the Australian continent....
at
Moreton BayMoreton Bay is a large bay on the eastern coast of Australia 19 km from Brisbane, Queensland. It is one of Queensland's most important coastal resources...
. Schreiner decided to go to
South AfricaThe Republic of South Africa is a country located at the southern tip of Africa, with a coastline on the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. To the north lie Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe, to the east are Mozambique and Swaziland, while Lesotho is an independent country surrounded by South Africa.Modern...
, but Eipper was accepted, together with a party of missionaries under the pastoral care of Rev.
Carl Wilhelm SchmidtReverend Carl Wilhelm Schmidt , also known as Karl Schmidt, was a German missionary, and an ordained minister of the Prussian United Church. Schmidt's missionary work took him to Queensland and Samoa, where he founded a number of Lutheran institutions and settlements.-Early life:Schmidt was born...
.
Biography
On 15 June 1837 at Shoreditch, London, Eipper married Harriet, daughter of John Gyles, a former missionary agriculturist at
TahitiTahiti is the largest island in the Windward group of French Polynesia, located in the archipelago of Society Islands in the southern Pacific Ocean. The island had a population of 178,133 inhabitants according to the August 2007 census. This makes it the most populous island of French Polynesia,...
; they had five sons and four daughters. On 27 June he was ordained at an Evangelical service by German and French Protestant clergy resident in
London[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
.
The united mission party arrived in
SydneySydney is the largest city in Australia, and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney has a metropolitan area population of approximately 4.34 million and an area of approximately 12,000 square kilometres. Its inhabitants are called Sydneysiders, and Sydney is often called "the Harbour City"...
in the Minerva in January 1838. Schmidt and Eipper were admitted as members of Lang's Presbyterian Synod of
New South WalesNew South Wales is Australia's most populous state, located in the south-east of the country, north of Victoria, south of Queensland and east of South Australia...
on 15 March 1838, and were delegated to form a presbytery of Moreton Bay. Eipper and fourteen others of the party sailed to Moreton Bay in the government schooner
Isabella in March 1838 and, on the recommendation of the commandant, Major (Sir)
Sydney CottonLieutenant-General Sir Sydney John Cotton GCB served in the British army as an officer.He was the second son of Henry Calveley Cotton of Woodcote, Oxfordshire, England, and his wife Matilda, daughter and heiress of John Lockwood of Dews Hall, Essex.He joined the British Army in 1810 as a Cornet in...
, selected a site about seven miles (11 km) from Eagle Farm which they named Zion Hill, Nundah. Classes were conducted by Eipper, and Rev. J. C. S. Handt helped the newcomers to acquire the Aboriginal dialect.
Missionary Work
The early history of the mission was first recorded by Eipper in his
Statement of the Origin, Condition, and Prospects of the German Mission to the Aborigines at Moreton Bay (Sydney, 1841).
Apart from the routine work, Eipper also travelled among the Aboriginals. When instructed that a new site for a mission was necessary the two ordained missionaries tried to find a suitable place in the Wide Bay district. In March 1843 Eipper joined Dr Stephen Simpson, acting administrator, in an expedition into this district, which Schmidt had already penetrated.
Eipper kept a detailed journal of the expedition, which reached the Mary River on 1 April. In July 1843 Schmidt and Eipper jointly reported to the Sydney committee of the Society in Aid of the German Mission to the Aborigines, and again in September, but in October the Sydney society decided to abandon the mission. Eipper approached the Church Missionary Society in London saying that he believed he had been wrong in refusing episcopal ordination and offering to serve in New Zealand or in India. He was conditionally offered the position of master of an English school in India. However, after remaining for a while with the lay missionaries, who proposed to support themselves by manual labour, Eipper was received by the Synod of Australia in connection with the Established Church of Scotland on 5 October 1843. He was Presbyterian minister at
Braidwood, New South WalesBraidwood is a town in the Southern Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia, in Palerang Shire. At the 2006 census, Braidwood had a population of 1 108.- Geography :...
1844-46, at Strath Allan and district 1846 without state stipend, and at Paterson late 1847-February 1850.
Marriages and Children
Christoph Eipper married Harriet Gyles on 15 June 1837 in Saint Leonards,
ShoreditchShoreditch is an area of London within the London Borough of Hackney. It is a built-up part of the inner city immediately to the north of the City of London, located east north east of Charing Cross.-Boundaries:...
,
London[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
,
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. He was 23 and she was 22. They had eight children together:
- Maria Jane Eipper (1839-1930)
- John William Christopher Eipper (1840-1905), editor
The term editor may refer to:As a person who does editing:* Editor in chief, having final responsibility for a publication's operations and policies* Copy editing, making formatting changes and other improvements to text...
of The MaitlandMaitland is an English and Scottish surname. It arrived in Britain after the Norman conquest of 1066. There are two theories about its source. It is either a nickname reference to "bad temper/disposition" , or it may be a locational reference to Mautalant, a place in Pontorson, France...
Mercury NewspaperA newspaper is a publication containing news, information, and advertising. General-interest newspapers often feature articles on political events, crime, business, art/entertainment, society and sports. Most traditional papers also feature an editorial page containing columns that express the...
.
- Sarah Harriet Louisa Eipper (1842-1844), died young.
- Sophia Matilda Eipper (1843-1915), married William Ralph Hush, grandson of Ralph Hush
Ralph Hush was a convict sent from Northumberland to Australia in 1820. He was also one of the first convicts ever to receive a pardon from a life sentence after less than 5 years.-Early life:...
, in 1865 in Braidwood-Places:* Braidwood, New South Wales, Australia* Braidwood, South Lanarkshire, Scotland* Braidwood, Illinois, United States of America-Things:* Braidwood Inquiry - an ongoing inquiry into the Robert Dziekański Taser incident in Vancouver, Canada...
.
- George Hugh Coghill Eipper (1845-1895), married Louisa Beck in 1877 in Sydney
Sydney is the largest city in Australia, and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney has a metropolitan area population of approximately 4.34 million and an area of approximately 12,000 square kilometres. Its inhabitants are called Sydneysiders, and Sydney is often called "the Harbour City"...
.
- Albert Edward James Eipper (1849-1925), married Mary Johnston Allen in 1878 in Scone
Scone is a town in the Upper Hunter Shire in the Hunter Valley region of New South Wales, Australia. At the 2006 census, Scone had a population of 4,625. It is located on the New England Highway north of Muswellbrook about 270 kilometres north of Sydney, and is part of the Hunter and Upper Hunter...
.
- Samuel Frederick Eipper (1852-1935), married Eliza Hannah Ayling in 1880 in Scone
Scone is a town in the Upper Hunter Shire in the Hunter Valley region of New South Wales, Australia. At the 2006 census, Scone had a population of 4,625. It is located on the New England Highway north of Muswellbrook about 270 kilometres north of Sydney, and is part of the Hunter and Upper Hunter...
.
- Frank Ross Eipper (About 1860-1942), married Maud Campbell in Singleton, New South Wales
Singleton is a town on the banks of the Hunter River in New South Wales, Australia. Singleton lies approximately 2.5 hours northwest of Sydney, and around an hour northwest of Newcastle...
, then Leila Sarah Ayling in Newtown, New South WalesNewtown is a suburb in the Inner West of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Newtown is located approximately 4 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district and lies across the local government areas of the City of Sydney and Marrickville Council.-Aboriginal...
.
Christoph and Harriet had 38 grandchildren.
Later Life and Death
In 1851 he retired from the ministry. Bridges' assessment is that he was not successful as a missionary or a minister. Eipper later held several teaching positions at Muswellbrook and
AberdeenAberdeen is Scotland's third most populous city and one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. It has an official population estimate of .Nicknames include the Granite City, the Grey City and the Silver City with the Golden Sands...
. He died at Charleyong in the
Braidwood-Places:* Braidwood, New South Wales, Australia* Braidwood, South Lanarkshire, Scotland* Braidwood, Illinois, United States of America-Things:* Braidwood Inquiry - an ongoing inquiry into the Robert Dziekański Taser incident in Vancouver, Canada...
district on 2 September 1894. His eldest son, J. W. Christopher (1840-1905), was editor of the
Maitland MercuryThe Maitland Mercury is Australia's oldest regional newspaper. It was originally a weekly newspaper, with the first issue published on 7 January 1843. The Mercury is still in circulation serving the city of Maitland and the surrounding Lower Hunter Valley.Even when it was first published the...
. One grandson, Rev. Albert James, became a noted Presbyterian missionary to the Aboriginals at
BroomeLocations named Broome:*Broome, Western Australia - a town in the Kimberley region of Western Australia.*Broome County, New York - a county in the USA*Broome, New York - a town in Schoharie County, New YorkIn England:*Broome, Norfolk*Broome, Shropshire...
and Thursday Island. His other sons were pioneers in the
SconeScone is a town in the Upper Hunter Shire in the Hunter Valley region of New South Wales, Australia. At the 2006 census, Scone had a population of 4,625. It is located on the New England Highway north of Muswellbrook about 270 kilometres north of Sydney, and is part of the Hunter and Upper Hunter...
,
TomalaTomalá is a municipality in the Honduran department of Lempira.Tomalá is one of the smallest municipalities of the Lempira department in Honduras. It is situated 10 minutes away from Tambla municipality.- History :...
and Warrah districts. He is the great-grandfather of
Sir John CornforthSir John Warcup 'Kappa' Cornforth, AC, CBE, FRS , is an Australian scientist who won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1975 for his work on the stereochemistry of enzyme-catalyzed reactions.He has been profoundly deaf since his teens....
External links