In 1879 the Missionary Committee asked my Father to undertake the management of the Aliwal North Mission Station in South Africa.

The following is part of a letter from Rev. C. C. McKechnie, the Missionary Secretary. "I believe you would be the right sort of person and if you see your way to accept the offer of the Committee I am persuaded that our Mission in South Africa would soon assume a different and more hopeful aspect. But the call is weighty and if entertained at all will require much prayerful consideration. May you be guided aright."

The call was felt to be of God and on March 20th 1879 he set sail for Africa accompanied by his wife, his little daughter and infant son.

I quote from a letter written to his Mother on that date, it contains names of men our Church has delighted to honour; "We sailed out of the Docks yesterday morning at 10-15, Mr. and Mrs. McKechnie, Mr. Dickenson, Mr. Cutts, Mr. Clarke and Uncle William Spoor, of whose kindness in London we cannot speak too highly, saw us off . . . . . . . . I struck up an acquaintance with a young German, with whom I chatted a great deal, and we walked the deck together for some time last night. As he, however, could speak very little English and I was slow with German, it was difficult for us to get on at first, but after a while we did better." . . . . . . . . "Ellie and I were much affected by the genuine kindness shown to us in North Shields on leaving; I pray that God may abundantly return it to our dear friends there, whom we will ever have in our heart."

The voyage proved very stormy and as the ship was small, the full force of the waves was felt. The number of people who came into the dining saloon grew smaller and smaller, until at one time my Mother was the only lady at table, with the captain, the doctor and my Father as her sole companions. The Captain in complimenting my Mother on her powers of endurance told her that if she could weather these storms she need never fear sea-sickness. Many times she sat on deck lashed to the seat by the sailors, with her baby boy in her arms, securely tied to her.

In another letter to his Mother written after their arrival at Aliwal North, my Father gives some interesting details of their journey up country which help one to realise what changes the years have brought in methods of travel, and how much more arduous such a journey was then than now.

Aliwal North. April 29th 1887. My dear Mother, We stayed at Cape Town four or five days while the vessel was discharging its cargo. It contains some very fine buildings but has quite an Eastern appearance . . . . . . On Friday afternoon about 4-30 we steamed out of the Docks. The "Asiatic" of the Union line preceded us about a quarter of an hour, as we left the harbour we could see her a mile or two before us pitching, her keel sometimes lifted out of the water. Soon we also began to pitch and roll beautifully; the Captain passing us on deck said, 'This is a specimen of Cape seas; we shall cut some capers when we got round this point . . . . . . Some who had stood out up to the Cape succumbed that evening. Before we reached Port Elizabeth the sea went down and we entered Algoa Bay on a fine Sunday morning. We took up our abode at the Palmerstone Hotel; I went to the Wesleyan Chapel in the evening, a Scotch minister preached. On Tuesday morning at six o'clock we started by rail for Atherstone, about ninety miles from Port Elizabeth and from there to Graham's Town by coach. Next morning we started on our journey by Cobb's coach, travelling about sixty miles and arriving at Beaufort after dark. Next day we had to be up by four o'clock and started at five and travelled until half past nine at night. We were bumped and jolted over rough roads, had to ford several rivers and about three hours of the journey was in the dark, the drivers having to pick their way. I was in fear many a time that we were going over, and nothing but the care and skill of our black drivers could have landed us in safety. EIlie and the children were terribly knocked up with eighty miles in one day. Part of the way, over the Katberg, was full of magnificent scenery. For about twelve miles we ascended the mountain, in some places there were above us lofty heights, and below a precipice going sheer down several hundred feet. The road zig-zagged around the side of the mountains. The kloofs on the mountain side were full of trees, and at the foot of the mountain were beautiful orange gardens. But as soon as we crossed the top the scene changed. The country was still mountainous, but scarcely a tree was to be seen for scores of miles, in fact, all the way to Aliwal. We reached Aliwal on Saturday morning about eleven o'clock."

He came to a very difficult situation as will have been gathered from the quotations from Mr McKechnie's letters. In fact many of the Committee thought that my Father's task would be one of winding up affairs, of closing the Mission and removing to some more favourable base of operations. There had been many secessions from membership, disagreements with the English Committee, and everything was in a far from hopeful condition. Both church and manse were in need of extensive repairs and there were very few members on whom real dependence could be placed. He realised that he would get a good return by careful preparation for the pulpit and by his devoting his time and power to this branch of the work the congregations considerably improved.

There were many intelligent and well-read people in the township and to these his undoubtably [sic] able preaching soon became a source of inspiration and help. The native church was numerically much stronger, there being 100 members, whereas in the English church, when he took charge, only seven persons were regularly partaking of the Sacrament. Here also, his influence, which was always for peace and unity, drew the various warring factors together and welded them into a harmonious whole.

Health and other circumstances prevented his staying longer than four years in Aliwal North, but it was no mean achievement to uplift and firmly consolidate a mission station which he had found in such a precarious condition, and to do it all in so short a time. The glorious history of this Mission station in these later years has fully justified the faith which he had in its ultimate success.

Ere long he became the editor of the daily, "The Northern Post." In 1882 he was sent by the proprietors of the paper into Basutoland on the recommendation of the Secretary for State Affairs to inquire into the Basuto question, then one of the most pressing difficulties in South Africa. His opinions and advice on the subject were much quoted and the outcome of the whole affair was that he became one of the best known and most popular men in the Colony.

The bulk of his time was of course given to the work of his large circuit. The distances to be travelled were great and often journeys of thirty to forty miles had to be undertaken on horse-back. The work was arduous but he loved it well, his only regret being that this door of service had not opened earlier, so that he might have gone further into the country and done real pioneer work for his church. But "he builded better than he knew"; though his work has been but little known, it remains, and was the foundation on which a goodly structure has been erected.

All these activities were very real and important but behind and beyond them stood his home life which he guarded with zealous care. In his letters to his Mother are many loving references to his wife and children. These passages which reveal his unselfishness and bigness of nature, qualities which were constantly in evidence in the home life, so much so that, whatever his success in the outside world may have been, to his children, their tenderest thoughts of him are linked up with the home.

In 1880 another daughter was added to the family, she was named Annie after a dearly loved sister who had recently died in the Homeland. Two years later the little son John died after a few hours' illness. He was four years old, the sunshine of the home and the pride of his parents' hearts. Hard on the heels of this trial came another loss. Five months after the death of John, another son, Thomas Parker, was born and it was thought that his coming would help to soothe the anguished caused by the death of John. He was a fine, sturdy baby at the time of his birth, but when a month old he was taken ill and succumbed almost instantly. This double loss was a very severe trial and, although my Father worked on, the shock seriously affected his health, and my Mother could not settle in the house which had been made merry by the laughter of her boy and was now desolate indeed, and reminded her too vividly of him.

During a good part of their stay in Aliwal, troops were constantly passing to and fro. The war with the Basutos made the condition of the country very unsettled, prices of all goods rose enormously and naturally all religious work was made more difficult. In spite of all these hindrances, progress was made; and it was therefore with considerable regret that my Father made known his decision to sever his connection with those who had grown so dear to him.

A pressing invitation had been received from South Australian Primitive Methodists to enter upon work in their midst, and after much thought and prayer my Father consented to do so. The advice of most of his friends was against such a step. Mr. McKechnie and others wrote urging him most strongly to return to England; the following passages occur in his letter, "I shall, however, venture to say, you ought to think twice, and even oftener, before you seriously entertain the idea of going to Adelaide. I doubt not, were you to go there, you would honourably represent the Connexion, and render good service to its interests, but I am equally sure you would encounter most painful circumstances, and experience much trouble and sorrow in your church life."

This remark referred to a painful difference of opinion which had arisen on a financial matter amongst Primitive Methodists in South Australia. Feeling had become so bitter that the churches were torn asunder, rival sections were meeting a few doors apart from each other, and holding meetings which certainly did no good, serving rather to foster this spirit of hostility.

Looking back over the years the reflection naturally arises, was it not the Hand of God leading such a man to such a situation. His whole conception of the life of a Christian was based on the assumption that peace, unity and goodwill must be the foundation for lasting work. Not that he cried "Peace, Peace" where there was no peace - his character was too strong for that - if pruning or even cutting down was necessary his hand never faltered.

Still he was a true follower of the Prince of Peace and loved to see his people living in unity. His work on going to Africa had been largely one of reconciling opposing forces; in Australia this work was continued, and ere long the Church moved forward again, hand in hand and shoulder to shoulder.