Historical information

John Thomas was born at Worcester, England in 1796 and he became a blacksmith at Hagley, Worcestershire before becoming a Methodist and he soon started to preach. He married Sarah Hartshorn who predeceased him in 1867. He was accepted by the Wesleyan Methodist Missionary Society (WMMS) in 1824 and he became a pioneering missionary to Tonga (the Friendly Isles) in the South Pacific. He sailed first to Australia, and eventually arrived in Tonga in 1826, together with his wife and fellow missionary John Hutchinson.Initially he preached in Hihifo, Tongatapu from 1826 to 1828 and then moved to the island of Ha’apai in 1829.

He baptised the chief Taufa’ahua Tupou in 1831 and enthroned him with English rites as the first King of all Tonga in 1845. Although the WMMS withdrew from Samoa in 1839, Thomas advocated its re-entry and he supported the King’s policy of sending Tongan Wesleyan missionaries to Fiji and Samoa. John Thomas also persuaded the Australasian Wesleyan Conference ( which took over the Pacific region from the British in 1855) to reverse the London Missionary Society’s decision regarding Samoa.

John Thomas had 2 periods in Tonga from 1826 to 1850 and 1855 to 1859. Following a visit to England his influence with King Tupou waned in the 1850's and he retired to England and became a supernumerary minister at Stourbridge, Worcestershire, where he died in 1881. His wife Sarah had been a partner in his missionary work until she died 14 years earlier than he did.

John Thomas’ name is honoured by having one of the 12 dormitory houses of Toupou College in the capitol of Tonga named after him. John Thomas House is House #1, and it is customary for the Head Prefect to reside in this dormitory.

Physical description

B & W engraving from a photograph of the Rev. John Thomas, formerly missionary in the Friendly Islands

Inscriptions & markings

Revd. John Thomas, Formerly Missionary in the Friendly Islands, Engraved by J. Cochran from a Photograph.