Religious and Social

The following people, from across various religious and social groups, were passengers on the SS Wimmera:

Archbishop Michael Kelly (of Sydney) February 1905
Right Reverend Dr. George Michael Lenihan (Bishop of Auckland) February 1905 & October 1909
General William Booth (founder Salvation Army) May 1905
Lt-Colonel Charles Fermaud (General-Secretary World Alliance YMCA) June 1907
Reverend Arthur Parker (London Missionary Society) September 1907
Jessie Ackermann (social reformer) October 1907
Georgia Gladys Cooley (spiritualist) December 1907
Reverend William Grant (Presbyterian minister) June 1908/March 1909/July & November 1911
Annie Besant (theosophist) July 1908
Reverend William Edward Bromilow (Methodist missionary) November/December 1908
Joseph McCabe (rationalist) June 1910
Dr John Quincy Adams Henry (evangelist/missionary/temperance campaigner) August 1910
Charles A. Potts (evangelistic singer) August 1910
Sir Robert Baden-Powell (founder Boy Scouts) May 1912
Reverend John Francis Goldie (Methodist missionary, Solomon Islands) August 1913
Helen Barnes (YWCA) March 1916

© Ralph L. Sanderson 2004-2021

General William Booth

General William Booth, the founder and 1st General of The Salvation Army, at the age of 76 years, crossed Bass Strait on the Wimmera in June 1905. It was during a world tour which included visits to the Holy Land, Australia, and New Zealand. It was also his fourth and final journey to Australasia, having…

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General Sir Robert Baden-Powell

On 23 May 1912 the Wimmera arrived in Auckland from Sydney with General Sir Robert Baden-Powell (1857-1941), the founder of the Boy Scout movement, who was on a lecturing tour of the world. The steamer, which was delayed by bad weather, was a day late, and made port early in that morning. This was the…

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Archbishop Michael Kelly

On Saturday 4 February 1905, the Coadjutor-Archbishop of Sydney, Michael Kelly (1850-1940), departed Sydney for Christchurch aboard the ss Wimmera. He was to assist at the blessing and dedication of the new Roman Catholic Cathedral in Christchurch on Sunday 12 February. He was to also preach the dedication sermon. He arrived at Lyttelton on the…

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Annie Besant

The theosophist and social reformer Annie Woods Besant (1847-1933) visited Australasia three times in her lifetime. On the second occasion, as the then President of the Theosophical Society, she arrived at Fremantle from London aboard the RMS Mooltan on Tuesday 26 May 1908. On the following Thursday evening, at Queen’s Hall in Perth she delivered…

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Reverend William Edward Bromilow

At the Quay Street jetty on 30 November 1908 the Wimmera was embarked by the Methodist missionary the Rev. William Edward Bromilow and his wife, Harriet. The couple had sailed from Auckland for Sydney. It was the end of a three-month visit to the Dominion… They had arrived in Auckland aboard the Union Company’s steamer…

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Dr John Quincy Adams Henry

The American evangelist and temperance campaigner, Dr John Quincy Adams (J.Q.A.) Henry was a visitor to Australia and New Zealand in 1910.

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Reverend William Grant

The Reverend William Grant was minister at St Andrews Presbyterian Church in Gisborne, New Zealand. He accepted a call to replace the former minister in 1906 and remained there until the outbreak of World War I. At that time he took a leave of absence to enlist in the New Zealand Expeditionary Force and was…

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Joseph McCabe

Former priest, author and lecturer, Joseph Martin McCabe (1867-1955) arrived in Auckland from Sydney aboard the ss Wimmera on Sunday 26 June 1910. Whilst in New Zealand McCabe delivered a number of lectures. He departed New Zealand from Lyttelton via Wellington aboard the Moeraki and landed back in Sydney on 26 July 1910. From Sydney he proceed to Adelaide.

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Jessie Akermann

The social reformer Jessie Akermann (1857-1951) arrived in Wellington, New Zealand from Sydney aboard the Wimmera on Thursday 17 October 1907.

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Reverend John Francis Goldie

The Reverend John Francis Goldie, a Methodist missionary in the Solomon Islands was a passenger aboard the ss Wimmera from Auckland to Sydney on 4-8 August 1913.

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Right Reverend Dr. George Michael Lenihan

The Roman Catholic Bishop of Auckland, the Right Reverend Dr. George Michael Lenihan, was a passenger on the ss Wimmera on at least two occasions. The first was when he joined the Wimmera in Wellington, together with the Reverend Fathers Keogh, Patterson, Power and Spence, and sailed for Lyttelton on 9 February 1905. Aboard the…

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Reverend Arthur Parker

The Reverend Arthur Parker of the London Missionary Society was a passenger on the ss Wimmera in 1907. He had arrived in Fremantle, Western Australia from Colombo, Ceylon aboard the R.M.S. Oroya on 28 March at the beginning of a lengthy tour of Australia and New Zealand. On 7 September he boarded the Wimmera in…

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