Hi All Obituary of George CHAPMAN George CHAPMAN, who was born at Alvaston near Derby, England, on the 26th December, 1817. His mother died when he was a child; but his eldest sister was a devoted Christian, andthrough her instrumentality he was led to Christ. He joined the Wesleyan Church in 1834, and was accepted as a Candidate for the Ministry in 1842, his first appointment being to the Gold Coast, West Africa, which he reached in January, 1843. Removing to Coomassie the same year, he returned to England in 1845. He suffered severely from the effects of the climate and was often brought to the verge of the grave, but again and again he was raised up. At the close of his three years'service he reached England in broken health and with an enfeebled frame. His labours had, however, not been in vain, for on one occasion he had, humanly speaking, saved the country from being deluged in blood, by acting as mediator between the King and the British Government; and upon another, preventing the sacrifice of 400 persons to the caprice of a despotic king. On his return he spent two years in mission work in England, visiting most of the chief towns, and interesting large audiences with the story of his work. At the expiration of two years, Mr. CHAPMAN was appointed to Boulogne, France. Here he and his young wife spent two years amidst scenes of revolution and insurrection, but marked by gracious displays of God's goodness in conversion of sinners. In 1849 he was appointed to Graham's Town, South Africa, where he spent three happy and useful years. He afterwards laboured in King William's Town, Queen's Town, Fort Peddie, Cradock, Somerset East, Fort Beaufort and Heald Town. In 1877 he paid a visit to England, and soon after his return he took up his residence again at Heald Town, where he remained faithfully doing work that would have taxed the powers of a much younger man, until failing health compelled him to become a Supernumerary. At the first South African Conference he was put down for Lessyton, where he and Mrs. CHAPMAN commenced a Training Institution for native girls,Mr. CHAPMAN undertaking, at the same time, the training of five or six Native Ministers. The Institution proved a marked success and the great day alone will declare all that he did during these few years of failing health. In 1889 he was seized with partial paralysis of the brain, from which he never recovered. He removed to Queen's Town and lingered for four years, awaiting the Master's call to "come up higher." His last words were "Praise and Thanks."On the 9th July, 1893, he quietly passed away, without a struggle or a sigh, to enter into the presence of his Lord. Mr. CHAPMAN was a man of unblemished integrity and singleness of purpose, fully devoted to Christ and the work of a Methodist preacher; a pattern of conscientious attention to every duty, great and small. His life and work have proved a benediction to our Church in this country. >From Minutes of Wesleyan Methodist Church Conference 1894 Transcribed by Darryl Allwright P O Box 166 Grahamstown 6140 Cell: 076-091-2764 __._,_.___