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It all begin well before these photos
were taken...... Nonetheless, lets just say that
the old timers were a progressive bunch as you can tell
by the change in fashion from 1946 to
1954....
HISTORY OF
DUDLEY HIGH SCHOOL
The mission work among Indians was a struggle
for the missionaries back in 1890's. There was a lot of
distrust among Indians towards the Europeans because of the
Indentured System in which they were brought to Fiji and now
converting Indians into Christianity. Reverend John Williams
was one of the missionaries responsible
for spreading Christianity among Indians. When he left
Fiji in 1894 the mission work among Indians came to a stop. By
this time most European missionaries were convinced that
mission work among Indians was a failure. Nonetheless there
were missionaries like Rev. Henry Warrell and with help of
local Indian named Joseph Jacob did maintain some level of
mission among the Indians. Rev. Henry Warrell was the
superintendent of the Rewa Fijian Circuit. He was concerned about the lapse of mission work
among the Indians. His goal was to renew the mission among
Indians. In 1896 he went to Australia to recruit more
missionaries to work in Fiji among Indians. He gave many
lectures through out Australia. In one of his lectures was
present a young lady by the name of Hannah Dudley who had just
returned after five years in India. Instantly she
volunteered to join Rev. Warrell and become part of the
mission in Fiji…and the rest was history.....Continued
below... |
1945..My apologies for not
providing the names of these ladies. However if anyone out there
knows details about this pictures please let me know by emailing me
at dudleyhighschool@sbcglobal.net.
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In 1897 she arrived in Fiji to carry out the
Gods work. The mission provided her a house outside Suva, but
she rejected it by saying that she had come to work among the
Indians therefore she will stay among them too. That was the
rare moment for Indians to hear that a European had
volunteered to stay among them.
And so begin Miss
Hannah Dudley Mission among Indian. Miss Dudley had an
advantage in that she spoke Hindi very well. Within 6 weeks of
starting school, the number had risen from 8 to 40 men, woman
and children. Later a night school was opened at the request
of some Indian men. Due to the distrust of Europeans among
Indians the numbers fluctuated. Despite this, Miss Dudley
believed in the power of prayer and relentlessly continued to
work among Indians. She visited institutions like the
hospitals, the prison and off course Indian woman in their
homes. Due to her ability to communicate in Hindustani, the
Indian trust towards her flourished and eventually they
started calling her “MAI” (meaning mother). Her ability to win
hearts was very unique. Once she heard someone saying that she
ate meat, from this day on she took up a vegetarian diet, and
living on strict Indian menu. Mission among the Indians in
Fiji had started to gain momentum......continued
below |
1954. . .For now pretty ladies will work,
until some one out there can provide me with
names.
| On January 20, 1899 Rev. A.J. Small baptized
four Indian boys at the Jubilee Church in Toorak, Suva as Miss
Dudley’s converts. In 1899, land was bought in Toorak for the
Indian mission. This is the land on which the present Dudley
High School exists.
Rev. J. Watson conducted fundraising in
Australia to collect money for the Indian mission. Rev. J.
Watson was a former missionary in Fiji. With this money and
whatever little local contribution a little wooden church was
built and dedicated to Methodist Chairman, Rev. A. J. Small on
December 19th, 1901. Present during this
ceremony were 60 Indian converts, some non-converted Indians
and a few Europeans. Miss Hannah Dudley translated Rev.
Small’s service into
Hindustani.
According to Rev. F. L. Nunn, Miss Dudley was
instrumental in converting several young Indian men who
attended her night school. These were namely THAKUR, SAM
MUSTAPHA, RATU RAMSAMUJ, PETER RAIHMAN, DASS, ANDREW ASKILEY,
HAFIZ MASIH SAMUAL, PHILIP SAYAD MASIH CHARLIE, DIL MASIH and
JOSEPH.
Miss Hannah Dudley was a champion for
the children’s cause. She cared for five orphans whom she
registered in her own name and provided for them with the
funds from the mission.
In 1905 Rev. Small complained about this and suggested
that Miss Dudley should run the mission sponsored orphanage in
Nausori. Miss Dudley did not like this idea at all. She
resigned in July of 1905 and in spite of Rev. Smalls attempt
to persuade her to stay back, she promptly left for India with
her 5 adopted children. She was bid farewell by the Indian
Christian with a purse full of Indian Sovereigns (Mohar) as a
gift. ......continued
below |
Dudley House, Old
girls basket ball team. Can anyone tell me what year this
was?
| The house on the hill in Toorak where Miss
Dudley stayed was now known as the “DUDLEY HOUSE”. Mr. Rowel, who was the
mission printer had come from the Island of Tonga and was now
living at the Dudley House. He started conducting
the English Service in this Indian Church on Sunday evenings
and also assisting in Sunday Schools.
3 years after her
departure, Miss Hannah Dudley came back from India with her
adopted kids and continued her mission work among Indians in
Fiji. Much of
this work involved schooling Indian girls. She continued doing
this until 1913. By now her health was deteriorating,
therefore on January 28th, 1913 she finally left
Fiji for good to reside in Sydney, Australia. Once again the
Indians bid her farewell with a purse full of Indian
sovereigns (Mohar). Her noble deeds and relentless pursuit of
providing education and mission work among the Indians in Fiji
should be honored by one and all. Here ends one of the
greatest chapter of self-sacrifice by a single person for the
betterment and progress of others.
Due to immigration
issues in Australia, miss Dudley and her adopted family moved
to New Zealand where they happily settled in Auckland. She
went back to teaching and the children went back to school. On
May 3rd, 1931 this devoted servant of the almighty
was called to her eternal rest. She was buried at Hillsborough
Cemetery in Auckland. Her tombstone reads -:
IN LOVING MEMORY
OF
HANNAH
DUDLEY
Founder of the
Indian Methodist Mission in Fiji
who passed to
Higher Service on 3rd May, 1931 at the age of
68.
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| ORIGINAL DUDLEY HOUSE
SCHOOL |
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The Indian people
of Fiji wept sorely at the passing of their mother in faith
whose memory even today is held in reverence. The mission
board meeting on 8th May 1931 placed on record a
fitting tribute to her devoted service for which she pioneered
the work of evangelism, education and orphanage among the
Indians in Fiji.
It has been 108
years since her arrival in Fiji and a lot has happened at
Dudley High School since than. What was once only a girl’s
school in her honor became co Ed and multiracial school.
Dudley is one of the most successful schools in Fiji and a
sought after secondary school by many students from all over
the Fiji Islands. It is one of the few schools that have a
hostel for girls only.
The hostel allows girls from rural Fiji to attend one
of the best schools in the country. The church built in
her honor has one of the largest Indian congregations in the
nation. Dudley
Street in Suva is also named in her
honor.
Her adopted kids
were four girls (Premi, Punja, Sukhya and Piyari) and a boy,
Raymond Dudley. Raymond Dudley was the son of late Mr. Ratu
Ramsamuj. Raymond Dudley had entered the ministry in New
Zealand and subsequently became the President of the Methodist
Church in New Zealand. He was born on 27th January
1903 and died on 11th December 1963. The other girls have
also died. Sukhya outlived all of them.
Finally, Miss
Dudley, we the students of Dudley and the people of Fiji would
like to say thank you for your dedication and perseverance
towards building of our country, Fiji
Islands.
Yours
truly,
INDEBTED STUDENTS
& CITIZENS OF FIJI.
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| 1940 Students of
Dudley
House |
Please send me any
information and photos you may have regarding the history of
Dudley High School at dudleyhighschool@sbcglobal.net. I will give
you credit for providing those photos.
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