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Colin Fraser (South African minister)
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The Rev. '''Colin Alexander Fraser''' (Killernan, [[Ross-shire]], [[Scotland]], November 28, 1796 – [[Beaufort West]], September 25, 1870) was one of the Scottish pastors that Governor [[Lord Charles Somerset]] brought to [[South Africa]] to relieve the shortage of pastors in the [[Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa (NGK)]] and to help anglicize its members.
He was the son of Alexander Fraser and Lilian McDonald and was raised in Killernan, County Ross, Scotland. After he earned his M.A. at [[King's College, Aberdeen|King's College]] in [[Aberdeen]], he continued his studies in [[theology]] there and later at [[Marischal College]], from which he graduated. In June 1824, he was examined and ordained by the [[Presbytery]], shortly after Lord Somerset had asked Dr. [[George Thom (minister)|George Thom]], pastor of [[Caledon, Western Cape|Caledon]] to recruit pastors and missionaries from Scotland for the NGK, among whom was Fraser. After spending several months learning [[Dutch language|Dutch]] in [[Utrecht]], he sailed for [[Inverness]] and disembarked in turn at [[Table Bay]] on December 18, 1824. At the behest of Lord [[Henry Bathurst, 3rd Earl Bathurst]], the [[Secretary of State for the Colonies]], Fraser was immediately appointed pastor of the [[Beaufort West Reformed Church]], ending a two-month-long vacancy with his ordainment by the Rev. [[Andrew Murray, Sr.]], then two years retired from a long stint at the [[Graaff-Reinet Reformed Church (NGK)]], on January 19, 1825. Fraser was the second pastor of Beaufort West and the successor of his compatriot Rev. [[John Taylor (missionary in South Africa)|John Taylor]].
== Arrival in Beaufort ==
The Rev. Fraser would serve the congregation for a record 38 years, after British [[Secretary of State for the Colonies]] Lord [[Henry Bathurst, 3rd Earl Bathurst]] urged the appointment along with the investiture of the Rev. [[Andrew Murray (minister)|Andrew Murray]] as pastor of the Graaff-Reinet congregation, where the latter was confirmed on January 19, 1825.
== First church in Beaufort ==
At the Rev. Fraser's first council meeting in February 1825, they resolved to petition the Governor for 10,000 [[Dutch rijksdaalder|rijksdaalder]]s to build a church, given that the provisional one seating 80 was too small to allow free access during communion. Upon the Governor's reply that this was too little given the shortage at the Orphan Chamber (a body overseeing estates), the council got magistrate [[Andries Stockenström]] of Graaff-Reinet to agree to a fundraising drive. By that December, the circular sent to the field cornets had already collected 3,227 rijksdaalders, together with congregant collections yielding 7,522 rijksdaalders (around £578 12s.), enough to secure the Governor's blessing. The council at first found this sufficient, but later discovered it to be inadequate for an appropriately sized building.
Unable to secure 5-8,000-rijksdaalder loans from the [[Cape Town]] and [[Tulbagh]] councils, a second funding drive was held in March 1826 for "livestock as well as cash." Several male members contributed to the construction fund at the next congregation meeting. The Rev. Fraser estimated that the church would cost 13,150 rijksdaalders (around £1,011 10s.), and while that amount had yet to be secured, the council decided to start ordering masonry stone and brick in July 1826. C. Stritch drew up the blueprint, master mason Mr. Sandelands housed the project for £10/mo, and Gerhardus du Toit supervised on the council's behalf.
== Congregation growth ==
Until the [[Swartberg]] district seceded as the [[Prince Albert Reformed Church]] in 1843, the congregation covered 52,000 km², around 40% of the size of today's [[Western Cape]] Province. The Rev. Fraser had to serve worshipers from as far west as what is now [[Prieska]] and as far north as the [[Orange River]], though so sparsely populated as to only include 800 confirmed members and 3,000 people total. There were no roads, footpaths, or wagon tracks, and so the Rev. Fraser and an elder usually toured on horseback with a squire hand-pulling a horse loaded with bedding, clothes, robes, communion kits, and provisions. The congregation included ten districts (field-cornetcies), through which the touring minister held services in major population centers, baptized children, read and examined catechisms, blessed marriages, and otherwise served remote families. The Rev. Fraser was chased off by those who had never seen a pastor before and threatened by floods and wild animals. Oxcarts and carriages only became an option once roads were built.
Each Sunday, the Rev. Fraser held a morning and an afternoon service, along with evening "exercises" for the unbaptized (slaves and other [[Cape Coloureds]]); the afternoon service was more heavily based on the [[Heidelberg Catechism]]. The oldest extant report from the local Ring (sub-Synod) in 1838 attest the spread of the Gospel as proceeding at a "very encouraging" pace, with two monthly prayer meetings (one in the Swartberg and one in the Nuweveld) in the countryside as well as the weekly services in Beaufort West proper. [[Drought]], [[measles]], and the loss of population to the [[Great Trek]] slowed growth in 1839, but by the mid-1840's, there were five prayer hours congregation-wide, each under a church councilor's supervision, and attendance had recovered. The first [[Sunday school]] was established in 1844, only a few months after the first in the NGK in Cape Town, and the 1850 report showed it has held in the church for white children and in the ''Gesticht'' (oldest mission hall) for Cape Coloured ones.
== Revival (1860-1861) ==
The 1860 denomination report on spiritual decline urged a revival, and shortly afterwards NGK congregations began introducing annual [[Pentecostalism|Pentecostal]] prayers in [[Paarl]], [[Wellington, Western Cape|Wellington]], [[Montagu, Western Cape|Montagu]], [[Calvinia]], and other cities. Beaufort West was no exception, and the Rev. Fraser's 1861 report to the Ring reported:
"Our congregation appears to have shared in the revival with its fellows…not only in the city and neighboring areas, but in the Koup, the Nuweveld, from Skilpadkop to the [[Dwyka River]] we find traces of the work of the Holy Spirit…Prayer hours are observed in town and elsewhere, in some places daily and in others four times a week but always on Sundays."
== The Rev. Fraser's retirement ==
The Rev. Fraser retired due to illnesses beginning in 1862, leaving a two-year vacancy until the Rev. [[Albert Zinn]] replaced him, prompting a backsliding reported in the 1865 denomination report as "carelessness about the Lord's service and conformity to this world." As the Rev. Fraser announced his resignation on January 12, 1863 in the presence of the full council in the [[parsonage]], the consulent, the Rev. [[Willem Adolph Krige]] of [[Victoria West]] wished him well.
He spent eight years of his retirement in Beaufort West, occasionally appearing before the congregation in the meantime. After several strokes, he died at 74 in town on Sunday, September 25, 1870. Two days later, he was buried in the graveyard of the church he had served. The congregation's fourth pastor, the Rev. [[Willem Petrus de Villiers]], gave the eulogy, and the Rev. Guy Gething of the [[Anglican Church of Southern Africa]] made some remarks at the gravesite. A memorial stone from the church's then ring wall was placed on the grave, stating: "Installed as a manifestation of the esteem and love to their former friend and shepherd by the members of this congregations and others in whose midst he served the Gospel for 38 years."
== Personal life ==
The Rev. Fraser was married twice. His first wife was Anna Amalia Muller of Graaff-Reinet in February 1828. She died relatively young in September 1838, leaving seven children. In February 1840, he remarried in Beaufort West to Maria Elizabeth Sieberhagen of her parents' Tafelberg farm in Beaufort West. Sieberhagen was the daughter of Johan George Sieberhagen and Juliana Schryber, who came to South Africa from [[Hesse-Kassel]] in 1811 and first settled in [[Swellendam]]. She had nine sons with the Rev. Fraser and died in 1862. A plaque in her honor remains visible in the Beaufort West church. She and her husband's first wife were both buried in the northern corner of the old church building. While two daughters of his first marriage went on to teach in Beaufort West, two notable sons include the Rev. [[Colin McKenzie Fraser]] and politician Sir [[John G. Fraser]]. Colin, Jr., in turn was the father of [[Rachel Isabella Steyn]], wife of [[State President of the Orange Free State|State President]] of the [[Orange Free State]] [[Martinus Theunis Steyn]].
[[Fraserburg]] was named for the Rev. Fraser and elder Meyburgh. Other Scottish pastors who left their names on the South African landscape include the Rev. [[William Robertson (Scottish minister)|William Robertson]] ([[Robertson, Western Cape|Robertson]]), the Rev. [[Henry Sutherland (Scottish minister)|Henry Sutherland]] ([[Sutherland, Western Cape|Sutherland]]), the Rev. Andrew Murray, Sr. ([[Murraysburg]]), the Rev. [[John Pears]] ([[Pearston]]), the Rev. [[Alexander Smith (Scottish minister)|Alexander Smith]] ([[Alexandria, Eastern Cape|Alexandria]]), the Rev. [[Andrew McGregor (Scottish minister)|Andrew McGregor]] ([[McGregor, Western Cape|McGregor]]), and the Rev. [[David Ross (South African minister)|David Ross]] (Rossville).
== Sources ==
[[Category:1796 births]]
[[Category:1870 deaths]]
[[Category:Karoo]]
[[Category:South African clergy]]
He was the son of Alexander Fraser and Lilian McDonald and was raised in Killernan, County Ross, Scotland. After he earned his M.A. at [[King's College, Aberdeen|King's College]] in [[Aberdeen]], he continued his studies in [[theology]] there and later at [[Marischal College]], from which he graduated. In June 1824, he was examined and ordained by the [[Presbytery]], shortly after Lord Somerset had asked Dr. [[George Thom (minister)|George Thom]], pastor of [[Caledon, Western Cape|Caledon]] to recruit pastors and missionaries from Scotland for the NGK, among whom was Fraser. After spending several months learning [[Dutch language|Dutch]] in [[Utrecht]], he sailed for [[Inverness]] and disembarked in turn at [[Table Bay]] on December 18, 1824. At the behest of Lord [[Henry Bathurst, 3rd Earl Bathurst]], the [[Secretary of State for the Colonies]], Fraser was immediately appointed pastor of the [[Beaufort West Reformed Church]], ending a two-month-long vacancy with his ordainment by the Rev. [[Andrew Murray, Sr.]], then two years retired from a long stint at the [[Graaff-Reinet Reformed Church (NGK)]], on January 19, 1825. Fraser was the second pastor of Beaufort West and the successor of his compatriot Rev. [[John Taylor (missionary in South Africa)|John Taylor]].
== Arrival in Beaufort ==
The Rev. Fraser would serve the congregation for a record 38 years, after British [[Secretary of State for the Colonies]] Lord [[Henry Bathurst, 3rd Earl Bathurst]] urged the appointment along with the investiture of the Rev. [[Andrew Murray (minister)|Andrew Murray]] as pastor of the Graaff-Reinet congregation, where the latter was confirmed on January 19, 1825.
== First church in Beaufort ==
At the Rev. Fraser's first council meeting in February 1825, they resolved to petition the Governor for 10,000 [[Dutch rijksdaalder|rijksdaalder]]s to build a church, given that the provisional one seating 80 was too small to allow free access during communion. Upon the Governor's reply that this was too little given the shortage at the Orphan Chamber (a body overseeing estates), the council got magistrate [[Andries Stockenström]] of Graaff-Reinet to agree to a fundraising drive. By that December, the circular sent to the field cornets had already collected 3,227 rijksdaalders, together with congregant collections yielding 7,522 rijksdaalders (around £578 12s.), enough to secure the Governor's blessing. The council at first found this sufficient, but later discovered it to be inadequate for an appropriately sized building.
Unable to secure 5-8,000-rijksdaalder loans from the [[Cape Town]] and [[Tulbagh]] councils, a second funding drive was held in March 1826 for "livestock as well as cash." Several male members contributed to the construction fund at the next congregation meeting. The Rev. Fraser estimated that the church would cost 13,150 rijksdaalders (around £1,011 10s.), and while that amount had yet to be secured, the council decided to start ordering masonry stone and brick in July 1826. C. Stritch drew up the blueprint, master mason Mr. Sandelands housed the project for £10/mo, and Gerhardus du Toit supervised on the council's behalf.
== Congregation growth ==
Until the [[Swartberg]] district seceded as the [[Prince Albert Reformed Church]] in 1843, the congregation covered 52,000 km², around 40% of the size of today's [[Western Cape]] Province. The Rev. Fraser had to serve worshipers from as far west as what is now [[Prieska]] and as far north as the [[Orange River]], though so sparsely populated as to only include 800 confirmed members and 3,000 people total. There were no roads, footpaths, or wagon tracks, and so the Rev. Fraser and an elder usually toured on horseback with a squire hand-pulling a horse loaded with bedding, clothes, robes, communion kits, and provisions. The congregation included ten districts (field-cornetcies), through which the touring minister held services in major population centers, baptized children, read and examined catechisms, blessed marriages, and otherwise served remote families. The Rev. Fraser was chased off by those who had never seen a pastor before and threatened by floods and wild animals. Oxcarts and carriages only became an option once roads were built.
Each Sunday, the Rev. Fraser held a morning and an afternoon service, along with evening "exercises" for the unbaptized (slaves and other [[Cape Coloureds]]); the afternoon service was more heavily based on the [[Heidelberg Catechism]]. The oldest extant report from the local Ring (sub-Synod) in 1838 attest the spread of the Gospel as proceeding at a "very encouraging" pace, with two monthly prayer meetings (one in the Swartberg and one in the Nuweveld) in the countryside as well as the weekly services in Beaufort West proper. [[Drought]], [[measles]], and the loss of population to the [[Great Trek]] slowed growth in 1839, but by the mid-1840's, there were five prayer hours congregation-wide, each under a church councilor's supervision, and attendance had recovered. The first [[Sunday school]] was established in 1844, only a few months after the first in the NGK in Cape Town, and the 1850 report showed it has held in the church for white children and in the ''Gesticht'' (oldest mission hall) for Cape Coloured ones.
== Revival (1860-1861) ==
The 1860 denomination report on spiritual decline urged a revival, and shortly afterwards NGK congregations began introducing annual [[Pentecostalism|Pentecostal]] prayers in [[Paarl]], [[Wellington, Western Cape|Wellington]], [[Montagu, Western Cape|Montagu]], [[Calvinia]], and other cities. Beaufort West was no exception, and the Rev. Fraser's 1861 report to the Ring reported:
"Our congregation appears to have shared in the revival with its fellows…not only in the city and neighboring areas, but in the Koup, the Nuweveld, from Skilpadkop to the [[Dwyka River]] we find traces of the work of the Holy Spirit…Prayer hours are observed in town and elsewhere, in some places daily and in others four times a week but always on Sundays."
== The Rev. Fraser's retirement ==
The Rev. Fraser retired due to illnesses beginning in 1862, leaving a two-year vacancy until the Rev. [[Albert Zinn]] replaced him, prompting a backsliding reported in the 1865 denomination report as "carelessness about the Lord's service and conformity to this world." As the Rev. Fraser announced his resignation on January 12, 1863 in the presence of the full council in the [[parsonage]], the consulent, the Rev. [[Willem Adolph Krige]] of [[Victoria West]] wished him well.
He spent eight years of his retirement in Beaufort West, occasionally appearing before the congregation in the meantime. After several strokes, he died at 74 in town on Sunday, September 25, 1870. Two days later, he was buried in the graveyard of the church he had served. The congregation's fourth pastor, the Rev. [[Willem Petrus de Villiers]], gave the eulogy, and the Rev. Guy Gething of the [[Anglican Church of Southern Africa]] made some remarks at the gravesite. A memorial stone from the church's then ring wall was placed on the grave, stating: "Installed as a manifestation of the esteem and love to their former friend and shepherd by the members of this congregations and others in whose midst he served the Gospel for 38 years."
== Personal life ==
The Rev. Fraser was married twice. His first wife was Anna Amalia Muller of Graaff-Reinet in February 1828. She died relatively young in September 1838, leaving seven children. In February 1840, he remarried in Beaufort West to Maria Elizabeth Sieberhagen of her parents' Tafelberg farm in Beaufort West. Sieberhagen was the daughter of Johan George Sieberhagen and Juliana Schryber, who came to South Africa from [[Hesse-Kassel]] in 1811 and first settled in [[Swellendam]]. She had nine sons with the Rev. Fraser and died in 1862. A plaque in her honor remains visible in the Beaufort West church. She and her husband's first wife were both buried in the northern corner of the old church building. While two daughters of his first marriage went on to teach in Beaufort West, two notable sons include the Rev. [[Colin McKenzie Fraser]] and politician Sir [[John G. Fraser]]. Colin, Jr., in turn was the father of [[Rachel Isabella Steyn]], wife of [[State President of the Orange Free State|State President]] of the [[Orange Free State]] [[Martinus Theunis Steyn]].
[[Fraserburg]] was named for the Rev. Fraser and elder Meyburgh. Other Scottish pastors who left their names on the South African landscape include the Rev. [[William Robertson (Scottish minister)|William Robertson]] ([[Robertson, Western Cape|Robertson]]), the Rev. [[Henry Sutherland (Scottish minister)|Henry Sutherland]] ([[Sutherland, Western Cape|Sutherland]]), the Rev. Andrew Murray, Sr. ([[Murraysburg]]), the Rev. [[John Pears]] ([[Pearston]]), the Rev. [[Alexander Smith (Scottish minister)|Alexander Smith]] ([[Alexandria, Eastern Cape|Alexandria]]), the Rev. [[Andrew McGregor (Scottish minister)|Andrew McGregor]] ([[McGregor, Western Cape|McGregor]]), and the Rev. [[David Ross (South African minister)|David Ross]] (Rossville).
== Sources ==
[[Category:1796 births]]
[[Category:1870 deaths]]
[[Category:Karoo]]
[[Category:South African clergy]]
September 03, 2019 at 11:03AM
