|
Richard Miles was a Motswana (Tswana) catechist and preacher "to the native tribes beyond the border" in South Africa.〔Morris, D. 2001. Who was Richard Miles? ''Now and Then: Newsletter of the Historical Society of Kimberley and the Northern Cape'' 8(1):6.〕〔Morris, D. (Richard Miles: Motswana preacher "to the native tribes beyond the border ),〕 ==Origins== Nothing definite is known of Richard Miles's origins, except that he was born a Motswana (Tswana), and as a youth was in the employ of the apothecary John Harfield Tredgold in Cape Town.〔〔Ashworth, M.G. 1974. ''The life and fortunes of John Pocock of Cape Town, 1814-1876''; Tredgold, A.1990. ''The Ardernes and their garden''. Cape Town: Arderne Book Trust.〕 Tredgold was Secretary of the Cape of Good Hope Philanthropic Society "for aiding deserving slaves and slave children to purchase their freedom", and maintained regular association with mission activities. He would have been well acquainted with the London Missionary Society Superintendent, the Revd Richard Miles (who was also on the committee of the Philanthropic Society). The Revd Miles occupied the position as Superintendent at the Cape temporarily in the late 1820s, while Dr John Philip was in England.〔Sibree, J. 1923. ''A register of missionaries, deputations, etc from 1796 to 1923''. London: LMS.〕 It is presumed that Richard Miles, the Motswana, had been one of the many youngsters displaced by turbulence in the frontier in the 1820s - when, indeed, through the so-called ''inboekseling'' system, many such children were kidnapped and "apprenticed" into a life of virtual slavery on colonial farms. It seems possible that the Philanthropic Society had saved one such Motswana youth from that fate, who then took on a name in honour of the temporary Superintendent. Evidently he lived for a time in the Tredgold household in Cape Town and benefited by an education, before returning to beyond the frontier to teach and to preach.〔 An important source in support of some of the above is the diary of one John Thomas Pocock, Tredgold’s assistant, who described a party given by the Tredgolds on 1 September 1836, adding: "Much enjoyed the evening during which Mr T. amused the company by reading aloud Richard Miles's letters. While the quaint expression elicited continual laughter, the spirit of the whole pleased us all." Miles was "a Bechuana boy formerly in the employ of Mr T. but now an itinerant preacher to the native tribes beyond the border".〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Richard Miles (Tswana catechist)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|