Johann Christian Simon Handt

Johann Christian Simon Handt (born Johann Christian Simon Hundt; 1794 – 7 July 1863) was a German-born Australian minister and missionary of Lutheran faith. Known for being Queensland's first missionary or one of the first, Handt is also said to have brought in the first pineapples in Queensland.

Handt in 1827

Early life

Handt was born Johann Christian Simon Hundt[1] in 1794.[2] One source lists his birthplace as Aken-on-the-Elbe, Saxony, Germany, others list Prussia.[3] His mother died in 1813 and his father in 1816.[1] He changed his surname to "Handt" after being constantly laughed at for his surname sounding like "Hund" (German for "dog").[1] Handt went on to become a tailor before enrolling as a missionary; in 1822, Handt moved to Switzerland to attend the Basle Missionary Institute in Basel.[3] He graduated in January 1827.[3]

Career and personal life

In around 1830, the London Missionary Society dispatched Handt to work with natives in Australia, alongside a few other Germans.[4] Handt reached Sydney on 25 June 1831.[3] That year, he travelled with his wife to Wellington, New South Wales, to start missionary work for the New South Wales Church Mission Society. Their work came to an end when one of them[lower-alpha 1] came down with an illness and the couple were forced to return to Sydney.[6] He is credited as the first German missionary in New South Wales,[5] and one of the first missionaries in Queensland.[7]

Handt is credited with having brought in the first pineapples in Queensland.[3] Handt married Mary Crook (died 1844[8]), the eldest daughter of educator and missionary William Pascoe Cook,[9] in July 1832.[1] They had three children — Sarah, Wilhelm,[lower-alpha 2] and Ambrosius.[1] Handt was a Lutheran.[10]

Final years and death

One source states that Handt died at a prison hospital in Geelong, Victoria, on 7 July 1863, aged 70.[1] Another source writes that he died at his residence in Bond Street, Chillwell.[3] It is unclear as to where Handt is buried.[3]

Notes
  1. According to one source, it was his wife who fell sick,[5] while according to another, it was Handt who did.[6]
  2. Also William.[3]

References
  1. Ganter, Regina. "Handt, Johann Christian Simon (1793-1863)". Griffith University. Retrieved April 17, 2013.
  2. Reid, Gordon (2006). "That Unhappy Race": Queensland and the Aboriginal Problem, 1838-1901. Australian Scholarly. p. 4. ISBN 9781740971041.
  3. Roberts, David A. "The background of Johann Christian Simon Handt" (PDF). Retrieved April 17, 2013.
  4. Koch, John B. (1975). When the Murray Meets the Mississippi: A Survey of Australian and American Lutheran Contacts, 1834-1974. Lutheran Publishing House. p. 26.
  5. Tampke, Jurgen (2006). The Germans in Australia. Cambridge University Press. p. 58. ISBN 9780521612432.
  6. Doxford, Colin (1990). Australia, Willkommen: A History of the Germans in Australia. New South Wales University Press. p. 66. ISBN 9780868403076.
  7. Ganter, Regina. "Earliest missions in Australia". Griffith University. Retrieved April 18, 2013.
  8. Le Couteur, Howard (December 1, 1998). "The Moreton Bay ministry of the Reverend Johann Handt: a reappraisal". Journal of the Royal Historical Australian Society. Archived from the original on March 24, 2016.
  9. "Wellington Convict and Mission Site - Maynggu Ganai". New South Wales Government. Retrieved April 18, 2013.
  10. Swain, Tony; Rose, Deborah Bird (1998). Aboriginal Australians and Christian missions: ethnographic and historical studies. Australian Association for the Study of Religions. p. 82. ISBN 9780908083152.
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