The following tribute to the late Rev. James Fraser, only son of the late Mr. Samuel Fraser, Strathpeffer, and of Mrs. Fraser, Ashlyn, Craig Road, Dingwall, has been received from a friend in Rhodesia. Mr. Fraser’s widow (Christine Finlayson, daughter of the late Mr. and Mrs. Finlayson, Fingal Road, Dingwall), and their young family returned home to Dingwall recently.
Rev. James S. Fraser came to us in Rhodesia in 1938, almost immediately after completing his University career and his training as a teacher, and but for a few short periods, he spent the intervening years in trying to uplift the African people of Southern Rhodesia, until his untimely death on Easter Saturday.
Mr. Fraser’s original purpose in coming to Southern Rhodesia was to permit the Principal of Ingwenya, a boarding school for African children, run by the Free Presbyterian Church, to go on furlough.
On the return of the Principal from leave, Mr. Fraser was prevailed upon by the Inspector of Schools for this district (who was quick to recognise Mr. Fraser’s potentialities as a teacher) to accept a temporary post as Head of the Hope Fountain Teacher Training School for Africans. Hope Fountain belongs to the London Missionary Society, the first Mission to establish schools in Southern Rhodesia.
Before Mr. Fraser could be replaced at Hope Fountain, war broke out, and although he made strenuous efforts to return to Scotland and join the army, the Government of Southern Rhodesia refused to release him, as his work at the training School was considered to be of the utmost national importance.
* Reprinted from “The North Star,” Ross-shire, 30th May, 1959—Editor
AFRICAN TRIBUTE
It was while he was at Hope Fountain that the African people gave him the name “Mthadabantu,” which means the man who loves the African people. No greater tribute could have been paid to a white man by the African community.
When the war ended, Mr. Fraser decided to make African education his life’s work. He returned to Scotland and after a short course in theological studies, he returned to Southern Rhodesia in the dual capacity of minister and schoolmaster.
He immediately set out to establish a Teacher Training centre to meet the needs of the many schools which the Free Presbyterian Church Mission were trying to run with a minimum of trained teachers.
Characteristically, he did not select the easy path. He obtained a site from the Government, literally in the centre of a forest, some 120 miles from Bulawayo, the nearest town to his new Mission.
His aim was not only to train teachers, but also to make the impact of Christianity felt by as many heathen people as possible. Hence his determination to have his school in the midst of the African people.
EMINENTLY SUCCESSFUL
Mr. Fraser’s Training School has been eminently successful. He was an excellent teacher, thorough sympathetic and full of enthusiasm, and he possessed the gift of inspiring his teachers with his own enthusiasm. As a result of his labours, practically all the Free Presbyterian schools will be nearly a hundred per cent staffed with trained teachers by the end of this year.
In December of last year, Mr. Fraser became critically ill with some mysterious disease. He was brought to Bulawayo and in spite of the best medical skill that Rhodesia could provide, he passed away on Easter Saturday.
He is greatly missed by a wide circle of friends, African and European, and also by the Department of African Education. For the past three years he was a valued member of the Government Advisory Board on African Education.
It may be fitting to end this tribute to a distinguished son of Ross-shire by this quotation from a letter sent to me by an African Headmaster:—
“This brilliant man, how modest! Please tell Scotland that we know that in James she gave us her best. Yes, with him as with all dedicated lives, it was strife, victory over life, and today it is a song of triumph.
“I happen to know how deeply and widely mourned he is by the African people in this part of the country. Please tell Scotland that James Fraser’s elevation to a higher service is a terrible challenge to the African people here and to Scotland herself. Scotland’s sons and daughters must come out quickly to carry on Mr. Fraser’s work. This work must not lag behind, must not fail because it cannot fail.”