George Tobias (1882-1974) - A Life of Service by Robert Tobias (1956S).

From Stretcher-bearer in World War 1 to Bishop of Namibia

A biography of Bishop G. W. R. Tobias (Bishops, 1894-1902) has recently been published under the title: George Tobias : A Life of Service : From Stretcher-bearer in World War 1 to Bishop of Namibia.

The author is George Tobias’ son, Robert Tobias (Bishops, 1948-56) and the publisher is Xlibris.

This biography, consisting of eighteen chapters, seventeen photographs and four graphic designs  by George’s oldest grandson, Simon, tells the story of the life of George Wolfe Robert Tobias, M.C., M.A. (1882-1974), priest, stretcher-bearer & chaplain in the 1st World War (1915-1918), missionary in northern Namibia (1924-39), diocesan bishop in the Anglican Church in Namibia (1939-49), during and immediately after the 2nd World War, and parish priest in the Cape and supporter of the church in Namibia (1949-74). It is the story of a remarkable man.

His Early Years

The first chapter of the book describes briefly George’s life as a child, teenager and as a young man. George’s early years were spent in Kimberley where his father was Rector of All Saints, Beaconsfield. When he was nine years old, in 1891, the family moved to Namaqualand when his father was appointed Rector of St Augustine’s, O’Okiep. It was from there that George, when he was 12 years old, was sent to boarding school at the Diocesan College Preparatory School in Claremont in the Cape. Later, when he was older, he went on to attend the College (’Bishops’) in Rondebosch, and when he was 20 years old, he graduated with a B.A. degree, with Honours in Literature and Philosophy.  

As a young man, George distinguished himself as a scholar. At Bishops he was awarded several significant academic prizes. In addition he was awarded the recently established Queen Victoria Scholarship to study at an overseas university, and was accepted at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge. There he was in residence for two years and continued to distinguish himself, graduating in 1908 with a First Class Honours degree in History. There he was also encouraged to apply for an academic position at the University of Cambridge. However George had other ideas and embarked instead on a life of priesthood in the Anglican Church. In 1910 George returned to South Africa and for the following five years he worked to establish a new congregation and church at the Roodebloem end of his father’s parish in Woodstock.

The 1st World War

Following the introductory chapter the book moves on to a section consisting of seven chapters which tells the story of his experience during the 1st World War. This section draws heavily on his letters to his family and provides a picture of George’s war-time experience as a stretcher-bearer (1915-1916) & then as a chaplain (1916 to 1918). Several remarkable personal accounts are provided. These include detailed day-by-day – and occasional hour-by-hour - descriptions of the terrible fighting in the Battle of the Somme in July 1916, the 3rd Battle of Ypres in 1917, and in the final days and hours of the war in October & November 1918. They also include his reflections on several issues which provide considerable insight into the roles of stretcher-bearers and chaplains in that war and the challenges that they faced.

During the war he was noted for his bravery. He was wounded twice, firstly in the leg at the battle of the Somme in 1916 and secondly in the shoulder and chest during the 3rd battle of Ypres a year later in July 1917. This latter wound was very nearly fatal and he was only saved by the actions of friends and colleagues. He was commended for bravery on several occasions and eventually in the latter part of 1917 he was awarded a Military Cross. The book tells the story of some of these acts of bravery.

Founding the Anglican Church in northern Namibia

The second section of the book consists of eight chapters, and tells the story of George’s remarkable work in founding the Anglican Church in northern Namibia.

After the war, in 1919, George returned to his former parish in Woodstock in the Cape as priest-in-charge at All Saints, Roodebloem, which by 1923 had become an independent parish. Early in 1923 George offered his services to go to northern Namibia, then known as Ovamboland, to establish an Anglican Mission to the Kwanyama people. This offer was accepted by the Archbishop of Cape Town and over the following eighteen months from 1923 to 1924 he played a key role in raising the funds needed to establish the mission. This included preaching and fund-raising at most parishes in the George and Cape Town diocese and at schools such as Bishops and St Cyprian’s. An ‘Ovamboland Committee’ was established, and this Committee, along with many parishes and Bishops and St Cyprian’s, played an Important role in supporting  the mission for many years.

With this support, in July 1924 George set out by train from Cape Town for Windhoek and from there a week or so later for Tsumeb. Then, on 26 July, he set out with two wagons drawn by donkeys via the Etosha Pan, the ‘Thirst Belt’ and Ondangua for Odibo,  just short of the Angola border. This site had been chosen by the omalenga (or principal headmen) in the district, and it was to become the headquarters of the Anglican Mission in the Ohangwena region in northern Namibia.

Over the following fifteen years, from 1924 to 1939, George took the lead in establishing the Mission, and this section of the book tells the story of the initiatives undertaken, both those which were successful and those less so, over the period from 1924 to 1939. It includes a full account of the growth and expansion of the work among the Ovakwanyama people in these years. With the help, support, advice and hard work of many people, both local and from further afield, the book reveals the way in which the mission grew.

In June 1933 George married Edith Perkins, a nursing sister who had come from the UK to Namibia to work at the mission.  The book also reveals many of the ways in which the Anglican mission, and in particular George’s work, contributed not only to the introduction of Christianity to the Kwanyama people but also to their health and education, and ultimately to their social and political emancipation. Among other things his early work included the founding of St Mary’s school, a school from which many of Namibia’s leaders over the following hundred years graduated.  The section ends with the departure of George, his wife and their children for Windhoek, where they were to live for the following ten years.

His Later Years

The 3rd section of the book consists of three chapters. Chapter 16 tells the story of George’s life as diocesan Bishop of Damaraland (nowadays Namibia) in the Anglican Church during and immediately after the 2nd World War (1938-49). The chapter commences with a brief account of his consecration in St George’s Cathedral in Cape Town in April 1939. Then, in September of that year the 2nd World War broke out. The chapter describes the impact of the war on Namibia and on the Anglican Church there. It describes the continuing work and changing times in ‘Ovamboland’ as well as in the central and southern parts of the diocese during the war years as well as in the post-war period. It concludes with a brief description of George’s participation in the Lambeth Conference in 1948. In 1949 he resigned his bishopric on medical advice: His wife, Edith, had very high blood-pressure and she had been advised to move from Windhoek, located as it is at 1700 metres above sea-level, to a place at a lower altitude, preferably sea-level.

The next chapter – chapter 17 - takes up the story with the move by George, Edith and their children from Windhoek to the Cape where in 1949 he took up the position of Rector in the Simonstown parish of St Francis. Sadly, a little over a year after the move, on 7 December 1950, Edith died. The chapter moves on to describe briefly his work in Simonstown and then in his parish of St Peter the Fisherman in Hout Bay to which he moved as part-time Rector when he retired from full-time work in 1954 when he was 72 years old. The chapter then describes his life in the 1950s and goes on to tell the story of his extraordinary visit to Namibia in mid-1960 following the death of John Vincent, the Bishop of Namibia at the time, and continues with an account of his life back in the Cape where he remained very busy throughout 1960. The chapter concludes with a full account of developments in northern Namibia in 1961 with George finding himself being consulted increasingly frequently by Bob Mize, the new Bishop of Namibia.

The final chapter provides a picture of the final dozen years of George’s life, from 1962 until his death in 1974. During these years he continued to live at the Cape though he made a number of sorties to Namibia, the Transvaal and the UK for various reasons. Throughout this time he retained a strong interest in the Anglican Church in Namibia and especially in the work among the Kwanyama people. In 1962 he accepted the invitation of Bishop Mize to visit once again the Mission in northern Namibia. The chapter notes that this was ‘a great occasion and an opportunity to renew old friendships’. It then goes on to describe developments there over the next few years, years of considerable growth, which George noted with great satisfaction.

The chapter also describes some of the difficulties faced by the diocese, and in particular the way in which the Government withheld visas from a significant number of priests from the US culminating in its decision in 1968 not to renew Bishop Mize’s visa. The chapter then notes briefly the election of Colin Winter as Bishop, and then turns to describe George’s life and times at the Cape, firstly from 1962 to 1967, and secondly from 1968 to 1974. During this time the chapter outlines the ways in which George remained true to his vocation assisting where he could but having to gradually withdraw from various activities as deafness and eventually illness and frailty overcame him.

George died on 3 May 1972, and his death sparked a flood of tributes, reminiscences and reflections on his life from colleagues, friends and family, some of which are included in the book. Amongst these was one from Bishop Robert Mize.  He wrote, ‘Few people can have an awareness of the greatness of his life and ministry as do we who have succeeded him … I do so much hope that the Church will learn the full account of his life and that his life and example can continue to inspire people through the ages. In my estimate he ranks with Robert Gray and Bernard Mizeki in deserving a place in the South African calendar’.

The book concludes with an appendix which provides a number of stories, anecdotes and recollections which shed light on George’s personality.

Book Details

Format: Softcover Dimensions :  8.5x11  Page Count : 308 : ISBN: 9798369498514

Format: Hardcover Dimensions: 8.5x11 Page Count : 308 : ISBN: 9798369498521

Format: E-book Dimensions : N/A Page Count : ISBN: 9798369498507

For further information about the book, please go to: https://www.amazon.com/George-Tobias-Service-Stretcher-bearer-Namibia/dp/B0F7PVSTF9