John Bennie (missionary)
Encyclopedia
John Bennie was a Presbyterian missionary and early Xhosa
linguist. In 1816 he became associated with the Glasgow Missionary Society while still in Scotland and sailed to South Africa on the ship Woodlark as a catechist where he carried out his missionary work in the Ciskei
.
Mission Station, which was established among the Ngqika
. Bennie resigned from his post at Lovedale due to the deteriorating health of his wife. He went on to establish a mission church for the Dutch Reformed Church
in Middelburg
. In a journey described in his book, An account of a journey into Transorangia and the Potchefstroom-Winburg Trekker Republic in 1843; edited by D. Williams, Bennie details his travels with his father-in-law and brother-in-law into the interior of South Africa to administer to the spiritual needs of the voortrekkers
decent. This fact was most probably why he got involved with the Dutch Reformed Church
. They had nine children together and also adopted another. 4 of his children were known to have been educated at Lovedale and his one son, John Angell became the boarding master and acting principal of the school after first teaching at another mission station for two years. Bennie died on 9 February 1869 at the age of 72.
When John Ross (another missionary) brought a printing press to Tyhume in December 1923, John Bennie had already produced his transcription of the Xhosa language. The first sheets of printed Xhosa were produced on the 19th of December 1823.
The oldest piece of printed continuous Xhosa known is Bennie’s Xhosa Reading sheet printed in 1823.
On the 18 November 1924 Bennie announced to his Presbytery that he was going to compile an extended list of vocabulary and grammar dealing mainly with pronunciation of the Xhosa language. Through the Lovedale Press he was able to publish a number of vocabulary lists as well as publications on grammar dealing with pronunciation. .The 2nd edition of Kropf’s Dictionary of 1915 has incorporated into it Bennie’s manuscript portions of a “Kafir-English’’ (Xhosa-English) Dictionary.
John Bennie also was involved in translating and transcribing the oral narrative of a Xhosa convert from the Tyhume mission, Nyoi (Christian name: Robert Balfour). The narrative was called Iziqwenge zembali yamaXhosa (“fragments of Xhosa history”). Only part of this narrative was printed and was never published as a whole, but was still an important attempt at recording Xhosa history. It would have been the first secular Xhosa publication.
Xhosa
English translation
Izibongo
Izibongo is a praise poem written in Xhosa. It was produced in 1985 by the Thembu poet (imbongi) D. L. P. Yali-Manisi at a university conference in Durban
. Part of it praises and recognises John Bennie for his contribution to the written language.
Xhosa language
Xhosa is one of the official languages of South Africa. Xhosa is spoken by approximately 7.9 million people, or about 18% of the South African population. Like most Bantu languages, Xhosa is a tonal language, that is, the same sequence of consonants and vowels can have different meanings when said...
linguist. In 1816 he became associated with the Glasgow Missionary Society while still in Scotland and sailed to South Africa on the ship Woodlark as a catechist where he carried out his missionary work in the Ciskei
Ciskei
Ciskei was a Bantustan in the south east of South Africa. It covered an area of 2,970 square miles , almost entirely surrounded by what was then the Cape Province, and possessed a small coastline along the shore of the Indian Ocean....
.
Missionary work
John Bennie is one of the founding fathers of the LovedaleLovedale (South Africa)
Lovedale was a mission station and educational institute in the VictoriaEast division of the Cape Province, South Africa...
Mission Station, which was established among the Ngqika
Ngqika
The Ngqika are a tribe of the Rharhabe Xhosa whose homeland is in the former Ciskei area of the Eastern Cape.Their famous chief Sandile led most of the Rharhabe Xhosa in a series of the frontier wars with the Cape Colony....
. Bennie resigned from his post at Lovedale due to the deteriorating health of his wife. He went on to establish a mission church for the Dutch Reformed Church
Dutch Reformed Church
The Dutch Reformed Church was a Reformed Christian denomination in the Netherlands. It existed from the 1570s to 2004, the year it merged with the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Kingdom of the Netherlands to form the Protestant Church in the...
in Middelburg
Middelburg
Middelburg is a municipality and a city in the south-western Netherlands and the capital of the province of Zeeland. It is situated in the Midden-Zeeland region. It has a population of about 48,000.- History of Middelburg :...
. In a journey described in his book, An account of a journey into Transorangia and the Potchefstroom-Winburg Trekker Republic in 1843; edited by D. Williams, Bennie details his travels with his father-in-law and brother-in-law into the interior of South Africa to administer to the spiritual needs of the voortrekkers
Voortrekkers
The Voortrekkers were emigrants during the 1830s and 1840s who left the Cape Colony moving into the interior of what is now South Africa...
Private life
John Bennie was the son of James Bennie, a metal smith from Glasgow, Scotland and Margaret Bennie (née Scott). Six years after arriving in South Africa, John Bennie married Margaretha Magdalena Marè (1801–1868) from Graaf Reinet. She was an Afrikaner of HuguenotHuguenot
The Huguenots were members of the Protestant Reformed Church of France during the 16th and 17th centuries. Since the 17th century, people who formerly would have been called Huguenots have instead simply been called French Protestants, a title suggested by their German co-religionists, the...
decent. This fact was most probably why he got involved with the Dutch Reformed Church
Dutch Reformed Church
The Dutch Reformed Church was a Reformed Christian denomination in the Netherlands. It existed from the 1570s to 2004, the year it merged with the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Kingdom of the Netherlands to form the Protestant Church in the...
. They had nine children together and also adopted another. 4 of his children were known to have been educated at Lovedale and his one son, John Angell became the boarding master and acting principal of the school after first teaching at another mission station for two years. Bennie died on 9 February 1869 at the age of 72.
Work on the Xhosa language
After learning Dutch, John Bennie went about learning Xhosa, his aim being in his words was “reducing to form and rule this language which hitherto floated in the wind”.When John Ross (another missionary) brought a printing press to Tyhume in December 1923, John Bennie had already produced his transcription of the Xhosa language. The first sheets of printed Xhosa were produced on the 19th of December 1823.
The oldest piece of printed continuous Xhosa known is Bennie’s Xhosa Reading sheet printed in 1823.
On the 18 November 1924 Bennie announced to his Presbytery that he was going to compile an extended list of vocabulary and grammar dealing mainly with pronunciation of the Xhosa language. Through the Lovedale Press he was able to publish a number of vocabulary lists as well as publications on grammar dealing with pronunciation. .The 2nd edition of Kropf’s Dictionary of 1915 has incorporated into it Bennie’s manuscript portions of a “Kafir-English’’ (Xhosa-English) Dictionary.
John Bennie also was involved in translating and transcribing the oral narrative of a Xhosa convert from the Tyhume mission, Nyoi (Christian name: Robert Balfour). The narrative was called Iziqwenge zembali yamaXhosa (“fragments of Xhosa history”). Only part of this narrative was printed and was never published as a whole, but was still an important attempt at recording Xhosa history. It would have been the first secular Xhosa publication.
Xhosa
- “Siyabulela thina basemaXhoseni
- Ngokufika kweento zooRose nezooBheni
- Ukuz’ amaXhos’ avulek’ ingqondo
- Kulo mhla yaqal’ ujubhalwa le ntetho
- Intethw’ engqongqotho yasemaXhoseni”
English translation
- We Xhosa are ever grateful
- that men like Ross and Bennie
- came to ignite the mind of the Xhosa by first transcribing the language,
- the peerless language of the Xhosa
Izibongo
Izibongo is a praise poem written in Xhosa. It was produced in 1985 by the Thembu poet (imbongi) D. L. P. Yali-Manisi at a university conference in Durban
Durban
Durban is the largest city in the South African province of KwaZulu-Natal and the third largest city in South Africa. It forms part of the eThekwini metropolitan municipality. Durban is famous for being the busiest port in South Africa. It is also seen as one of the major centres of tourism...
. Part of it praises and recognises John Bennie for his contribution to the written language.