Thomas Hood and the church born under a tree

 

Thomas Hood was an immigrant schoolmaster who held church services under a tree and built a complex that included a school, a church, and accommodations for himself and his family.

He arrived in South Africa in 1820 and served at various schools as a teacher for the London Missionary Society. In 1828 he married Mary Ann Hockly in Grahamstown (Makhanda) before moving to the mission station at Bethelsdorp near Port Elizabeth (Gqeberha). From there he was sent to Pacaltsdorp near George.

In 1840, while he was serving in Pacaltsdorp, he was directed to go to Avontuur in the Lang (Long) Kloof. There he continued with his teaching and started a congregation with six members. The church grew rapidly to more than 100 members.

In 1850 he moved to Hopedale, a settlement on his brother-in-law James Stewart’s farm. In Hopedale, he held services under a ‘big blue gum tree’. The tree is still standing today and can be seen across the road from the church complex.

The foundation stone is dated 1843 but there is some dispute about this date as Hood was still resident in Avontuur at the time, and the church was completed in the 1850s. A school was also built behind the church. It is the furthest building in the photo below. The building on the left is a recent addition. The parsonage was attached to the school on the right-hand side. It is now a private residence. Hopedale and the nearby settlement of Lyon would later unite into one town called Uniondale.

1] Figure 1: By Suzi-k - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=28566449

2] Figure 2: Self

3] Figure 3: Suzi-k, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia