James Egan Moulton

James Egan Moulton

James Egan Moulton (4 January 1841 – 9 May 1909) was an English-born Australian Methodist minister and headmaster and school president.

Early life

Newington House, Silverwater, where Moulton was the founding headmaster

Newington College, Stanmore, where Moulton was president

Moulton was born in North Shields, Northumberland. Many members of his family were Methodist ministers and he attended the Wesleyan school Kingswood in Bath. In 1863 he was the founding headmaster of Newington College while awaiting a posting to Tonga. Before leaving, he married Emma Knight and they had three sons and three daughters together.

Tongan ministry

In Tonga he presided over the Methodist church and established Tupou College, patronised by King George Tupou I. During his time in Tonga, a schism formed within the church leading to the creation of the Free Church of Tonga. Throughout the dispute, Moulton managed to stay on good terms with the new movement. He translated several texts into Tongan, including Milton's Paradise Lost.^[1]

Australian ministry

Moulton returned to Sydney in 1893 and took up the presidency of Newington College. In 1895, Moulton was the inaugural President of the Old Newingtonians' Union.^[2] During this time, he completed translating the Bible into Tongan, which is still in use today in Tonga. He died, aged sixty-eight, in Lindfield and is buried in Gore Hill cemetery.

See also

• John Fletcher Moulton, brother
• Richard Green Moulton, brother
• William Fiddian Moulton, brother
• James Hope Moulton, nephew
• John Egan Moulton, great grandson
• Bible translations into Oceanic languages

References

External links

• Works by or about James Egan Moulton at Internet Archive
• S. G. Claughton, 'Moulton, James Egan (1841 - 1909)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 5, MUP, 1974, pp 305–306.

Bibliography

• D. S. Macmillan, Newington College 1863-1963 (Syd, 1963)
• P. L. Swain, Newington Across the Years 1863-1998 (Syd, 1999)