LEWIS, JOHN JAMES (1844-1931) was born at Abergavenny, Monmouthshire. After receiving an elementary education he studied at King Henry VIII Grammar School in his native town, and later at Boulogne-sur-Mer in France. After extensive travels in Europe he returned to England. He had been confirmed in the Church of England but joined the Wesleyan Methodist church in London in 1864. While following business pursuits there he served as a local preacher, and in 1868 was accepted as a candidate for the ministry. He was trained at Richmond Theological College.

Lewis sailed for New Zealand in the City of Auckland (having as fellow-passengers the Revs F.W. Isitt, J.S. Smalley and W.J. Williams and W.F. Massey) and reached Auckland on 11 Dec 1870. A widely read scholar with a mastery of at least a dozen languages in which he studied the Scriptures, he was a superb expositor and a fervent evangelist. Lewis was ordained at the first Methodist conference held at Christchurch (1874). Owing to a breakdown in health he returned to England for two years and in 1877 he resumed work in New Zealand. He married (1880) M.E.G. Bowles of Waimate. Tireless in industry, punctual, exact in attention to detail, Lewis rose to eminence in administrative work in his church. Several times he represented New Zealand in the Methodist general conference of Australasia. In 1890 he was elected president of the New Zealand conference and in 1896 was appointed to represent New Zealand Methodism at the Irish Wesleyan conference. He held many important official positions and was chairman of synods on many occasions. He was an able and widely read scholar. Few were his equal in debate, but his powers of eloquence were most manifest in the pulpit. He was superannuated in 1919, but preached until his death (on 12 Jun 1931).

M.A.R.P.

Reference: Volume 1, page 265

🌳 Further sources