BANNERMAN, WILLIAM (1822-1902) was born at Kirkcaldy, Fifeshire, and as a child moved with his parents to Edinburgh, where he received his education. He went to the High School and to the sessional school, and then proceeded, on a four years bursary of £20 a year, to the University of Edinburgh.

While he was there the disruption occurred in the Church of Scotland. Bannerman was present in St Andrew's church when the protest was read by Dr Welsh, whereby 470 of the leading ministers of the Church renounced their allegiance and withdrew to form the Free Church of Scotland. Bannerman joined the new church and on the completion of his four years at the University he entered the Free Church theological college (of which Dr Chalmers was principal). At the end of his course he was licensed as a probationer. During these eight years in Edinburgh Bannerman was engaged in private tuition, and added much to his knowledge of the world by an extended tour in Europe in the company of one of his pupils. Partly on foot, they travelled through Belgium, Germany, Switzerland and Italy. At Geneva they met the historian of the Reformation, Merle D'Aubigne. Another tour took them through southern Ireland. After being licensed by the Free Church presbytery of Edinburgh, Bannerman was employed by the home mission committee in the parish of Crathie, in which were included the royal estates of Balmoral and Abergeldie. He conducted divine service and Sunday school in a building belonging to the estate of Abergeldie, and thereby laid the foundations of the present parish. On leaving Crathie, Bannerman for a few weeks supplied the vacant charge at Echt, near Aberdeen. Then he went to Perth to take the place temporarily at St Leonards of the Rev John Milne, who had gone to Calcutta.

Some time before this the congregation of First Church in Dunedin had requested the Free Church of Scotland to assist in providing missionaries for the central portion of Otago province outside of Dunedin. An old parishioner wrote to Bannerman that he was going to Otago with his two sons, and suggested that Bannerman might find the opening agreeable. He accepted the suggestion at once, offered his services to the colonial committee, and in Sep 1853 was ordained by the Perth presbytery as a minister of the Otago Church. Dr Andrew Bonar presided. Accompanied by the Rev William Will, Bannerman sailed the following month in the ship Stately, which arrived in Otago in Feb 1854. The presbytery of Otago divided the district between the two ministers, it being agreed that Will should take the better-settled Taieri district and Bannerman the sparsely-settled far south. Being unable to ride, he entered upon his task with the prospect of travelling afoot, and in this fashion he made journeys in 10 months which totalled 3,600 miles. Then a horse was procured, and he soon became an accomplished horseman. At the request of the presbytery he travelled as far north as Oamaru, and then returned to his own sphere in south Otago. Every small settlement there he visited regularly. Before long Tokomairiro, Clutha, Kaihiku, Warepa and Inch Clutha were organised congregations, and by the end of 1856 Bannerman had extended his visitations as far as Invercargill. After visiting all the congregations on the northern side of the Mataura he crossed the river and proceeded with great difficulty to Bluff, suffering much from thirst on the way. After sleeping the night in the lee of a house which was building there, he proceeded by foot and boat to the site of Invercargill, where surveyors were already at work laying out the township.

Returning in company with Logie (collector of customs at Dunedin), they lost themselves among the Hokonui mountains and spent two nights in the bush, drenched to the skin. At length they struck the mouth of the Popotunoa gorge and reached the manse at Warepa, a clay hut, on Sunday morning. Bannerman caught his horse and rode off to Balclutha for the Sunday service. The manse at Puerua was erected in 1857. These arduous years taxed to the utmost the strength of the minister, who was scarcely out of the saddle for a day at a time. Gradually the advent of more population required the establishment of sanctioned charges within his territory. In 1860 the Rev A. H. Stobo was stationed at Invercargill. Then the Warepa and Kaihiku, Tokomairiro, Inch Clutha and Popotunoa districts became settled charges (under the Revs J. Waters, A. B. Todd, James Kirkland and Charles Connor), and Bannerman was free to devote his attention to Puerua and Port Molyneux, with Catlins and Tapanui. He had laboured for 30 years in this heavy field, and was now over 60 years of age, when in 1884 he met with a buggy accident which left him so lame as to be unable longer to travel. He retired at the beginning of 1885, his congregation retaining him as senior minister.

Bannerman went to live at Roslyn. He did occasional work in and around Dunedin, but devoted most of his attention to the clerkship of the synod, which he held from its formation. He had previously been clerk to the presbytery for some years. In the church courts Bannerman was methodical in the transaction of business and uniformly helpful, courteous and courageous in debate. He was one of the old Scots Presbyterians, versed in all church law, a keen debater, and an inveterate fighter. He took a warm interest in missions and for many years was convenor of the mission committee. In this capacity he paid a visit with his wife to the New Hebrides, where the Otago Church had stations. Bannerman attended two general assemblies of the Victorian and New Zealand churches, and in 1876 he represented the Church of Otago at Edinburgh at the alliance of the Reformed Churches holding to the Presbyterian system.

In 1900, in recognition of his long and valuable service in New Zealand, the University of Edinburgh conferred upon Bannerman the degree of doctor of divinity. He died on 24 Dec 1902. Mrs Bannerman was a daughter of the Rev Dr Burns.

Hocken; Chisholm; Don; John Wilson; Otago Witness, Mar 1898 (Jubilee); Otago Daily Times, 20 Jan 1885, 25 Dec 1902, 13 Jun 1930 (P).

Reference: Volume 1, page 35

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