Identity area
Type of entity
Person
Authorized form of name
Baker, Shirley Waldemar
Parallel form(s) of name
Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules
Other form(s) of name
- Reverend Shirley W Baker
Identifiers for corporate bodies
Description area
Dates of existence
1836 - 1903
History
The Reverend Shirley Waldemar Baker was an English Wesleyan missionary who arrived in Tonga from Australia in 1860. During his stay of more than 30 years, Baker became a close adviser to King Tupou I. He began his role of adviser to the King in 1862 and was the author of the constitution which the King granted to his people in 1875. Baker was also largely responsible for negotiating the treaty of friendship signed between Tonga and Germany in 1876. The treaty attracted the attention of the British authorities and Baker was recalled from Tonga by the missionary committee in 1879. Baker returned to Tonga in 1880 and was installed by Tupou as premier. In 1885 he established the Free Church, Wesleyan in doctrine but free from Australian control. In 1890 he was deported by the high commissioner, Sir John Thurston.
Places
Tonga
Legal status
Functions, occupations and activities
missionary; federal politician
Mandates/sources of authority
Internal structures/genealogy
General context
Relationships area
Related entity
Identifier of the related entity
Category of the relationship
Type of relationship
Dates of the relationship
Description of relationship
Access points area
Subject access points
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Occupations
Control area
Authority record identifier
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Rules and/or conventions used
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Level of detail
Dates of creation, revision and deletion
Entered from deposit description on 28 May 2013
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Script(s)
Sources
Australian Dictionary of Biography, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/baker-shirley-waldemar-2921
John Spurway, Baker Papers, Journal of Pacific History, 38:2, 2003