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From: Lehmkuhl <>
Subject: Re: Christol - Paris Evangelical Mission
Date: Sat, 08 Jan 2000 13:42:54 -0800


At 08-01-00 Saturday 04:40 AM, you wrote:
>Does anyone out there have any information on either the Paris Evangelical
>Mission in Basutoland in the period roughly 1860-1930? Or particularly on a
>Reverend Christol and his family?
>Many thanks
>Liz

Hi there
The Paris Evangelical Mission Society was a French Protestant mission and
began its work in Wellington, Cape in 1829 but soon spread to Bechuanaland.
In 1833 it moved to Basutoland where it played a prominent role
particularly through its mission station at Morija. It was still there in 1966.
Basutoland is now Lesotho.
Frederic CHRISTOL was born in Paris, France on 08 April 1850. He died in
Paris on 14 Dec 1933. He studied at l'Ecole des Beaux-Arts and later
decided to train as a missionary. While on a tour of the Holy Land with the
Mission Populaire Evangélique, he met and married Johanna (Jenny) PALMER in
Jerusalem in 1881.
In 1882 he was on vacation from the Mission Populaire Evangélique and
destined for the Zambesi Mission, he arrived from Dartmouth via Durban, in
Basutoland where family circumstances forced him to remain. He joined the
Paris Evangelical Mission Society, working first at Bethesda (now
Maphutseng) from 1885. In 1887 he he moved to Hermon on the left bank of
the Caledon River near Wepener in the Orange Free State. He remained there
until 1908 when he retired. At Hermon he was given the Sesotho name Kiritla
(meaning the Thunderer). He also did some painting there. In 1892 he
received a gold medal at the Kimbereley Exhibition for his collection of
old African objects. He also collected African plants, specimens of which
he sent to Paris. He returned with his family, to France via the East Coast
of Africa. Along the way they visited his parents-in-law in Jerusalem. He
settled at Pantin in France where he again did preaching. He wrote 9 books.
He had 4 sons and 2 daughters. Four of them became missionaries. In his
80th year, he and his wife celebrated their golden anniversary and he was
made a Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur.
Source: Dictionary of South African Biography, Vol 3, page 148
===========
Anne Lehmkuhl - Professional genealogist specialising in South African research
Member of: Genealogical Society of South Africa; Association of
Professional Genealogists (USA)
Web site http://www.rupert.net/~lkoo

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