George Pritchard was a British Christian missionary and diplomatist.

Pritchard was born in Birmingham

Birmingham

Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...

 and studied at the mission seminary at Gosport

Gosport

Gosport is a town, district and borough situated on the south coast of England, within the county of Hampshire. It has approximately 80,000 permanent residents with a further 5,000-10,000 during the summer months...

. In 1824 he travelled to the Society Islands

Society Islands

The Society Islands are a group of islands in the South Pacific Ocean. They are politically part of French Polynesia. The archipelago is generally believed to have been named by Captain James Cook in honor of the Royal Society, the sponsor of the first British scientific survey of the islands;...

 to undertake work for the London Missionary Society

London Missionary Society

The London Missionary Society was a non-denominational missionary society formed in England in 1795 by evangelical Anglicans and Nonconformists, largely Congregationalist in outlook, with missions in the islands of the South Pacific and Africa...

. In 1837 he was appointed British consul at Tahiti

Tahiti

Tahiti is the largest island in the Windward group of French Polynesia, located in the archipelago of the Society Islands in the southern Pacific Ocean. It is the economic, cultural and political centre of French Polynesia. The island was formed from volcanic activity and is high and mountainous...

, advising Queen Pōmare IV

Pomare IV

Pōmare IV, Queen of Tahiti , more properly Aimata Pōmare IV Vahine-o-Punuateraitua , was the queen of Tahiti between 1827 and 1877...

. The Islands were annexed by France in spite of his protests, in 1843. He was compelled to leave the islands in 1844 and returned to England. In 1845 he was appointed British consul at Samoa

Samoa

Samoa , officially the Independent State of Samoa, formerly known as Western Samoa is a country encompassing the western part of the Samoan Islands in the South Pacific Ocean. It became independent from New Zealand in 1962. The two main islands of Samoa are Upolu and one of the biggest islands in...

, resigning in 1856 and subsequently living in retirement in England.

External links

• Pritchard, George (1796-1883), missionary and diplomatist by Samuel Timmins rev. Jane Samson in Dictionary of National Biography
  Dictionary of National Biography
  The Dictionary of National Biography is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published from 1885...