Hedley Churchward
Encyclopedia
Aldershot
Aldershot is a town in the English county of Hampshire, located on heathland about southwest of London. The town is administered by Rushmoor Borough Council...
– 28 August 1929 Johannesburg
Johannesburg
Johannesburg also known as Jozi, Jo'burg or Egoli, is the largest city in South Africa, by population. Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, having the largest economy of any metropolitan region in Sub-Saharan Africa...
), was an English set designer and painter, notable for converting to Islam and in 1910 being the first known British Muslim to make the Hajj
Hajj
The Hajj is the pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia. It is one of the largest pilgrimages in the world, and is the fifth pillar of Islam, a religious duty that must be carried out at least once in their lifetime by every able-bodied Muslim who can afford to do so...
.
Hedley's father, a member of a respected and ancient English family, was a commissar
Commissar
Commissar is the English transliteration of an official title used in Russia from the time of Peter the Great.The title was used during the Provisional Government for regional heads of administration, but it is mostly associated with a number of Cheka and military functions in Bolshevik and Soviet...
in the British Army at the time of the Crimean War
Crimean War
The Crimean War was a conflict fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the French Empire, the British Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Sardinia. The war was part of a long-running contest between the major European powers for influence over territories of the declining...
. During Hedley's childhood he came into contact with his father’s rather unusual circle of friends and acquaintances, spending some time at the Court of Queen Victoria. He was sent to Kilburn College
College of North West London
The College of North West London is a further education college in North West London offering a wide range of full time and part time courses, from beginner level to degree level....
, where he “shared lollipops with the sons of South American presidents, of Indian generals, of big-game hunters, polar explorers and professional empire builders” (Eric Rosenthal
Eric Rosenthal (historian and author)
Eric Rosenthal, was a South African historian and author. He was born in Newlands, Cape Town. He graduated with a law degree, later becoming a journalist and writer of many corporate histories...
, From Drury Lane to Mecca).
His painting skills were noticed at Kilburn and he was promptly commandeered to produce backdrops. He was later apprenticed to the well-known scene-painter Walter Brookes Spong
Walter Brookes Spong
Walter Brookes Spong was an English stage and watercolor painter. Spong was born in London. He married Elizabeth Twedle, and their daughter, Hilda , was an actress in theatre and movies, working in Australia, Europe, and America...
of Sadler's Wells Theatre
Sadler's Wells Theatre
Sadler's Wells Theatre is a performing arts venue located in Rosebery Avenue, Clerkenwell in the London Borough of Islington. The present day theatre is the sixth on the site since 1683. It consists of two performance spaces: a 1,500 seat main auditorium and the Lilian Baylis Studio, with extensive...
, and in the 1880s became an important part of London’s West End
West End of London
The West End of London is an area of central London, containing many of the city's major tourist attractions, shops, businesses, government buildings, and entertainment . Use of the term began in the early 19th century to describe fashionable areas to the west of Charing Cross...
circle of artists, working at the Globe Theatre
Globe Theatre
The Globe Theatre was a theatre in London associated with William Shakespeare. It was built in 1599 by Shakespeare's playing company, the Lord Chamberlain's Men, and was destroyed by fire on 29 June 1613...
and Drury Lane
Drury Lane
Drury Lane is a street on the eastern boundary of the Covent Garden area of London, running between Aldwych and High Holborn. The northern part is in the borough of Camden and the southern part in the City of Westminster....
, and with notable figures such as Tennyson
Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson
Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson, FRS was Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom during much of Queen Victoria's reign and remains one of the most popular poets in the English language....
, Millais, Lord Leighton, and Lily Langtry.
On a trip to Spain, Hedley Churchward first made his acquaintance with Islam. He was awed by the Alhambra
Alhambra
The Alhambra , the complete form of which was Calat Alhambra , is a palace and fortress complex located in the Granada, Andalusia, Spain...
in Granada
Granada
Granada is a city and the capital of the province of Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence of three rivers, the Beiro, the Darro and the Genil. It sits at an elevation of 738 metres above sea...
and the stunning architecture of the Córdoba Mosque
Mezquita
The Cathedral and former Great Mosque of Córdoba, in ecclesiastical terms the Catedral de Nuestra Señora de la Asunción , and known by the inhabitants of Córdoba as the Mezquita-Catedral , is today a World Heritage Site and the cathedral of the Diocese of Córdoba...
, developed a liking for the landscape of Al-Andalus
Al-Andalus
Al-Andalus was the Arabic name given to a nation and territorial region also commonly referred to as Moorish Iberia. The name describes parts of the Iberian Peninsula and Septimania governed by Muslims , at various times in the period between 711 and 1492, although the territorial boundaries...
, and determined to travel to Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
. He became steeped in Arab culture, gradually exchanging his western clothing for local garb and announcing to his family that he had adopted Islam.
In Cairo, his growing reputation in the Arab world, resulted in a commission to decorate one of the city's mosques. He built a home for himself close to the Pyramids, and became a student at the Al-Azhar. He proved an able scholar, and soon preached sermons at a small mosque, winning an appointment as lecturer in Sira at the Qadi's Academy. In the years that followed he shuttled between England and Morocco, also managing to visit Australia and South Africa to investigate work opportunities. In South Africa his art and easy elegance gained him the patronage of Cecil Rhodes and the favour of the Randlords. Churchward's intercession with President Paul Kruger
Paul Kruger
Stephanus Johannes Paulus Kruger , better known as Paul Kruger and affectionately known as Uncle Paul was State President of the South African Republic...
resulted in the construction of the first mosque on the Witwatersrand
Witwatersrand
The Witwatersrand is a low, sedimentary range of hills, at an elevation of 1700–1800 metres above sea-level, which runs in an east-west direction through Gauteng in South Africa. The word in Afrikaans means "the ridge of white waters". Geologically it is complex, but the principal formations...
.
His many visits to Cairo led to his marrying the daughter of a Shafi Jurist of Al-Azhar. After his conversion he planned on making the Hajj to Mecca
Mecca
Mecca is a city in the Hijaz and the capital of Makkah province in Saudi Arabia. The city is located inland from Jeddah in a narrow valley at a height of above sea level...
, amidst doubts expressed by the British Embassy in Cairo. He was subjected to a lengthy examination by the Qadi
Qadi
Qadi is a judge ruling in accordance with Islamic religious law appointed by the ruler of a Muslim country. Because Islam makes no distinction between religious and secular domains, qadis traditionally have jurisdiction over all legal matters involving Muslims...
of Egypt to determine the extent of his faith and knowledge. Passing the test, he received a testimonial ornately endorsed by the chief Ottoman
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
cleric, leading scholars and imams, certifying his suitability for the pilgrimage.
Hedley and his wife settled amongst the Cape Malays
Cape Malays
The Cape Malay community is an ethnic group or community in South Africa. It derives its name from the present-day Western Cape of South Africa and the people originally from Maritime Southeast Asia, mostly Javanese from modern-day Indonesia, a Dutch colony for several centuries, and Dutch...
of South Africa. A year later Hedley left Johannesburg on the first stage of his hajj. The steamship voyage went via Bombay, where he arranged passage on an ancient pilgrim ship, the SS Islamic. The vessel, armed against pirates, and captained by a cantankerous Scotsman, finally made its way to the Red Sea
Red Sea
The Red Sea is a seawater inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. The connection to the ocean is in the south through the Bab el Mandeb strait and the Gulf of Aden. In the north, there is the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and the Gulf of Suez...
. The boat docked at the Sudan
Sudan
Sudan , officially the Republic of the Sudan , is a country in North Africa, sometimes considered part of the Middle East politically. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the...
ese port of Suakin
Suakin
Suakin or Sawakin is a port in north-eastern Sudan, on the west coast of the Red Sea. In 1983 it had a population of 18,030 and the 2009 estimate is 43, 337.It was formerly the region's chief port, but is now secondary to Port Sudan, about 30 miles north. The old city built of coral is in ruins...
, where Churchward called on the British Consul, to be informed that the Arab authorities would almost certainly not allow him to disembark at Jeddah
Jeddah
Jeddah, Jiddah, Jidda, or Jedda is a city located on the coast of the Red Sea and is the major urban center of western Saudi Arabia. It is the largest city in Makkah Province, the largest sea port on the Red Sea, and the second largest city in Saudi Arabia after the capital city, Riyadh. The...
. Having arrived in Jeddah, Hedley encountered no problem with the officials and set off the following evening with two donkeys and a pilgrim guide with Halley's Comet a brilliant spectacle in the heavens.
After two days of hot and exhausting travel, Hedley and his guide arrived in the Holy City.
A large number of Churchward's paintings and drawings are preserved at the University of Witwatersrand.