Marriott, George E. (1876–1958) and Alicia Anna (Trewhella) (1883–1975)

George and Alicia Marriott were among the earliest missionaries for the Seventh-day Adventist Church in the Fiji Islands.

George Marriott was born in Footscray, Victoria, Australia, on May 8, 1876.¹ As a young man, he was a mechanic and bicycle builder.² He attended a camp meeting in Melbourne, Victoria, in 1902 and was subsequently baptized in December of that year. He attended the Australasian Missionary College at Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia, from 1903 to 1906,³ when he graduated from the missionary course.⁴ On November 1, 1906, he married Alicia Anna Trewhella,⁵ who had been born in Saint Kilda, Melbourne, on June 29, 1883.⁶ Together they were to spend six months in medical training at the Sydney Sanitarium and Hospital in New South Wales in preparation for an appointment to Fiji.⁷ However, it seems that there was a delay. In June 1907 it was reported that “Brother G. Marriott . . . had come along to connect with” an evangelistic team in Northcote, Melbourne, “during the winter.”⁸ By the end of 1907, it was reported that they had arrived at the Sydney Sanitarium to commence their preparatory medical training.⁹ They left for Fiji on May 26, 1908,¹⁰ and were pioneer missionaries in Fiji for four and a half years.¹¹

While in Fiji, they were stationed initially at Suvavou and then at Buresala. While at Buresala in 1910, Alicia Marriott wrote: “Mr. Marriott is enjoying excellent health, and finds working under a tropical sun agrees with him. He has gained, too, in weight, and enjoys his work here very much. I, too, have something encouraging to report about my health. I am thankful to say I am much improved, so do not longer entertain a desire to visit a sanitarium for treatment. I am able to do my own housework. Until recently, I have been getting around only by the aid of a chair and other means of support. I cannot praise my Heavenly Father enough for my restoration to health.”¹² However, their health deteriorated, and they returned to Australia on February 1, 1913.¹³

On their return to Australia, the Marriotts spent the years 1913 to 1920 in pastoral work in New South Wales.¹⁴ George Marriott was ordained to the gospel ministry in October 1917 at the Concord, Sydney, camp meeting.¹⁵ He and Alicia ministered together in the Queensland Conference from 1920 to 1922 before spending the next two years in Tasmania. From 1924 until 1952, they worked together in the Victorian Conference.¹⁶ Pastor George Marriott gave a total of 44 years of service to the denomination.¹⁷

In 1952 George decided to pursue work as a medical missionary. After studies at Melbourne University, he set up a practice as a physiotherapist.¹⁸ He did not retire as such but continued in his service for others until his health failed a few weeks before his death on October 14, 1958, at the age of 82.¹⁹

Alicia Marriott lived until July 12, 1975, when she died at the age of 91.²⁰

Sources

Alicia A. Marriott Sustentation Records. South Pacific Division of the General Conference Archives. Folder: “Marriott, Alicia Anna.” Document: “Weekly Rates.”

“An Appreciation of Pastor G. E. Marriott.” Australasian Record and Advent World Survey, November 24, 1958.

“Brother and Sister Marriott. . . .” Union Conference Record, December 30, 1907.

“Brother George Marriott and Sister Alicia Trewhella. . . .” Union Conference Record, November 19, 1906.

Cole, W. J. “Alicia Anna Marriott obituary.” Australasian Record and Advent World Survey, August 11, 1975.

George E. Marriott Biographical Records. South Pacific Division of the General Conference Archives. Folder: “Marriott, George E.” Document: “Marriott, G. E.”

George E. Marriott Biographical Records. South Pacific Division of the General Conference Archives. Folder: “Marriott, George E.” Document: “Worker’s Biographical Record.”

“Having served four and a half years. . . .” Australasian Record, February 13, 1913.

Marriott, A. “Letter from Sister Marriott of Fiji.” Union Conference Record, November 28, 1910.

“On Tuesday, May 26. . . .” Union Conference Record, June 8, 1908.

Woods, J. P., C. P. Michaels, and Andrew Stewart. “Northcote, Melbourne.” Union Conference Record, June 10, 1907.

Notes

1. George E. Marriott Biographical Records, South Pacific Division of the General Conference Archives, Folder: “Marriott, George E.,” Document: “Worker’s Biographical Record.”↩

2. Ibid.↩

3. “An Appreciation of Pastor G. E. Marriott,” Australasian Record and Advent World Survey, November 24, 1958, 12–13; George E. Marriott Biographical Records, “Worker’s Biographical Record.”↩

4. “An Appreciation of Pastor G. E. Marriott,” 13↩

5. “Brother George Marriott and Sister Alicia Trewhella . . . ,” Union Conference Record, November 19, 1906, 7.↩

6. George E. Marriott Biographical Records, South Pacific Division of the General Conference Archives, Folder: “Marriott, George E.,” Document: “Marriott, G. E.”↩

7. “Brother George Marriott and Sister Alicia Trewhella . . . ,” 7.↩

8. J. P. Woods, C. P. Michaels, and Andrew Stewart, “Northcote, Melbourne,” Union Conference Record, June 10, 1907, 3.↩

9. “Brother and Sister Marriott . . . ,” Union Conference Record, December 30, 1907, 7.↩

10. “On Tuesday, May 26 . . . ,” Union Conference Record, June 8, 1908, 7.↩

11. “Having served four and a half years . . . ,” Australasian Record, February 13, 1913, 8.↩

12. A. Marriott, “Letter from Sister Marriott of Fiji,” Union Conference Record, November 28, 1910, 5.↩

13. “Having served four and a half years . . . ,” 8.↩

14. Alicia A. Marriott Sustentation Records, South Pacific Division of the General Conference Archives, Folder: “Marriott, Alicia Anna,” Document: “Weekly Rates.”↩

15. George E. Marriott Biographical Records, “Marriott, G. E.”↩

16. Alicia A. Marriott Sustentation Records, “Weekly Rates.”↩

17. Ibid.↩

18. “An Appreciation of Pastor G. E. Marriott,” 13.↩

19. Ibid.↩

20. W. J. Cole, “Alicia Anna Marriott obituary,” Australasian Record and Advent World Survey, August 11, 1975, 14.↩