James Pascoe

From Australasian Record, November 2, 1942, page 7.

Pascoe, James (1879–1942)

By Milton Hook

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Milton Hook, Ed.D. (Andrews University, Berrien Springs, Michigan, the United States). Hook retired in 1997 as a minister in the Greater Sydney Conference, Australia. An Australian by birth Hook has served the Church as a teacher at the elementary, academy and college levels, a missionary in Papua New Guinea, and as a local church pastor. In retirement he is a conjoint senior lecturer at Avondale College of Higher Education. He has authored Flames Over Battle Creek, Avondale: Experiment on the Dora, Desmond Ford: Reformist Theologian, Gospel Revivalist, the Seventh-day Adventist Heritage Series, and many magazine articles. He is married to Noeleen and has two sons and three grandchildren.

First Published: December 26, 2021

James Pascoe served the Adventist Church for over 30 years in various capacities, including president of South New Zealand and Victoria Conferences.

Early Life, Education, and Marriage

James Pascoe was born on October 8, 1879 in Macetown,1 originally a gold rush outpost in the mountains of southern New Zealand. His parents were Simon and Caroline (Martin) Pascoe who raised their family on a remote sheep farm in the mountains where the snow covered slopes in winter gave way to grass in the temperate months. Their children were Simon (b.1867), Charles (b.1870), Albert (b.1872), William Henry (b.1874), Emma Jane (b.1875) and James (b.1879).2

As a teenager James accepted Seventh-day Adventism under the ministry of Elder Eugene Farnsworth.3 He remained working on the family farm until he sailed to Australia and in October 1905 ventured to try canvassing Bible Readings for the Home Circle in the rural town of Maffra, Victoria.4 He returned to canvassing in Victoria during the southern summer of 19065 after spending the year at the Avondale School for Christian Workers in Cooranbong, New South Wales. His earnings helped to pay his school fees. After two more years of study he graduated from the Teacher’s (Normal) Course in 1908.6

Ministry

Immediately after his graduation James resumed canvassing, selling Home and Health in the Richmond River area of northern New South Wales, instead of accepting a teaching appointment.7 He married Ellen Dawn in Brisbane, Queensland, on March 22, 1909.8 Following their marriage Ellen did some canvassing in Brisbane9 but it is unclear how James occupied himself. When their first child, Ernest James, was born in 1910 they were located in the sheep-farming region of Goulboun, New South Wales.10 Later, the family returned to New Zealand and James began canvassing again in September 1912.11 He continued in this role with good results for more than three years until in 1916 he was appointed to the North New Zealand Conference evangelistic staff.12 He assisted with crusades in Gisborne13 and Taranaki.14

In 1923 James was ordained to the ministry in Auckland.15 The following year, 1924, he transferred to the South New Zealand Conference and nurtured the Greymouth members on the west coast.16 He remained there for two years and then cared for the Invercargill church, the most southerly in the world field.17 Early in the 1930s James was recalled to the North New Zealand Conference to minister in the Wanganui area18 and in mid-1934 he returned to the Gisborne church.19

James transitioned from pastoral care to local conference administration in 1937 when he accepted the presidency of his homeland South New Zealand Conference. At times he also held the portfolios of Home Missions, Education and Religious Liberty.20

Last Years

To this point James had served his entire career in New Zealand except for a few months canvassing in Australia. A major change came in 1940 when he was appointed to the presidency of the Victorian Conference. At the same time he held the responsibility of the Education Department.21 Two years into his leadership he became gravely ill and despite medical help and Ellen’s constant care he passed away the day after his sixty-third birthday, October 9, 1942. He was laid to rest in the Presbyterian section of the Box Hill Cemetery, suburban Melbourne. His closest mourning family members were Ellen and their children, Ernest James (b.1910), Hilda Vespa Hollingworth (b.1912), Cyril (b.1915) and Gwenneth Thrift (b.1924).22

Ellen found solace in the Adventist community at Warburton, outer Melbourne. She remarried on May 10, 1956, in the Melbourne home of her youngest daughter, Gwenneth. The bridegroom was widower John Henry Mills who had served as Queensland Conference secretary/treasurer for twenty-five years. They settled in his Brisbane home23 but their happiness was relatively brief because John passed away suddenly on August 13, 1958,24 and a month later, on September 15, 1958, Ellen also passed away. They were both laid to rest in the Lutwyche cemetery, suburban North Brisbane.25

Sources

Australasian Missionary College Annual Announcement. Cooranbong, New South Wales: Avondale Press, 1946.

Blunden, H[arold] M. “North New Zealand Conference and Camp Meeting.” Australasian Record, March 5, 1923.

Carr, S[eptimus] W. “John Henry Mills.” Australasian Record and Advent World Survey, September 15, 1958.

District of Brisbane. Marriage Certificates, Queensland Government Department of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Brisbane, Queensland.

District of Goulburn. Birth Certificates. New South Wales Department of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Sydney, New South Wales.

Donaldson, P[ercy] A. “Mills-Pascoe.” Australasian Record and Advent World Survey, July 30, 1956.

Glockler, P[aul]. “North New Zealand Annual Conference.” Australasian Record, March 2, 1931.

Glockler, P[aul]. “North New Zealand Conference and Camp Meeting.” Australasian Record, March 5, 1934.

Head, Charles. “James Pascoe.” Australasian Record, November 2, 1942.

Hindson, Anna L. “The Camp Meeting.” Australasian Record, February 8, 1926.

“James Pascoe.” FamilySearch.org. Intellectual Reserve, 2020. Retrieved from https://www.familysearch.org/tree/pedigree/landscape/LZ2R-WYH.

“Monthly Summary of Australasian Canvassing Work.” Australasian Record, December 17, 1906.

“Monthly Summary of Australasian Canvassing Work.” Australasian Record, January 7, 1907.

“Monthly Summary of Australasian Canvassing Work.” Australasian Record, January 4, 1909.

“Monthly Summary of Australasian Canvassing Work.” Australasian Record, August 2, 1909.

“Monthly Summary of Australasian Canvassing Work.” Australasian Record, November 4, 1912.

Pascoe, W[illiam] H. “North New Zealand Conference and Camp Meeting.” Australasian Record, March 17, 1919.

Pascoe, W[illiam] H. “The North New Zealand Conference.” Australasian Record, March 19, 1917.

Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook. Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1921-1942.

Sibley, D[avid]. “Ellen Mills.” Australasian Record and Advent World Survey, October 27, 1958.

Westerman, W[alter] J. “Conference and Camp Meeting.” Australasian Record, March 24, 1924.

Notes

  1. Charles Head, “James Pascoe,” Australasian Record, November 2, 1942, 7.

  2. “James Pascoe,” FamilySearch.org, Intellectual Reserve, 2020, accessed October 27, 2020, https://www.familysearch.org/tree/pedigree/landscape/LZ2R-WYH.

  3. Charles Head, “James Pascoe,” Australasian Record, November 2, 1942, 7.

  4. “Monthly Summary of Australasian Canvassing Work,” Australasian Record, December 17, 1906, 6.

  5. E.g., “Monthly Summary of Australasian Canvassing Work,” Australasian Record, January 7, 1907, 5.

  6. Australasian Missionary College Annual Announcement (Cooranbong, New South Wales: Avondale Press, 1946), 42.

  7. E.g., “Monthly Summary of Australasian Canvassing Work,” Australasian Record, January 14, 1909, 4.

  8. District of Brisbane, Marriage certificate no. B/7403 (1909), Queensland Government Department of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Brisbane, Queensland.

  9. E.g., “Monthly Summary of Australasian Canvassing Work,” Australasian Record, August 2, 1909, 6.

  10. District of Goulburn, Birth certificate no. 26624 (1910), New South Wales Department of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Sydney, New South Wales.

  11. “Monthly Summary of Australasian Canvassing Work,” Australasian Record, November 4, 1912, 6.

  12. Charles Head, “James Pascoe,” Australasian Record, November 2, 1942, 7.

  13. W[illiam] H. Pascoe, “The North New Zealand Conference,” Australasian Record, March 19, 1917, 6-7.

  14. W[illiam] H. Pascoe, “North New Zealand Conference and Camp Meeting,” Australasian Record, March 17, 1919, 4-5.

  15. H[arold]M. Blunden, “North New Zealand Conference and Camp Meeting,” Australasian Record, March 5, 1923, 4-5.

  16. W[alter] J. Westerman, “Conference and Camp Meeting,” Australasian Record, March 24, 1924, 5.

  17. Anna L. Hindson, “The Camp Meeting,” Australasian Record, February 8, 1926, 6.

  18. P[aul] Glockler, “North New Zealand Annual Conference,” Australasian Record, March 2, 1931, 6.

  19. P[aul] Glockler, “North New Zealand Conference and Camp Meeting,” Australasian Record, March 5, 1934, 6-7.

  20. E.g., “New Zealand, South Conference,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1939), 73.

  21. E.g., “Victorian Conference,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1941), 78-79.

  22. Charles Head, “James Pascoe,” Australasian Record, November 2, 1942, 7.

  23. P[ercy] A. Donaldson, “Mills-Pascoe,” Australasian Record and Advent World Survey, July 30, 1956, 7.

  24. S[eptimus] W. Carr, “John Henry Mills,” Australasian Record and Advent World Survey, September 15, 1958, 15.

  25. D[avid] Sibley, “Ellen Mills,” Australasian Record and Advent World Survey, October 27, 1958, 14.

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Hook, Milton. "Pascoe, James (1879–1942)." Encyclopedia of Seventh-day Adventists. December 26, 2021. Accessed February 14, 2025. https://encyclopedia.adventist.org/article?id=HIJU.

Hook, Milton. "Pascoe, James (1879–1942)." Encyclopedia of Seventh-day Adventists. December 26, 2021. Date of access February 14, 2025, https://encyclopedia.adventist.org/article?id=HIJU.

Hook, Milton (2021, December 26). Pascoe, James (1879–1942). Encyclopedia of Seventh-day Adventists. Retrieved February 14, 2025, https://encyclopedia.adventist.org/article?id=HIJU.