David Cargill, 1809-1843, missionary John Malcom Bulloch, 1867-1938

David Cargill was born in Brechin, Forfarshire, Scotland on 20 June 1809, the second son of James Cargill, a banker, and Grace Mary Cameron Cargill. He graduated MA from King's College, Aberdeen in 1830. Whilst studying in Aberdeen he joined the Aberdeen Methodist Circuit, and in 1831 was admitted to the church as a preacher. In 1832 he received his first missionary appointment to Tonga, in the South Pacific. He married Margaret Smith, of Aberdeen on 6 Sept 1832 in Old Machar parish, Aberdeen; and left the country with his wife in October that year. They worked together on Tonga with another missionary for three years, and then moved with their young family to the Fiji Islands. Margaret died there on 2 June 1840, and David Cargill returned to Britain for a short while with their four daughters. He re-married on 27 Nov 1841, and shortly afterwards was re-appointed to a training Mission on Tonga. He lived there until his death on 25 Apr 1843.

He is credited with his co-worker, William Cross, with establishing the Wesleyan Church in Fiji. However, as a trained linguist he also wrote the first grammar and dictionary for a Fijian language and supervised the translation of parts of the Bible into Fijian.

Biographical notes about David Cargill and his descendants are contained in the record itself and an obituary was published in the Wesleyan-Methodist Magazine, 1844. See also John Malcom Bulloch, An Aberdeen Graduate as a Pioneer in Fiji in Aberdeen University Review , 8, (1920 - 21), 232 - 237. For further biographical details, see Publication Note, below.

John Malcom Bulloch was born in 1867 and graduated MA from the University of Aberdeen, in 1888. His father, John, was editor of the Aberdeen magazine, Scottish Notes and Queries . He followed his father into journalism, beginning his career with the Aberdeen Free Press , but later moving to London, where he worked on various illustrated papers, including The Sketch , The Illustrated London News and The Graphic (of which he was editor). From 1924, he was chief literary critic of Allied Newspapers and a well-known theatre critic. Despite living and working in London, he retained a deep commitment to his roots in Aberdeen, and published several historical articles in The Aberdeen University Review . He died on 6 March 1938, after a short illness.

John Malcom Bulloch appears to have no relation to the Cargill family, his interest in David Cargill's diary being aroused by a chance meeting with on old Fiji merchant in London, around 1919, and his keen interest in the history of his home town. For further information about his life and career see obituaries in The Aberdeen University Review , vol 25, (1937 - 38) pp.195 - 199.