Charles Frederick Reeve
| First name | Charles Frederick |
|---|---|
| Last name | Reeve |
| Country of Origin | England |
| Date of Birth | 7th April 1849 |
| Year of Arrival in Australia | 1877 |
| Submitted by | Gillian Whittall |
Story
Charles was the son of Frances and Charles, a Quaker banker and brewer of Leighton Buzzard, and the second of nine children. He was an undergraduate at Cambridge and came to Australia at the age of nineteen as a doctor recommended the milder climate for his health. He is said to have come through Suez riding on a camel.
On arrival he went to Sydney where he worked on a newspaper. He met a Jewish girl Annie Pirani in Melbourne and they were married in Launceston in 1880. He worked in Tasmania as an evangelist and they had 5 girls. In 1892 he went to Ponna, India to work with British soldiers and then Indians and founded the Poona and India Village Mission. He continued to work in India for another 45 years. He frequently visited Australia, New Zealand and England to raise funds and recruit missionaries. After the death of another daughter and the birth of a son Annie returned to Australia.
His son Frederick fought at Gallipoli and then joined the RAF and was killed in France in 1917. His work is carried on today at his home which is the Spiritual Life Centre at Nasrapur near Pune.