Profile of a Fearless Woman: Margaret Whitecross Paton

Margaret Whitecross Paton was a pastor’s daughter in a mission-minded family; she was also a writer, musician, and artist in her own right – skills that would be put to full use when she married John G. Paton, missionary to the New Hebrides (a spray of islands about a thousand miles off the coast of Australia).

Even as a young boy, John Paton felt a strong calling to missionary work. While studying for the ministry and engaging in missions in Glasgow, John first heard of the need for a missionary in the New Hebrides. He served for four years on the island of Tanna, facing frequent peril from the island’s native population, men held in the darkness of superstition, cycles of violence, and cannibalism. Early in the mission Paton’s first wife, Mary, died from pneumonia; his newborn son died only two weeks later. After four years in the field weathering ill health and with danger only increasing, Paton returned to Scotland with the New Hebrides still on his heart and mind.

With a missionary brother who died young on the other side of the world and a brother-in-law who played a role in supporting Paton’s work, Margaret Whitecross’s heart was already tender towards the lost in distant lands. Margaret (Maggie to friends) and John Paton celebrated their wedding with family in Edinburgh. Shortly afterwards, they left on a ship from Liverpool for renewed mission work in the New Hebrides – this time, an island called Aniwa. John later wrote of his wife,

“The dear Lord had brought to me one prepared, all unknown to either of us, by special culture, by godly training, by many gifts and accomplishments, and even by family associations, to share my lot on the New Hebrides. Her heart was stirred with a yearning to aid and teach those who were in darkness…God spares us to each other still; and the family which He has been pleased in His love to grant unto us we have dedicated to His service, with the prayer and hope that He may use every one of them in spreading the gospel throughout the heathen world.” 

As well-matched as the Patons were, Maggie confessed to her sister that she shed more than a few homesick tears after watching Sydney on the horizon. On their way to Aniwa, the missionaries stopped at Tanna; from the ship, the Patons could spot the gable of the abandoned mission house and the gravesite of John’s first wife and child. Once on Aniwa, Maggie had to adjust to life in a foreign place and overcome her fear of a people whose intentions were not entirely clear, and whose language she did not share. One of the earliest converts on the island was an old chief named Namakei, after the Patons built a relationship with him over many shared cups of tea.

Often a holy man with lofty ideas needs an equally holy woman with her feet firmly planted on the ground, her sleeves rolled up. John found just such a woman in Maggie. In her letters, Maggie records the everyday struggles of mission life (serving the people whole-heartedly while maintaining necessary boundaries, surviving waves of illness, yearning for companionship) alongside breakthrough moments (the island’s first Christian wedding, baptisms, one of the seemingly most hard-hearted men turning in the last of his idols, printing a catechism in Aniwan).

Every day but Sunday, Maggie labored alongside her husband to reach the people of Aniwa. Sewing classes were a chance to teach the women and girls of the island a skill, but more importantly they provided an almost-daily point of contact where Maggie began to pick up the language and teach the women how to read. Maggie also taught a women’s Sunday school class and accompanied worship from the harmonium, a small organ which was initially viewed with suspicion by the indigenous people, but quickly won a foothold in native hearts. John later wrote,

“All of my work would have been impaired and sadly hindered, and the joyous side of the worship and service of Jehovah could not have been presented to the natives, but for the gift bestowed by the Lord on my dear wife. She led our songs of praise, both in the family and in the church, and that was the first avenue by which the new religion winged its way into the heart of a cannibal and savage.”

In addition to being at John’s side for teaching and music-making, for administering medicine and advice, she also brought good humor and a lively spirit into their home, and was the steel in his back when (three years into the mission) it came time to require the native people to wear clothing to church. When sickness swept through the family, Maggie leaned heavily upon the Lord, writing that she drew nearer to God than ever before as she prepared her baby daughter’s body for burial. Over the grave, the gathered group sang hymns translated into Aniwan.

Maggie wrote that although she never had the same single-minded zeal as John, she would not leave Aniwa one hour sooner than God would have them go. The day finally arrived in August of 1881; until they died the Patons continued to work for the benefit of the Aniwans, including translating the New Testament into their language. After leaving the island, John wrote,

“I claimed Aniwa for Jesus, and by the grace of God Aniwa now worships at the Savior’s feet.”

Writing to children aboard the passing mission ship, Maggie summed up the sacrifices and sweetness of their decades in missions:

“If you came to be missionaries, you would find it uphill work indeed, to be sacrificing your whole life merely for the sake of those who could not understand your motives, and who know not what it cost you to give up home and friends. But Jesus regards every sigh, and whatever is done for Him will meet with a sweet reward in this life; for He who has promised can never disappoint.”

Margaret died on May 16, 1905 in Victoria, Australia, leaving behind a legacy of gospel service, whole-heartedly employing her gifts to serve the Lord Jesus, the lost, and her family. She and John passed this spirit on to their children – of the six that survived to adulthood, three went on to become missionaries themselves.

For more on the Patons, you can read John’s autobiography for free here; a collection of Margaret Paton’s letters was reprinted by Reformation Heritage Books, available here.