Rowland Hassall

Rowland Hassall (31 March 1768 – 28 August 1820), born in England, was a missionary in Tahiti for a short period of time and in New South Wales for the rest of his life. Initially a field preacher, he became a minister. He raised sheep, was a businessman, and became a prosperous land-owner. His son Thomas Hassall established the first Sunday school in Australia, after which Rowland Hassall co-founded the New South Wales Sunday School Institution in 1815. England Rowland Hill Hassall, the son of James Hassall, was born in Coventry, England on 31 March 1768. He was named after Rowland Hill, who was his parents' minister. He was able to read and write at a rudimentary level. Like his father, he became a silk weaver, He married Elizabeth Hancox, who plied the same trade. Their first son, Thomas, was born in 1794 and their second son Samuel Otoo was born in 1796. Conversion Hassall contracted black measles or cholera and having barely survived the disease, he vowed to serve God. Hassall and Elizabeth attended the West Orchard Congregational Church and they were 'called under one sermon' given by Rev. George Burder. Hassall was a field preacher for Burder and founded a Sunday school. Inspired by Hassall and other field preachers, Burder wrote the book "Village Sermans". Missionary