HUNT (John, Missionary to Sydney and S.S. Islands) Original Portrait in Oils, 8 by 9 1/2 ins., on canvas in original frame, £12 10s about 1840

John Hunt was born at Hykeham Moor, near Lincoln, 1812. In 1838 he married Hannah Summers, and on April 29th that year he sailed for Sydney as a missionary to the Tonga and Fiji Islands. He stayed in Sydney some months and preached continually, and many inducements were offered him to stay in Australia. On October 25th, 1838, however, he sailed for Fiji. He applied himself to the study of the language, and translated the New Testament into the native language, and, what is equally notable, printed the same with a press and type imported from Sydney, He later entertained the idea of translating the Old Testament but his early death in 4 Oct. 1848 cut short his labours. Bernard Halliday, Leicester. Cat. 91 1927