Reverend Jabez Bunting PortreyPrint Page 
The marble tablet, erected by his students at Mount Pleasant, commemorates the Reverend Jabez Bunting Portrey (1852-1882), superintendent of the Sunday School.
Jabez Portrey was born in 1852 in Lincolnshire, England, the second son of the Reverend Joseph Portrey, an English Wesleyan minister. He attended Woodhouse Grove School, Gainsborough, and at the midsummer holiday meeting of 1862, at a special service led by the Reverend Benjamin Haworth, at the Reverend Portray's church, Jabez established a firm commitment for his future. At the age of 16 years he was listed on the local preachers' plan as 'The Boy Preacher”.
He entered the Wesleyan ministry in 1871 in the British Conference, firstly on the Gunninslake Circuit then at Liskard. On medical advice he arrived in Australia to ease an unspecified complaint. He arrived in Sydney and was next appointed to Orange. By the General Conference of 1878 he was transferred to the Victorian and Tasmanian Conference and to the Christian Mission Church, Launceston. The following year, through feeble health, he was compelled to take a supernumerary appointment. From then, until about March 1882, he lived in Launceston and was employed as a private tutor in the family of Henry Reed. In this capacity, as with his ministerial work, he was held in deep respect and affection by all who were associated with him.
He was further advised to move to a better climate for relief from the disease from which he suffered. With his wife he moved to South Australia and settled in North Adelaide in April 1882. He died there in June 1882, after a short but fulfilled life in the service of God, aged 31 years.
Location
| Address: | 22 Wellington Street, Gateway Baptist Church, Launceston, 7250 |
|---|---|
| State: | TAS |
| Area: | AUS |
| GPS Coordinates: | Lat: -41.439492 Long: 147.136042 Note: GPS Coordinates are approximate. |
Details
| Monument Type: | Plaque |
|---|---|
| Monument Theme: | People |
| Sub-Theme: | Religion |
Dedication
In loving memory of the Rev`d Jabez Bunting Portrey
Whose devoted and successful labours as Superintendent of this Sabbath School won for him the love and esteem of the teachers and scholars and of the church and congregation.
He fell asleep in Jesus the 20th June 1882, in the 31st year of his age.
'I must work the works of Him that sent me while it is day, the night cometh when no man can work.`
Erected by his grateful pupils at Mount Pleasant.
