The Life and Legacy of Capt. John Barker Harwood: A Christian Faith? (Pt 2)

John Barker Harwood certainly appears to have been a complex man. Threads of resourcefulness and tragedy run concurrently throughout his childhood, whaling career, subsequent maritime and business dealings, and his later family relationships. Depending on the context, he was known both as a man of high standards and as someone who pushed the boundaries. For example, despite the court appearances and evidence at various points of questionable life choices and behaviours, as a captain he insisted on celebrating the Christian faith when almost no-one else on board his ships agreed with this.

Historians are interested in JBH for what his life tells us about the day-to-day lives of the historically not-so-rich and famous. Distant relatives are interested in him for his adventurous life, heroism, achievements, contributions to Australian history, and his role in their own family lineage. I am interested in him for all the above reasons, but also because of how his life and psychology – and those of his descendants – may still be playing out in my own generation.

Collectively, we display traits of adventurousness, dogged determination tending to stubbornness, strictness and high standards mixed with occasional ‘flexing’ of rules, readiness to work and play hard, and generosity in ‘helping out’ when help is needed. There are also tendencies to ‘speak one’s mind’, ‘pull no punches’, resist compromise, and to exercise ‘tough love’.

I have been blessed with a lot of strong people in my family who ‘just get on with it’ whatever life throws at them – and life has often thrown a lot at us. Sometimes it has been emotionally damaging; sometimes we have done well despite the emotional damage, other times, we haven’t. Sometimes the damage repeats itself through the generations; sometimes, aspects of grief and wounding have been healed and others have been blessed as a result. From the little I know of more distant relatives, this seems to be the case among other descendants of JBH as well.

Threads of Christian faith and generous practical support despite tragic events run through my family; they lead me to wonder about John Harwood’s spiritual life and its impact on his children. Their father’s faith seems to have aided JBH’s daughters’ compassion for ‘waifs and strays’, people who needed shelter through no fault of their own. At a time when religious division and strife was common between Christian denominations, one of JBH’s grand-daughters, a strong Protestant (and my great-great grandmother), warmly welcomed my great-grandmother Mary as her daughter-in-law despite my great-grandmother being raised as a Roman Catholic, showing her love, and giving needed practical support. 

JBH’s journals suggest he was someone who wanted to do good and desired that history remembered him as a Christian and a good man. Was his faith in Jesus personal and genuine? Did he walk with Jesus through the challenges he faced or was his merely ‘cultural’ faith? Did he profess Christ as Lord to make himself respectable, to help him move higher than his social origins, or did he believe Jesus loves each person unconditionally – and is the only hope for fundamentally flawed people and societies, himself included? Could the truth have been a messy mix of all these?

These are not questions I can answer. Nonetheless, I am glad to have the privilege of reading, transcribing, and pondering his words. I am thankful his words have been preserved; in time, they will be publicly available for others to also read and ponder.

I hope these future readers also will enjoy the journals, wonder about the twists and turns in John Barker Harwood’s life and their own lives, and, in turn, contemplate their own life’s outcome and eventual legacy.