A Brief History of Tonga

The first church mission to arrive in the Polynesian Kingdom of Tonga was the London Missionary Society (LMS) who landed and began their evangelical work in the islands in 1797. This initial attempt was frustrated when, in 1799, the murder of the Tuitonga (King) Tuku‘aho plunged the islands into civil war.  Attempts to Christianise the islands were discontinued until 1822 with the arrival of Rev. Walter Laurie of the Wesleyan Missionary Society (WMS). His efforts to replace the traditional religion with Christianity met with antagonism. The WMS persisted, however, and in 1826 it was able to establish a permanent presence in Tonga under the leadership of Reverends Thomas and Hutchinson.

From the outset, the missionaries gave a high priority to educating the local population. The first school was opened in Hihifo in 1828 with an enrolment of twenty students, mainly adults. Later, a second school was opened in Nuku‘alofa with an enrolment of thirty. Instruction in these schools was in the Tongan language with an emphasis on teaching the Christian faith, literacy, numeracy and writing. Tuitonga Siaosi Taufa‘hau Tupou 1 (King George Tupou 1) adopted Christianity and gave his strong support to the effort of Methodist missionaries to set up schools.

In the 1830s, French Roman Catholics established a foothold in Tonga. They were supported by dissident chieftains, Moeaki and Ma‘afu, who opposed the King’s alliance with the protestant missionaries. Despite strong opposition from the Wesleyans, the Roman Catholic Church began opening primary schools in the late 1840s. Today this church continues to influence schooling, although it no longer administers primary schools. Since 1978 the Catholic Church has specialised in providing secondary and vocational training only.