View All Photos

Advanced +

Charles and Winifred Schowe

Photo courtesy of Adventist Heritage Centre, Australia.

Schowe, Charles Henry (1881–1952)

By Milton Hook

×

Milton Hook, Ed.D. (Andrews University, Berrien Springs, Michigan, the United States). Hook retired in 1997 as a minister in the Greater Sydney Conference, Australia. An Australian by birth Hook has served the Church as a teacher at the elementary, academy and college levels, a missionary in Papua New Guinea, and as a local church pastor. In retirement he is a conjoint senior lecturer at Avondale College of Higher Education. He has authored Flames Over Battle Creek, Avondale: Experiment on the Dora, Desmond Ford: Reformist Theologian, Gospel Revivalist, the Seventh-day Adventist Heritage Series, and many magazine articles. He is married to Noeleen and has two sons and three grandchildren.

Charles Schowe, in addition to holding a number of other portfolios, including a brief time at Atlantic Union College in the United States, gave the majority of his service on the faculty of the Avondale School for Christian Workers (ASCW), Australia. He was instrumental in raising the academic profile and standards at the school.

Early Years

Harriette Jane (Wynter) Schowe, wife of schoolteacher Charles Frederick Schowe, gave birth to Charles Henry Schowe at Springwood in the Blue Mountains, New South Wales (NSW), Australia, on December 27, 1881.1 Later a daughter was born at Glebe Point, Sydney, on October 27, 1884.2 Harriette died of postnatal complications a few days later, November 8, 1884.3 Charles Henry Schowe never knew his real mother. His father married the older sister of his late wife, on January 2, 1886.4

Charles Schowe, Sr., transferred to become principal of the West Pennant Hills School, suburban Sydney,5 and it was there that his family became Seventh-day Adventists about 1896 as a result of Bible studies held in their home and their reading of The Great Controversy.6 As a 15-year-old Charles, Jr., spent August through October 1897 at the fledgling ASCW.7 The brief stay was sufficient to persuade his father that a classical education was preferred for his son. This educational foundation established in Charles a lifelong predilection for the English curriculum as opposed to any American model.

Charles, Jr., followed in his father’s footsteps by training as a schoolteacher and working as a junior assistant teacher at Parramatta District High School, Sydney, in the New South Wales government system. He had earned a graduate diploma in music from Trinity College in London and taken units of study in English, Latin, history, and psychology at Sydney University.8

Church Employment

Charles changed careers about 1903 when he began work in the office of the New South Wales Conference (NSW Conference) of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Within a short time he was appointed conference secretary and treasurer, holding those roles until 1906. He also held the portfolio of religious liberty secretary during 1904 and 1905 and assisted in the Tract and Missionary Department.9 He was a delegate from the NSW Conference at the 1906 Australasian Union Conference session, Cooranbong.10

Schowe graduated from the biblical-academic course at ASCW, Cooranbong, in 1909.11 His long association with the ASCW campus had begun in 1897, and later his versatility found him in many roles. He served as accountant of the school until 1910 while studying and assisting with some teaching. For two years he adopted the duties of preceptor. He also led the teacher training program for three years and was headmaster during 1916 through 1918.12 He was prominent in all musical activities. For example, at the 1908 graduation service he rendered Gottschalk’s “Grand Tarantella” in D Minor on the piano13 and he gave an organ voluntary at the opening exercises of the 1911 school year.14 The Choral Society featured under his baton during a musical evening on the occasion of the 1911 graduation weekend.15 He also formed a small orchestra.16 From 1907 through 1918 he retained the portfolio of education secretary of the NSW Conference, managing the elementary schools in the conference in addition to his teaching duties at ASCW.17

On November 29, 1910, in the home of his father and stepmother at Pennant Hills, Sydney, Charles married Winifred Elmina Trunk.18 Winifred was born in Mecosta, Michigan, arriving to teach domestic science at ASCW in 1908.19 A son, named Charles Frederick (after his grandfather), was born on May 20, 1912.20

In 1918, when Schowe was headmaster at ASCW (renamed Australasian Missionary College in 1911), a political struggle intensified. Schowe argued for lifting the academic standard along English classical lines with government examinations in order to attract the church youth who were preferring to train at secular universities. The principal, Ludwig Lemke, together with Albert Anderson, Australasian Union Conference education secretary, moved to maintain a work-study model adopted from America that required only internal examinations. Lemke and Anderson won the battle but lost the war. Schowe resigned at the end of 1918. Church officials devised a compromise plan to have Schowe operate a classic academy in Sydney, and William Prescott was appointed to maintain the American model at the Australasian Missionary College (AMC).21

Schowe’s Sydney academy prospered for three years, presenting strong competition for AMC until Prescott managed to have it closed in 1921.22 Schowe’s reputation was never dented. Instead, he was chosen as a delegate from Australia to the 1922 General Conference session.23 A few weeks prior to sailing from Sydney, Charles and Winifred tragically lost their second son, Noel Keith Schowe, with bronchial pneumonia on February 4, 1922. He was only 13 months old.24

Interlude in America

While in America Charles found a teaching position at Atlantic Union College. He served first as director of the teacher training program and later as music director until 1924. On February 9, 1924, Winifred gave birth to Eleanor Fern Schowe.25

In 1925 Charles was appointed to reorganize the Hartford Academy, Connecticut, holding the dual roles of principal and business manager. The following year he fulfilled a similar role at Greater New York Academy. In the same year, 1926, the circumstances allowed him to complete a course at New York University, specializing in the administration of secondary schools.26

Return to Australia

Schowe was recalled to AMC in 1927 to begin more than twenty years as a respected teacher of History and Greek.27 Soon after his arrival he organized a brass band and continued to contribute musical items as conductor at school functions.28

During the summer break of 1930/1931, when the Depression struck and teachers were expected to earn their income by canvassing, Schowe found salesmanship so emotionally taxing that he had to abandon it and return to campus.29 When he retired in 1949, he wrote a history of ASCW, relying heavily on his personal recollections stretching back to the opening year 1897.30

Charles died peacefully on May 27, 1952. The funeral service was held in the Cooranbong village church, and he was laid to rest among many other pioneers in the Avondale Cemetery, Cooranbong, NSW.31.

On Reflection

Schowe shines as one of the brighter lights in the Australian Adventist educational field during the first half of the twentieth century. His talents lay in the office, the classroom, and at the keyboard. Both at the Avondale and Sydney schools, in addition to his service in America, he maintained a high standard of professionalism.

Sources

Australasian Missionary College Board minutes, January 13, 1931. South Pacific Division Heritage Centre, Avondale College of Higher Education, Box 201, Cooranbong, NSW. Folder: “Australasian Missionary College Board Minutes, 1931.”

“Avondale School Graduates of 1909.” Union Conference Record 13, no. 43 (October 25, 1909).

Avondale School Register, 1892–1906. South Pacific Division Heritage Centre, Avondale College of Higher Education, Box 1487, Cooranbong, NSW. Folder: “Avondale School Register, 1892–1906.”

“Births.” Sydney Morning Herald 14, no. 549 (November 12, 1884).

“Brother and Sister C. H. Schowe . . .” Australasian Record 31, no. 8 (February 21, 1927).

Charles Schowe Biographical Information. South Pacific Division of the General Conference Archives, Wahroonga, NSW. Work Service Records. Folder: “Charles Schowe.” Document: “Charles Schowe Biographical Information.”

“Deaths.” Sydney Morning Herald 14, no. 549 (November 12, 1884).

“Delegates to the Union Conference 1906.” Union Conference Record 10, no. 20 (October 1, 1906).

“Early Monday morning . . .” Union Conference Record 12, no. 30 (July 27, 1908).

Hare, R[obert]. “Noel Keith Schowe.” Australasian Record 26, no. 4 (February 20, 1922).

Hook, Milton. Avondale: Experiment on the Dora. Cooranbong, NSW: Avondale Academic Press, 1998.

Lambert, May. “Closing Scenes at Avondale, 1908.” Union Conference Record 12, no. 40 (October 19, 1908).

“Marriages.” Sydney Mail 41, no. 1,332 (January 16, 1886).

“New South Wales Conference.” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook. Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1917.

“On Tuesday, November 29 . . .” Union Conference Record 14, no. 50 (December 12, 1910).

“Pennant Hills.” Cumberland Argus and Fruitgrowers Advocate” 30, no. 2,550 (September 28, 1918).

Robbins, W[illiam] E. “The Beginning of Another School Year at Avondale.” Australasian Record 15, no. 3 (January 16, 1911).

Rogers, Cora E. “Closing Exercises of the Australasian Missionary College.” Australasian Record 15, no. 46 (November 20, 1914).

Schowe, C[harles] H. “En Route to the General Conference.” Australasian Record 26, no. 10 (May 1, 1922).

Schowe, Charles. History of Avondale [circa 1950]. South Pacific Division Heritage Centre, Avondale College of Higher Education, Box 278, Cooranbong, NSW. Folder: “History of Avondale.”

Stewart, A[ndrew] G. “Charles Henry Schowe.” Australasian Record 56, no. 25, (June 23, 1952).

Wise, R. “Music Department.” Australasian Record 31, no. 48 (November 28, 1927).

Notes

  1. Charles Schowe Biographical Information. South Pacific Division of the General Conference Archives, Wahroonga, NSW, Work Service Records (Folder: “Charles Schowe.” Document: “Charles Schowe Biographical Information”).↩

  2. “Births,” Sydney Morning Herald 14, no. 549 (November 12, 1884): 1.↩

  3. “Deaths,” Sydney Morning Herald 14, no. 549 (November 12, 1884): 1.↩

  4. “Marriages,” Sydney Mail 41, no. 1332 (January 16, 1886): 152.↩

  5. “Pennant Hills,” Cumberland Argus and Fruitgrowers Advocate 30, no. 2,550 (September 28, 1918): 8.↩

  6. Charles Schowe Biographical Information.↩

  7. Avondale School Register, 1892–1906, South Pacific Division Heritage Centre, Avondale College of Higher Education, Box 1487, Cooranbong, NSW (Folder: “Avondale School Register, 1892–1906”), 63.↩

  8. Charles Schowe Biographical Information.↩

  9. Ibid.↩

  10. “Delegates to the Union Conference 1906,” Union Conference Record 10, no. 20 (October 1, 1906): 5. Note: At the time the Australasian Union Conference was the top administrative body of the Seventh-day Adventist Church for Australasia and Southeast Asia.↩

  11. “Avondale School Graduates of 1909,” Union Conference Record 13, no. 43 (October 25, 1909): 7.↩

  12. Charles Schowe Biographical Information.”↩

  13. May Lambert, “Closing Scenes at Avondale, 1908,” Union Conference Record 12, no. 40 (October 19, 1908): 4–6.↩

  14. W[illiam] E. Robbins, “The Beginning of Another School Year at Avondale,” Australasian Record 15, no. 3 (January 16, 1911): 7.↩

  15. Cora E. Rogers, “Closing Exercises of the Australasian Missionary College,” Australasian Record 15, no. 46 (November 20, 1911): 4.↩

  16. Photograph in Milton Hook, Avondale: Experiment on the Dora (Cooranbong, NSW: Avondale Academic Press, 1998), 88.↩

  17. E.g., “New South Wales Conference,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1917), 139; Charles Schowe Biographical Information.”↩

  18. “On Tuesday, November 29 . . . ,” Union Conference Record 14, no. 50 (December 12, 1910): 8.↩

  19. “Early Monday morning, July 13 . . . ,” Union Conference Record 12, no. 30 (July 27, 1908): 7; Charles Schowe Biographical Information.↩

  20. Charles Schowe Biographical Information.”↩

  21. Hook, 108–113.↩

  22. Ibid.↩

  23. C[harles] H. Schowe, “En Route to the General Conference,” Australasian Record 26, no. 10 (May 1, 1922): 4. Note: At the time the General Conference session was a quadrennial meeting of elected Seventh-day Adventist delegates from all over the world.↩

  24. R[obert] Hare, “Noel Keith Schowe,” Australasian Record 26, no. 4 (February 20, 1922): 7.↩

  25. Charles Schowe Biographical Information.”↩

  26. Ibid.↩

  27. “Brother and Sister C. H. Schowe . . . ,” Australasian Record 31, no. 8 (February 21, 1927): 8.↩

  28. R. Wise, “Music Department,” Australasian Record 31, no. 48 (November 28, 1927): 4.↩

  29. Australasian Missionary College Board minutes, January 13, 1931, South Pacific Division Heritage Centre, Avondale College of Higher Education, Box 201, Cooranbong, NSW. (Folder: “Australasian Missionary College Board Minutes, 1931”).↩

  30. Charles Schowe, History of Avondale [circa 1950], South Pacific Division Heritage Centre, Avondale College of Higher Education, Box 278, Cooranbong, NSW. (Folder: “History of Avondale”).↩

  31. A[ndrew] G. Stewart, “Charles Henry Schowe,” Australasian Record 56, no. 25 (June 23, 1952): 7.↩

×

Hook, Milton. "Schowe, Charles Henry (1881–1952)." Encyclopedia of Seventh-day Adventists. June 01, 2020. Accessed September 21, 2020. https://encyclopedia.adventist.org/article?id=9B1I.

Copy to clipboard Download Word File

Hook, Milton. "Schowe, Charles Henry (1881–1952)." Encyclopedia of Seventh-day Adventists. June 01, 2020. Date of access September 21, 2020, https://encyclopedia.adventist.org/article?id=9B1I.

Copy to clipboard Download Word File

Hook, Milton (2020, June 01). Schowe, Charles Henry (1881–1952). Encyclopedia of Seventh-day Adventists. Retrieved September 21, 2020, https://encyclopedia.adventist.org/article?id=9B1I.

Copy to clipboard Download Word File