Rev Hannibal and Mrs Elizabeth Gilbert (née Congdon)

Hannibal Gilbert was the original ‘Holy Joe’, a fervent Christian who had a lucky strike at Gabriels Gully and devoted the rest of his life to the church. He was born in Cornwall in 1826 and after just a couple of years schooling spent eight years at sea. In 1846 he married Elizabeth Congdon at Penzance and went to work in the Cornish copper and tin mines. The couple were to have seven children together. In his spare time Hannibal worked on educating himself and became a fluent and forceful preacher in the Wesleyan churches of his home area.

In 1860 he and Elizabeth emigrated to Otago on the Evening Star. Hannibal was a man of many talents and very gifted with his hands. In Dunedin he worked as both a painter and a stone carver before heading to the goldfields at Gabriels Gully as the first missionary to the miners. It was here that he earned the nickname ‘Holy Joe’.

Hannibal struck a rich patch of gold at Tuapeka. His main focus, however, was the spiritual welfare of his fellow miners. In 1863 he was appointed by Knox Presbyterian Church in Dunedin as a missionary to the city’s rapidly burgeoning population, many of whom were not part of any church community. He led a religious revival in North East Valley and then in 1864 became the first missionary to seamen at Port Chalmers. This was one of the first seamen’s missions established outside of Britain and Hannibal, with his maritime background, was an ideal fit for the role. He was supplied with a small boat which he used to visit ships at anchor and also called on isolated families around the Otago harbour. To help fund his mission work, Hannibal undertook regular lecture tours and preached through Central Otago. In 1872 alone he gave 67 lectures.

In 1873 he resigned from the seamen’s mission and took a new charge at Papakaio in North Otago. He subsequently ministered to Presbyterian congregations at Lovell’s Flat and Hillend in South Otago and occasionally filled in at Balclutha. He died at Lovell’s Flat in 1895, aged 69. An obituary paid tribute to his impressive preaching ability as well as his versatility:

‘Although he was a self-taught man he possessed a fluency of speech that never failed him. He was what is known as an extremely “handy man”, was always willing to assist and was such a man as is wanted and is much appreciated in a newly settled district. There are but a few handcrafts he could not do a little at, and was ever ready to make or repair machinery, furniture, etc.’