John Bennie

John Bennie (1796–1869) was a Presbyterian minister, missionary, and early Xhosa linguist. In 1816 he became associated with the Glasgow Missionary Society while still in Scotland and Bennie resigned from his post at Lovedale due to the deteriorating health of his wife. He went on to establish a mission church for the Dutch Reformed Church in Middelburg.

In 1843, John Bennie was transferred by the Glasgow Missionary Society to the Burnshill Mission Station in Burnshill of British Kaffraria. The station had been established by the society in 1831.

It was while Bennie was posted at Burnshill that he made the journey described in his book, An account of a journey into Transorangia and the Potchefstroom-Winburg Trekker Republic in 1843; edited by D. Williams, into the interior of South Africa to administer to the spiritual needs of the voortrekkers with his father-in-law and brother-in-law.

Private life John Bennie was the son of James Bennie, a metal smith from Glasgow, Scotland and Margaret Bennie (née Scott). Six years after arriving in South Africa, John Bennie married Margaretha Magdalena Marè (1801–1868) from Graaf Reinet. She was an Afrikaner of Huguenot descent. This fact was most probably why he got involved with the Dutch Reformed Church.

On 18 November 1824 Bennie announced to his Presbytery that he was going to compile an extended list of vocabulary and grammar dealing mainly with pronunciation of the Xhosa language. Through the Lovedale Mission Press he was able to publish a number of vocabulary lists as well as publications on grammar dealing with pronunciation. The second edition of Kropf's dictionary of Xhosa of 1915 incorporated into it Bennie's manuscript portions of a "Kafir-English" (Xhosa-English) Dictionary.

John Bennie also was involved in translating and transcribing the oral narrative of a Xhosa convert from the Tyhume mission, known as Noyi or, after baptism, Robert Balfour. The narrative was called ("fragments of Xhosa history"). Only part of this narrative was printed and was never published as a whole, but was still an important attempt at recording Xhosa history. It would have been the first secular Xhosa publication.

Recognition Izibongo is a praise poem written in Xhosa. It was produced in 1985 by the Thembu poet (imbongi) D. L. P. Yali-Manis i at a university conference in Durban. Part of it praises and recognises John Bennie for his contribution to the written language.

Xhosa original of Izibongo

“Siyabulela thina basemaXhoseni bububhanxa Ngokufika kweento zooRose nezooBheni Ukuz’ amaXhos’ avulek’ ingqondo Kulo mhla yaqal’ ukubhalwa le ntetho Intethw’ engqongqotho yasemaXhoseni”

English translation of Izibongo

We Xhosa are ever grateful that men like Ross and Bennie came to ignite the mind of the Xhosa by first transcribing the language, the peerless language of the Xhosa