John Northcote Deck

John Northcote Deck (1875–1957) (known as Northcote) was a medical doctor, a missionary in the Solomon Islands, and an author of religious texts.

Early life Deck was born in London, England on 12 March 1875 to Dr John Feild Deck and Emily (née Young, elder sister of missionary Florence Young). Deck's grandfather was evangelist James George Deck, who had emigrated from England to New Zealand with his family, including his son John Feild Deck, in 1853. John Feild Deck and Emily Baring Young married in New Zealand in 1865, but Northcote Deck was born during a visit back to England. Four of John and Emily's sons became doctors, and seven of their eleven children became missionaries: five with the South Sea Evangelical Mission (SSEM) and two with other missions. Northcote Deck studied medicine at Sydney University, gaining a Bachelor of Medicine in 1900 and a Master of Surgery in 1902. He worked at Prince Alfred Hospital, then in 1903 joined his father at Deck Sr.'s newly established Sydney Homeopathic Hospital.

Missionary work Deck's aunt Florence Young was the founder of the Queensland Kanaka Mission and the South Sea Evangelical Mission. Young set up her Kanaka mission in 1882 to work with people from the Solomon Islands and New Hebrides who had been brought to Queensland, Australia to work on sugar plantations. Over 2000 Pacific Islanders were baptised in Queensland during the next 25 years. In 1904 a branch of Young's mission was set up in the Solomons because the Australian government was about to deport the workers back to their homelands.

Deck first visited the Solomon Islands in 1908 as part of the SSEM. He returned to the Solomons in 1909 and was based at Onepusu on Malaita, where he was head of the SSEM during his aunt's absences.

In 1910, Deck became the first white man to cross Guadalcanal, a four-day journey along native tracks through dense mountainous jungle. Deck was awarded Fellowship of the Royal Geographical Society after his excursions to the dangerous interiors of Malaita and Guadalcanal islands. He lived in England for ten years, teaching and speaking about religious matters, before settling in Canada. He had two children with Gladys.

Deck died in Toronto, Canada, on 10 May 1957.