God's Arctic Adventurer: The Story of William Bompas

by Constance Savery

From the Stories of Faith and Fame series - the stories of men and women who went all over the world with their Christian faith. This is the exciting story of William Bompas, a rugged adventurer who became bishop to the small, isolated groups of believers scattered across the frozen north of the American continent. Constance Savery captures the deep faith and gentle nature of William Bompas, and vividly portrays the dangers of the harsh Arctic environment which he had to face with his team of dogs.

Genres: History, Christian

94 pages, Hardcover

First published May 31, 1973

About the author

Born in 1897, in All Saints' Vicarage in Froxfield, Wiltshire, Constance Winifred Savery was the daughter of the Rev. John Manly Savery, and his wife, Constance Eleanor Harbord Savery. The family moved to Birmingham when she was nine years old, and Savery was educated there, at King Edward VI High School for Girls. She went on to Somerville College, Oxford, where she studied English, and was in the first cohort of woman students to be granted degrees, in 1920. She earned a Post-Graduate Diploma in Secondary Education from Birmingham University, and M.A. from Oxford in 1927, and taught briefly (and unhappily), before her mother's death necessitated a return to her father's household in Middleton-cum-Fordley, Suffolk, where she helped him with the parish work.

Savery never returned to teaching, earning her living from then on by writing. She published close to fifty books, and numerous short stories and articles, all informed by her deep Christian (Anglican) faith. She died in 1999.

Reviews

[Katja Labonté · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars. I read this probably a bit too fast… I was worried archive would take it down before I finished it… but I still think it wasn’t Savery’s best. I’ve never heard of William Bompas before, being that he’s Anglican, but I was pleased to hear about a missionary to Canada! I certainly could respect him and his ministry, however we might differ in doctrine—he seems to have been a devout and God-fearing man, if nothing more. I enjoyed hearing of the adventures and misadventures he and his wife shared in the North-West of Canada throughout the 1800s. However, the writing style of the book left something to be desired, I thought. Savery jumped back and forth in time at a few places, and the scenes felt very abrupt. Perhaps it was too much of a mixture of storybook and biography at times… I don’t know, I just wasn’t fully satisfied. Still, it was worth reading.