Samuel James Whitmee (1838-1925) 

Whitmee was born in England, he studied at Poole and Leeds and became a missionary with the London Missionary Society, he travelled to Samoa in 1863 and remained there until 1877. He contributed many notes to Nature on the natural history of the islands and collected many botanical specimens. He was based at Leone and later at Leulumoega, Upolu. In 1870 he visited Tokelau and the Ellice and Gilbert Islands on the mission vessel the John Williams. In 1871 he returned to the UK. IN 1878 he resigned from the LMS and became paster in Dublin, later moving to Bristol. But in 1891 he went back to Samoa where he became a close friend of Robert Louis Stevenson who had also travelled there. Whitmee returned to the UK for a second time in 1894 where he retired to Barnet. 

C.H.W. 1926 'Rev. S.J. Whitmee' Nature 117 March 6 1926 p. 351. 

[Obituary] Notes and Queries 19 December 1925 p. 434

[Obituary] The Times 14 December 1925 

S.J. Whitmee. “Polynesia,” in Snow's “Outline” Missionary Series. London: Snow & Co.

S.J. Whitmee. 1871 'A missionary cruise in the South Pacific being the report of a voyage amongst the Tokelau, Ellice and Gilbert islands, in the missionary barque "John Williams" during 1870.' Sydney: J. Cook & Co. 

S.J. Whitmee & George Pratt. 1878 A grammar and dictionary of the Samoan language [2nd edition] London

AP April 2013