Albert W. Anderson

1868 - 1949

Albert Anderson was widely known in Australia as a gifted natural leader, an effective minister, talented writer and editor, and outstanding church musician. He served as editor of the Australian Signs of the Times and Life and Health magazines and published two books, The Battle for Freedom and Through Turmoil to Peace.

Anderson, born in Melbourne, Australia, on May 22, 1868, became a Seventh-day Adventist when working as a young businessman in his native city. At age 30, he, accompanied by his wife Margaret Linklater, became the first resident minister in Tasmania. He became interested in the SDA literature being printed at that time and eventually worked in the Echo Publishing Company in Melbourne for seventeen years. In that time he served as editor of the two previously mentioned publications.

During those years, Adventist publishing was transferred to Warburton, where Anderson led out in the establishment of a church school and sanitarium and in the community at large. From 1916 until his death on September 18, 1949, at age eighty, he worked in various church departments, particularly in religious liberty.

Anderson was an esteemed leader in the church in Australia, an approachable person known for his enthusiasm, dedication, and compassion. Throughout his half-century career, he championed the use and development of quality music in worship services.

ds/2016

Sources: Obituary, Review and Herald, October 27, 1949, pg. 22; W. G. Turner, "In Memoriam," Australian Record, October 10, 1910, pgs. 6,7.