James Robert Beattie Love, clergyman and missionary, was born at Killeter, Tyrone, Ireland. When he was five months old the family migrated to Australia and, after a short stay in Victoria, settled at Strathalbyn, South Australia.
In 1912, Love accepted an honorary commission from the board of missions of the Presbyterian Church of Australia to investigate and report on the condition of the Aborigines and possible locations for mission work among them.
In 1927, Love moved to Kunmunya in Western Australia where he was superintendent until 1940. Love translated parts of the Bible into Worora, the language of the majority of people living on the mission, and some Worora stories into English. His analysis of the Worora grammar was presented as a thesis to the University of Adelaide in 1933.
Love encouraged the preservation of those aspects of tribal life that were compatible with Christianity and strove for a balance between upholding tribal law and maintaining the discipline that he considered necessary for the mission's well-being. Love retired from mission work in 1946 and was elected moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of South Australia
