Chaplain

The Indian Ecclesiastical Establishment was created in 1813. Sees of Madras and Bombay were added to that of Calcutta in 1833. These Chaplains were initially employees of the East India Company, and continued as employees of the Governments of the Presidencies of Bengal, Madras and Bombay.

Records

• British Library "Help for researchers" Chaplains and other clergymen, now an archived webpage. Some of the records are common to, and are detailed in Indian Civil Service
• As an example, the 1902 India Office List shows the separately listed Bengal, Madras and Bombay Ecclesiastical Establishments. Later dates will show one listing for the Indian Ecclesiastical Establishment.

For more online editions, see Directories online - India List and India Office List.

• Anglican Clerical Lists and Directories
  • The Clergy List published by George Cox, London. Editions for 1841, 1851, 1866 and 1868, the latter three volumes of which include India, are available online, refer Historical books online below.
  • Crockford's Clerical Directory. First published in 1858. Biographical details of Anglican clergy in Great Britain. Those listed may have been actively working, or may have retired. Biographies would only be removed when a person died. There appears to be limited information about India, so these Directories are probably of most value for those clergy who have returned to Britain.
    • Some of the earlier editions are available online, refer Historical books online below.
    • Ancestry, in the category Schools, Directories & Church Histories, includes a database “UK, Crockford's Clerical Directories” consisting of six Directories, for 1868, 1874, 1885, 1898, 1908 and 1932 (the first two of which are also available as online books). Available to search and browse.
  • The Clergy of the Church of England Database 1540-1835 (CCEd). Includes a limited number of entries with the location classified as Asia, including India.
• FamilySearch microfilm series "Licensing papers, 1660-1858", catalogue entry. “Papers include certificates of appointment, testimonials and nominations, relating to the licensing of curates, lecturers, chaplains (including East India Company and foreign chaplains)….” Microfilm of original manuscripts in Guildhall Library, London, now in the London Metropolitan Archives. These records have been digitized and may be viewed at a FamilySearch Centre on a FamilyHistory computer, or at a FamilySearch Affiliate Library, see FamilySearch Centres for more details.

FIBIS resources

• Review of The Chaplains of the East India Company, 1601-1858 by Daniel O’Connor 2012. Review by Richard Morgan FIBIS Journal Number 27 (Spring 2012), page 53. Refer FIBIS Journals for details of how to access this review.

Also see

• Missionary
• Churches and missions reading list

External links

• Clergymen Records (Including Scotland) (Occupations) The GenGuide.
• The Museum of Army Chaplaincy located at Amport near Andover, Hampshire, England. The Museum of Army Chaplaincy houses the historical collection of Royal Army Chaplains’ Department.

Historical books online

• Episodes in the Life of an Indian Chaplain by ‘a Retired Chaplain’ 1882 Archive.org. The author went to India c 1857
  • Duties of Indian Chaplains page 48
• Parochial Annals of Bengal by Henry Barry Hyde, a Senior Chaplain in Her Majesty’s Indian Service 1901 Archive.org. Full title: Parochial Annals of Bengal. Being a history of the Bengal Ecclesiastical Establishment of the Honourable East India Company in the 17th and 18th centuries.
• Memoir of the expediency of an ecclesiastical establishment for British India; both as the means of perpetuating the Christian religion among our own countrymen; and as a foundation for the ultimate civilization of the natives by Claudius Buchanan 1805 Archive.org
• Colonial ecclesiastical establishment: being a brief view of the state of the colonies of Great Britain, and of her Asiatic empire, in respect to religious instruction, prefaced by some considerations on the national duty of affording it, to which is added a sketch of an ecclesiastical establishment of British India by Claudius Buchanan 1813 Google Books
• Cursory remarks on the inefficiency of the ecclesiastical establishment of India by Rev Henry Shepherd 2nd edition 1829 Google Books
• Memoirs of the life and correspondence of the Reverend Christian Frederick Swartz, to which is prefixed a Sketch of the history of Christianity in India by Hugh Pearson, Dean of Salisbury 2nd Edition 1835 Volume I, II, First American edition (abridged) 1835 Google Books
• A Memoir, Letters, and Diary of the Rev. Henry S. Polehampton, Chaplain of Lucknow ed. by E. and T.S. Polehampton. 2nd edition 1858 HathiTrust with 3 images (rotatable); Third edition 1859 clear text but no illustrations. Archive.org.

He arrived in India 1856. Appointed to Lucknow. Wounded and died during the Siege of Lucknow July 1857.

• ‪Memoir of an Indian Chaplain, the Reverend Charles Church, M.A‬, of the Madras Establishment of the East India Company, by Rev James Hough 1859 Google Books
• The Clergy List: 1841 Does not include India. 1851, 1866, 1868. Google Books and Hathi Trust Digital Library. Latter volumes Include India.
• Crockford's Clerical Directory. Mainly Google Books.

1860 Hathi Trust Digital Library, 1861 Appendix, consisting of additions to the 1860 edition, 1865 Third Issue, 1868 Fourth Issue, 1872 Sixth Issue, 1874 Seventh Issue.

Volumes for 1885, 1898, 1908 and 1932 are available on Ancestry, refer above, to browse as a book (and search)

• See Directories online - India List and India Office List. Depending on dates, there will be separate listings for the Bengal, Madras and Bombay Ecclesiastical Establishments, or one listing for the Indian Ecclesiastical Establishment.