Missionary

The first Englishman in India

The Jesuit missionary, Father Thomas Stevens, or Stephens, (c1549-1619) has been generally accepted as the first Englishman to arrive in India. He had studied in Rome and, having sailed on a Portuguese ship, settled in Goa 1579. There he learned the local languages and taught Christian doctrine to the local people.

As his father was a prominent merchant in London the information he sent home no doubt generated a lot of interest and raised awareness of the trading advantages in the East. In fact, it was not that long after, in 1600, that the Queen eventually granted a charter to the East India Company.

Moreover it is also documented that in 1583 Stevens sent a letter in Latin to his brother in Paris which described his missionary methods. He lived in Goa for over 40 years producing works in local languages . His masterpiece was the Christian Purana , an epic poem based on the life of Jesus, written in the local Konkani dialect of Marathi. This was all the more ingenious as he had to adapt European script to embrace Indian language.

Charter Act 1813

Missionary activity in India was permitted with the passing of the Charter Act 1813, sometimes called the East India Company Act 1813, as described from page 75 of The government of India; a brief historical survey of parliamentary legislation relating to India by Sir Courtenay Ilbert 1922 Archive.org. Prior to that it had been forbidden by the East India Company, who did not wish to wish to interfere with the religious convictions of the Indians in case the Company’s trade was jeopardised.

Missionary Societies of the 19th Century in India and their archives

Christian missionaries were usually sponsored in India by European organisations, such as the German Lutherans or missionary societies from the United Kingdom. Of the latter, there was a wide variety from non-denominational, through Scottish Presbyterians, the Church of England societies, the Baptists, to those who now come under the United Reform Church. The archives of these missionary bodies, often rich sources of names, careers, family details and correspondence, are accessible but variously held in libraries or other repositories depending on the society. The structures of societies differ widely, but most have an archivist, and he/she may be a useful first contact. Below are some 19th century missionary societies, giving for each its current name and location and where its archives are kept. Other Indian missionary sources which may provide useful background have been added.

Society for the Propagation of the Gospel (SPG)

Present title: “USPG – Anglicans in World Mission” http://www.uspg.org.uk
200 Great Dover Street
London SE1 4YB
Tel: (020) 7378 5678
E-mail: archive@uspg.org.uk

Pre-1965 Archives: Rhodes House Library
South Parks Road
Oxford OX1 3RG
Tel: (01865) 270908 or 270911
E-mail: rhodes.house.library@bodley.ox.ac.uk;

Post-1965 Archives are at USPG, London

Church Missionary Society (CMS)

CMS
Watlington Road
Cowley
Oxford
OX4 6BZ
http://www.cms-uk.org
Tel: (01865) 787400;
Archivist E-mail: ken.osborne@cms-uk.org

Main Archives:
Special Collections
Main Library
University of Birmingham
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B15 2TT
Tel: (0121) 414 5838/39
E-mail: s.j.worrall@bham.ac.uk

Post-1960 Archives:
Crowther Centre at CMS
Oxford
Tel: (01865) 787400.

London Missionary Society (LMS)

Present title: “Council for World Mission”
CWM
Ipalo House
32-34 Great Peter Street
London SW1P 2DB
Tel: (020) 7222 4214
E-mail: council@cwmission.org.uk http://www.cwmission.org

Archives:
School of Oriental & African Studies (SOAS)
The Library (LMS Archives)
Thornhaugh Street
Russell Square
London WC1H 0XG
Tel: (020) 7898 4180
E-mail: docenquiry@soas.ac.uk
http://www.soas.ac.uk/library

Baptist Missionary Society

Present title: “BMS World Mission”
PO Box 49
129 Broadway
Didcot
Oxon OX11 8XA
Tel: (01235) 517700
Archives: Tel: (01235) 517626
E-mail: slinnell@bmsworldmission.org
BMS World Mission website

Initially consult Historical Society website:

Main Archive (Angus Library) is at:
Centre for Baptist History
Regent’s Park College
Pusey Lane
Oxford
OX1 2LB
Tel: (01865) 288142
Archivist: julian.lock@regents.ox.ac.uk
Centre for Baptist History and Heritage website

Church of Scotland Missionary Society

“Church of Scotland World Mission Council”
121 George Street
Edinburgh EH2 4YN
Tel: (0131) 225 5722
E-mail: worldmission@cofscotland.org.uk
World Mission Council web pages

Methodist Missionary Society

Lance Martin
Library (Methodist Archives)
School of Oriental & African Studies
Thornhaugh Street
Russell Square
London WC1H 0XG
Tel: (020) 7898 4148
E-mail: lm37@soas.ac.uk
http://www.methodist.org.uk

United Reform Church

http://www.urc.org.uk

This modern title includes English Presbyterians and Congregationalists. The latter often served with the LMS.

Archives:
English Presbyterian’s at Westminster College
Cambridge
Tel: (01223) 741084

Congregationalists’ at SOAS (see LMS above). Further information from the United Reform Church History Society at Westminster College, Cambridge; Tel: (01223) 741084.

Other Indian Missionary Sources

Indian Institute Library

Department of Oriental Collections
Bodleian Library
Oxford
OX1 3BG
Tel: (01865) 277082
E-mail: indian.institute@bodley.ox.ac.uk or gillian.evison@bodley.ox.ac.uk
http://www.ouls.ox.ac.uk/bodley/library/rooms/iirr

Henry Martyn (Missionary) Centre

Librarian (Jane Gregory)
Henry Martyn Centre
Westminster College
Madingley Road
Cambridge
CB3 0AA
Tel: (01223) 741088
Librarian: 07973 965430
E-mail: jg230@cam.ac.uk
http://www.martynmission.cam.ac.uk

Royal Asiatic Society

Librarian (Kathy Lazenbatt)
Royal Asiatic Society
14 Stephenson Way
London
NW1 2HD
Tel: (020) 7388 4539 E-mail: library@royalasiaticsociety.org
http://www.royalasiaticsociety.org

Mundus

A web-based guide to more than four hundred collections of overseas missionary materials held in UK. http://www.mundus.ac.uk

Missionary family stories on the web

• Faith and Family in South India by David Gore on the British Empire website
• Missionaries and Northern India by Tara van Brederode on the British Empire website

Schools

• Church Missionaries’ Children’s Home. This school in England was run by the Church Missionary Society for the children of missionaries. It was founded in 1850 at Highbury , London and moved in 1887 to Limpsfield, Surrey. Further details in The history of the Church Missionary Society Volume 4, page 494 by Eugene Stock 1916 Archive.org. Between the period 1907-1916 the school became known as St Michael's Limpsfield. Opening in 1887 Archiseek.com. Postcard 1907 TheWeald.com. The England and Wales censuses show the children at the school at the census dates.

Historical Books Online

• The History of Christianity in India: from the Commencement of the Christian Era by James Hough Volume 1, 1839 Volume 2, 1839 Volume 4, 1845 Volume 5, 1860
• The Church Missionary Atlas- Church Missionary Society published 1862. Contains a section on India, with maps from page 21, including a section on the languages of India Also includes an Appendix of missionaries’ names, with some biographical details. Google Books
• The Church in Madras : being the History of the Ecclesiastical and Missionary Action of the East India Company in the Presidency of Madras by Rev Frank Penny 1904 Archive.org

Volume 1 In the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries Volume 2 1805 to 1835 Volume 3 1835 to 1861

• Bishop Wilson's journal letters, addressed to his family, during the first nine years of his Indian episcopate Archive.org
• The history of the Church Missionary Society, Volume 4 by Eugene Stock 1916 contains chapters on India from Chapter 14, page 137 Archive.org
• Pennell of the Afghan frontier; the life of Theodore Leighton Pennell, M.D., B. SC., F.R.C.S. Kaisar-i-Hind medal for public service in India by Alice Maud Pennell 1914. Dr Pennell of the Bannu Medical Mission died at the age of 44.
• The Khaki Kook Book: A Collection of a Hundred Cheap and Practical Recipes Mostly from Hindustan by Mary Kennedy Core 1917 Project Gutenberg. The introduction indicates the author was an American missionary. She also wrote articles in the Woman's missionary friend, Volumes 47-48 1915 and Volume 70 1937 published by the Woman's Foreign Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

Other External Links

• Rootsweb India Mailing List This post to the list recommends checking newspapers, including The Times [London]. For more information see our Newspapers article.
• Thomas Stevens by Jyotsna Kamat PhD
• Thomas Stephens Wikipedia
• Anglicanism on the Indian subcontintent, including Ceylon, from Project Canterbury. Contains biographies, online books
• “Missionary Activities of British in India” "First Phase", "Second Phase", "Third Phase", "Fourth Phase" from History of India by IndiaNetZone
• The CMS in Kerala
• The CMS church in Kotgahr, Himachal Pradesh, previously the Punjab, established 1844. Scroll down to the article “Legacy to cherish”
• Reminiscences of Missionary Work, by Worthington Jukes (1925) Project Canterbury website
• Priests, Chaplains, Missionaries in Madras Presidency A section of a family history website in which 400 clerical names and related histories are listed.
• "Protestant Missionary Education in British India" by Steve Bishop Evangelical Quarterly 69:3 (1997) 245-266 Original pdf link
• “Leprosy in British India 1860-1940: Colonial Politics and Missionary Medicine” by Sanjiv Kakar Medical History 1996, 40, 215-230
• American Presbyterian Missions in India
  • Biographical Index of Missionaries To India Presbyterian Heritage Center
  • American Presbyterian mission work in India part of Presbyterian Historical Society, USA

• Mennonite and Brethren in Churches in India

• Description
• Russians, North Americans and Telegus: the Mennonite Brethren mission in India, 1885-1975 by Peter Penner 1997 Limited View Google Books
• Sepia Prints: Memoirs of a Missionary in India by Viola Bergthold Wiebe, Marilyn Wiebe Dodge 1990 Limited View Google Books

• Biographical details of the author Viola Bergthold Wiebe (1903-1996)
• Also see Photographer-Books

• Laura and Charles Hope were Baptist medical missionaries from Australia, for most of the period 1893 to 1934 Australian DIctionary of Biography
• Mrs. Eve Ross, (as Miss Eve Croydon) was sent by the Methodist Society as a nurse in United Provinces, 1941-1946. See Nurse – Other Libraries and Archives for an interview to listen to, or to read the transcript, and details of her letters home.