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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 Elizabeth I 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. For a history of the Jesuits' work in India, see: Leonard Fernando. [https://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199935420.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780199935420-e-59 ''Jesuits and India.''] In Oxford Handbooks online. OUP, 2016.

*[http://searchfibis.fibisourarchives.org/frontisonline/bin/aps_browse_sources.php?mode=list_sources&source_class=241 Ministers and missionaries] section of the FIBIS database*[http://searchfibis.fibisourarchives.org/frontisonline/bin/aps_browse_sources.php?mode=browse_components&id=889&s_id=69 ''Indian missionary directory and memorial volume'' by the Rev B H Badley. Revised Edition. Lucknow: Methodist Episcopal Church Press, 1881] 2,587 names have been indexed in the FIBIS database from this book which records Protestant Missionaries who have served in India.

British Christian missionaries were usually sponsored in India by missionary societies from the United Kingdom. There was a wide variety from non-denominational through to Scottish Presbyterians, the Church of England societies, the Baptists, and 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.  [https://web.archive.org/web/20141028163200/http://www.mundus.ac.uk / Munduson the WayBack Machine] is a web-based guide to more than four hundred collections of overseas missionary materials held in UK, but below are details of some of these, giving for each its current name and location and where its archives are kept. Missionary societies from outside of Britain and additional Indian missionary sources which may provide useful background have been are being added in separate sections below.

 Formed as the Church Missionary Society for Africa and the East in 1799 by Anglican evangelicals. The Church Missionary Society was renamed the Church Mission Society in 1995. Parts of the CMS Archives have been microfilmed by Adam Matthew Publications. Section II: Missions to Women and Section VI: Missions to India are of particular relevance. The full text of guides to these Sections are available online through the Adam Matthew at http://ampltd.co.uk/digital_guides/a.aspx Selected sections of the microfilmed resources are also available online through Adam Matthew Digital (www.amdigital.co.uk), the Internet Archive (www.archive.org), Google Books (www.books.google.co.uk) and Hathi Trust digital library (www.hathitrust.org). Various research libraries and centres around the world subscribe to the digital resources. For access to post-1960 archives, visit the Crowther Centre at CMS. They can be contacted atalso provide access to the Adam Matthew Digital collection:

The main official archive for the CMS is atheld by::Special Collections, Main Cadbury Research Library, :University of Birmingham, :Edgbaston, :Birmingham, B15 2TT :Tel: +44 (01210) 121 414 5838/39 :E-mail: s.j.worrallspecial-collections@bham.ac.uk

For post-1960 archives contact A description of the Crowther Centre Cadbury Research Library CMS holdings is available at CMS, Oxford, Telhttps: (01865) 787400//calmview.bham.ac.uk/record.aspx?src=Catalog&id=XCMS

:E-mail: docenquiryspecial.collections@soas.ac.uk <br>:http://www.soas.ac.uk/library/archives

:http://www.soas.ac.uk/library/archives

=== Basel Mission Missionary Society === 

Protestant organisations or groups in Canada and/or America who worked in India. Also note that some American individuals served with European or British societies.

He and his wife were the first American missionaries to Burma. They were part of a group sent by the ABCFM (see below) in 1812 , and became Baptists in India.

An early biography: Howell, Clifford G. [http://www.wholesomewords.org/missions/bjudson13.html ''Adoniram Judson, Ann Judson : Pioneer American Baptist Missionaries missionaries to Burma''] Online version from The Advanced Guard of Missions. Mountain View, Calif: Pacific Press, 1912. Wholesomewords.orgAlso [http://www.chapellibrary.org/files/archive/pdf-english/ajat.pdf "Adoniram Judson And The Missionary Calland the missionary call"] by Erroll Hulse 2007 chapellibrary.org

The British Library holds in the India Office Records and Private Papers the [http://searcharchives.bl.uk/IAMS_VU2:IAMS032-002287100 Archives of the Friends of Vellore Christian Medical College and Hospital; and of their predecessor, the British Board of the Hospital, 1916-1995].  === American Baptist Missionaries === The earliest American Baptist missionaries were Adoniram and Ann Judson.In 1816 Mr & Mrs Hough were the first missionaries sent out by the Baptist Missionary Convention. Originally written for young people, this title provides an accessible history of the work of Baptists in India and Burma: Chaplin, Ada C. ''Our gold-mine: The story of American Baptist Missions in India''. United States: W.G. Corthell, 1889. [https://www.google.co.nz/books/edition/Our_Gold_mine/_BxBAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0 Online verion]. : Names of societies::American Baptist Foreign Mission Society (ABFMS):Baptist Missionary Convention:Baptist Missionary Union:Woman’s Baptist Missionary Society 

=== Mundus : Gateway to missionary collections in the United Kingdom ===A web-based guide to more than four hundred collections of overseas missionary materials held in UKarchives. This portal is currently only available as an archived web site.[https://web.archive.org/web/20141028163200/http://www.mundus.ac.uk/ Mundus on the WayBack Machine]