William Carey
Father of Foreign Baptist Missions. Born: August 17, 1761, in Paulers Pury, England. Died: June 9, 1834, in Serampore, India. William Carey was an English Baptist missionary and linguist. He was baptised in the Church of England but joined the Baptists in 1783 and began to preach. In 1792, Carey and 14 other people formed the BMS (Baptist Missionary Society). The year after, he agreed to go to India as a missionary, and sailed over, settling near Calcutta. During William Carey's early years in India he mastered the main languages of India. From 1796 - 1829, he translated the New Testament into Bengali, The old Testament 8 years later, and parts of the bible into Sanskrit, Greek, Latin, Urdu and many other dialects. Carey also wrote dictionaries and grammars in Sanskrit, Marathi, Punjabi and Telugu. On top of all this, Carey's work led to the abolition of the 'Suttee' in which widows were cremated at their husband's funerals. |
- THE LIFE OF WILLIAM CAREY -- BY GEORGE SMITH C.I.E., LL.D.