William Carey - almost not a writer!
As commemorated by the plaque on the house in which he stayed, William Carey came to Ryde for six weeks in April 1793. He almost didn't write anything, because he found it difficult to buy any paper. Fortunately he did find some, and we still have his letters to his wife from that time. He wrote "This place much favours retirement and meditation; the fine woods and hills and sea all conspire to solemnize the mind, and to lift the soul to admire the Creator of all."
Carey and his travelling companion Thomas, were bound for India on a ship from Southampton. However, the English Channel was swarming with French pirates. Ships gathered in the Solent and waited until there were enough of them to travel in convey. Unfortunately, Carey and Thomas were unable to go to India at that time. They had to return to London at the end of May to sort out Thomas’s affairs. They eventually sailed in June, arriving in Calcutta in November.
Why is Carey important?
William Carey was born on 17th August 1761. He was not the first missionary, not even the first Protestant Missionary. He was the first to propose an evangelical missionary society to promote mission, and this example was quickly followed by the Nonconformist London Missionary Society and the Anglican Church Missionary Society.
In India, he survived when many others did not. By the time he died he had translated the Bible into six languages and parts of it into a further 29. He had little formal education but had a formidable appetite for hard work, and never gave up even when many manuscripts and a printing press were destroyed in a fire. He helped found Serampore College which continues its educational work to this day. He believed that a Christian community would be the best witness of Christian life, and that the best witnesses would be Indians. These communities would be self supporting, and he tried to raise money by indigo planting.
He took a keen interest in the botanical gardens in Serampore set up by the East India Company in 1787, and edited and printed the catalogue of the plants there made by Dr William Roxburgh in 1814. Carey's role in Hortus Bengalensis extended beyond the role of an editor. Carey contributed the twelve-page introduction, substantive comments, editorial notes, and botanical descriptions, appearing as a co-author by contemporary standards. The Botanic Garden held significant interest for William Carey, and the garden still exists today as the Indian Botanic Garden.
Initially, Carey and his fellow European missionaries had a low opinion of Hindu teachings and practices, but came to realise the variety of expression there was in Hindu teaching. Nevertheless they held firmly to their belief that Hinduism was a religion of darkness waiting for Christian light to dawn.
By 1818 92 schools had been established with 10,000 pupils; by the time of his death in 1834, 19 outstations with 500 workers, only 6 British missionaries, had been set up.
Further information:
A broader view of Carey’s work can be found on numerous sites on the Internet, and in Dr Brian Stanley’s scholarly work on the history of the Baptist Missionary Society (Scotland, 1992).
Commemorating Carey
On August 17th 2011 (William Carey's 250th birthday), some members of Ryde Baptist Church; Olive, Pat, Doris, Gwen and Martin, enjoyed a coffee in the church’s Chatters Cafe. They then went down the hill to the cottage in which Carey had stayed for six weeks. There they read from Psalm 61, shared some thoughts about Carey and prayed for the ongoing work of mission around the world. Earlier in August, one Sunday evening had been spent looking at the work of Carey and his legacy today.
The story of the house and Carey’s stay is given in the booklet written by a previous mnister of Ryde Baptist Church, Revd Walter Fancutt, who saved the cottage from demolition in 1954. He also arranged for a plaque commemorating Carey to be placed on the exterior. The plaque shows an East Indiaman ship in full sail. Below it is written:
William Carey
1761 - 1834
Missionary
and Bible Translator
stayed in this cottage
in 1793
awaiting a ship for India.
This plaque was affixed in 1954.
Martin Light (Church Secretary)
