Cambridge Library Collection - South Asian History
2 total works
John Wilson (1804-1875) was a Christian missionary and philanthropist. He spent most of his working life in India, where he built churches and schools, and founded the institutions now known as Wilson College and the University of Mumbai. First published in 1878, this biography was compiled by George Smith (1833-1919), at the request of Wilson's son. As former editor of the Calcutta Review, Smith was an expert on Wilson's career, and having met him on his own travels to India, held him and his work in high esteem. The book traces Wilson's life from his childhood to his final days. It reveals his patient mediation between native Indians and their rulers, his groundbreaking and lasting influence on their lives, and his pivotal role in the British government's efforts to help India and its neighbouring countries. It remains of great interest to scholars of religious and Asian studies.
George Smith (1833-1919) published this biography in 1885. Carey (1761-1834), a key figure in the nineteenth-century Protestant missionary movement and founding member of the Baptist Missionary Society, lived and worked as a missionary in India from 1793 till his death 41 years later. The biography is based on Carey's unpublished letters, personal papers, missionary records and the recollections of Carey's friends and colleagues in India. It focuses on Carey's educational work; his involvement in India's agriculture; the mission centres he established throughout India; and his translations of the Bible into Sanskrit, Bengali and many other Indian languages. Smith, a popular Victorian biographer and an expert on India and missionary activity there, paints a vibrant picture of Carey and his extraordinary life. The biography remains a key source for the nineteenth-century Protestant mission movement and for the work of one of its key figures.