Carey, William

(1761–1834)

   Missionary.

   Carey was born in Northamptonshire. He was brought up in the Church of England, but joined the Baptist Church at the age of twenty-two. As a young man he supported himself as a cobbler while also teaching in a school and spreading the gospel. In 1792 he preached a famous sermon on the text, ‘Expect great things from God; attempt great things for God’, and four months later he founded the Baptist Missionary Society. The following year he sailed for India. He settled in Malda, in the province of Bengal, where he managed an indigo factory, while embarking on a programme of mission. Everywhere he went he established schools and medical centres. He also translated the Bible into Bengali. Subsequently he was appointed Professor of Sanskrit and Bengali at Fort William College in Calcutta. There he devoted himself to the translation of the books of the Bible into the various Indian dialects and he produced grammars and dictionaries in Sanskrit, Marathi, Punjabi and Telugu. He also founded the Agricultural and Horticultural Society of India; he founded many new churches and he successfully campaigned for the abolition of suttee (widow burning). Carey has been described as the father of modern missionaries.

   William Carey, Enquiry into the Obligations of Christians to use means for the Conversion of Heathens, edited by E.A. Payne (1961);

   S.P. Carey, William Carey (1923);

   E.D. Potts, British Baptist Missionaries in India 1793–1837 (1967).