Rev.Charles Mead was the Father of the South Travancore
Mission, born on 1st October 1792 at Bristol, Gloucester, England. He was
brought up by his uncle Rev.John Hunt at Wakefield, Yorkshire, attended Gosport
Missionary School and ordained at Chichester on 6th March 1816.According to the
London Mission Society’s report, Rev.Charles Mead was nominated for Travancore
as Rev.Ringeltaube’s successor. He married Rev.Hunt’s daughter, Anne Hunt. He
left from England on 20th April, 1816 for Travancore and arrived at Madras on
28th August 1816 along with Rev.Richard Knill, who known as the pastor of the
church at St Petersburg. He was received by Rev.Loveless, who was the first
England missionary of Madras. Rev.Mead was detained a considerable time at
Rev.Loveless’s house at Madras by his wife's ill-health and he studied Tamil.
Thereafter he gave early intimation of his arrival to Col.Munro and consulted
him on various subjects related to the mission affairs and solicited help.
After one year, he left for Travancore from Madras on 9 September 1817 along
with his wife and arrived at Colachel on 17 January 1818. During his journey,
the ship was stabled at Prince of Wales Island where his wife died
due to her prolonged ill-health.
Rev.Charles Mead, the successor of the first missionary was
heartily welcomed at Colachel by Vedamanickam who was holding charge of the
mission work in Ringeltaube's absence. Rev.Mead was quite pleased at seeing
them than he had expected. The extreme pleasure which this first meeting gave
him a lasting impression
on his mind that he often referred to it during his life. On reaching Mylaudy
he found that though the mission had been left vacant by foreign missionary
about two years, Vedamanickam had carried on the work with diligence and
success, and that the people had remained faithful to their vacation. Here he
lived in the hut of Rev.Ringeltaube’s for a short time and after getting all
information about the Christians and the mission property from Vedamanickam, he
lost no time in reporting his arrival to the British Resident Col.Munro and
shortly afterwards went personally to pay his respects to him. Col.Munro was a great promoter of missions in
Travancore. Before the departure of Rev.Mead from Madras, Col.Munro issued
instruction to the Sircar officers of the South to repair the small mission
house at Mylaudy in consultation with Vedamanickam and suggested certain
alterations. The Mylaudy Mission house was got ready for Rev.Mead’s occupation
before the time he set out from Madras. Col.Munro was not aware of the sad
calamity which had striked Rev.Mead during the voyage.
When
Colonel Munro offered him for his occupation his own circuit bungalow at
Nagercoil, Rev.Mead gratefully accepted, made his headquarters there and
received as a grant also from the Queen of that time the pieces of land around
the mission bungalow .Munro procured from the Queen a bungalow for the missionaries,
and a sum of 5,000 rupees, with which rice-fields were purchased, as an
endowment for education. From this source, ever since 1819, the income of the
English seminary has been derived. Munro, also probably in the effort to aid
the funds of the mission, secured the appointment of Mr. Mead at Nagercoil as
civil judge. Though, Mr. Mead held the
appointment for a year, and discharged the duties so as to win the gratitude of
the natives on the one hand, and to secure the external success of the mission
on the other, the Board constrained him to resign the post.
For further development of the mission, the entire mission
area was divided into six mission stations of Nagercoil, Neyyoor, Parassala,
Trivandrum, Attingal and Quilon. He received donation from Maharaja of Cochin,
who was heathen and other members of the royal family offered for construction
of a church at Nagercoil. In 1818, enormous sum had been spent to Travancore
from the generous contributors of the people in England. In 1818 itself, about
3000 people embraced the Christian religion. On 29 September, 1818, he was
joined by Rev.Richard Knill, another missionary of the LMS who came to
Travancore to recover his health, which had failed in Madras. During Knill’s
short stay, he seems to have entered heartily into Rev.Mead's plans of work and
to have greatly cheered and helped him. The foundation stone of the Home Church
at Nagercoil was laid on the New Year Day of 1819 by Rev.Richard Knill and
suggested, assisted at the building of the church at Tittuvilai.
Mr. Mead tirelessly
continued his varied
missionary work , but he was in need of
a life -partner to share his joy and sorrows ; so he married Miss. Johanna
Coelestina ,the third daughter of a
German missionary, the Revd. Christopher
Henry Horst of Tanjore and sister -in-law of the Revd. J.C. kohlkoff on the 13th
of January , 1819. This marriage helped
Mead in many meaningful ways. It resulted in the transfer to Nagercoil of a
number of trained catechists from the Danish mission. At the same time and from
the same place also, Mr.George Harvey Ashton joined Rev.Mead as his assistant.
Rev.John Smith and Rev.Charles Mault, the LMS missionaries were joined in later
1819.
In October 1819 Rev.Mead commenced the mission seminary at
Nagercoil, which later produced great
Tamil poets and writer like Mr. Devavaram, Moses, John Palmer, C,
Masillamani and others.His plans for
this seminary were of the same ambitious order as characterized his church
building ideas. English and Sanskrit as well as the two vernaculars were
taught, and several European youths, sons of factors in the neighborhood, were
among the first students. Rev.Mead had for his assistant Mr.M'Ally as well as Mr.Ashton,
and a number of native teachers from Tanjore. Of this, the first English
educational institution in Travancore, Rev.Mead spoke these prophetic words
"This will give rise, we hope, in time to a mission college for the south
of India, on the liberal principles of the London Missionary Society."
He opened an English Medium School at Nagercoil (1820) and
also first Girls school with Boarding facility of Travancore at Nagercoil was
established in 1819 by Mrs.Johanna, wife of Rev.Charles Mead. In the following
year, 1820, Rev.Mead, on a visit to Tanjore, obtained a printing press, which
he set up in his own house at Nagercoil, securing at the same time a trained
native printer from Tranquebar. This was the first printing press ever
introduced into Travancore, preceding the Kottayam press by about a year. It is
interesting to notice that the paper sent from England for this press, being
presented by charitable persons, was admitted to the country by the Travancore
Government free of duty.
Rev.Charles Mead also continued his effort the school at
Mylaudy shifted to Nagercoil as he believed the English Medium School at
Nagercoil could one day become a college, which materialized in 1893. In 1820
the first public school for Hindus was opened for the Hindus, especially Nadars
at Nagercoil. The Neyyoor Girls Boarding school was established in 1828 under
the Neyyoor Mission which was situated in an ancient Nadar area. Rev.Mead
started the first School of Industry (technical) in 1820 at Nagercoil. This
school provided technical education and trades such as printing, bookbinding,
tanning, curing of leather etc. In 1820, the mission has planned to start a
branch of the mission at Quilon under John Smith. During his tenure numerous
schools and Churches were established and by 1827 there were forty four schools
in Travancore.
For some
administrative reasons the
LMS Mission field in kanyakumari
district was divided into two parts as Eastern division and Western division in 1828, and for the eastern division, Nagercoil was the Head quarters and for the
western division Neyoor was the Head quarters. Leaving the
eastern division to the care of Mr. Charles Mault ; Revd Charles Mead moved to
Neyoor in 1828 with his family
along with his native Assistant
Devavaram's family. At that time the area in which the present Neyyoor town is
situated was called “Kattuvilai” and was the place where the gallows stood and
the criminals were executed. Rev. Mead with the help of Mr. Raman Thambi, a
Nair landlord, gradually bought the area from the Nair owners and named the
place Neyyoor and started his mission endeavors.
From 1828, while Rev.Mead built and developed the beautiful
Dartmouth Chapel, the printing press, the dispensary, the mission bungalow etc,
Mrs. Mead concentrated on the Boarding House where she taught the children and
women of the area to read, to write, to weave, to do needle work and to make
lace.In 1830, this Boarding House was transformed into a regular Elementary
School with boarding facility. The children were given food, shelter, books and
clothes without cost. In 1844 separate schools for boys and girls were
established and the school for girls was named Carlton School. Later Mrs.
Baylis, wife of Rev. Baylis joined Mrs. Mead in developing this school. Charles Mead
established many churches and
schools and also accomplished many remarkable
things in the social and educational
map of the Western division .
Mead championed the cause of social justice in Kayakumari district with the help of his fellow mission workers
and Mrs. Mead. Mrs. Mead laboured for about 29 long years with her husband tirelessly and she died at
Neyoor on the 6th February 1848 aged 45 years.
The Christians of Kanyakumari district and South India
are indebted to her very much for
her charity, liberality and motherly affection .
In 1836, he took his first leave to England and returned
back in 1838 with five more missionaries.
In 1839, his daughter, Ann Mead married Rev.Augustus Caemmerer, the SPG
missionary at Nazareth.
Following the death
of his wife Johanna , Mead continued his missionary work as a widower
for about five years, and due some reasons he decided to marry Miss
Lois Biddulph , the daughter of Mr. Devavaram Biddulph the learned Christian
Poet and the nephew of Mylaudy Maharasan Vedamanickam. This marriage proposal was opposed by the
local christians , fellow pastors , and by the Directors of the LMS,
London. However sidelining and
sidetracking all hurdles and opposition Charles Mead boldly married Miss Lois Biddulph in
September 1852 and resinged from the
Travancore Mission and went to Trivandrum and settled there.
Charles Mead and his wife Lois Mead were blessed with four
children. Mrs Lois Mead led a happy life
with Mead and consoled and comforted
him in his old age as
compassionate wife. The great Church historian C.M. Agur married Ms. Joanna
Carolata Mead, a daughter of Mr.Charles Mead. This marriage helped C.M. Agur in
so many ways to write the epoch making historical book , "The Church
History of Travancore". ; this book
has IV parts and deals with the history of Syrian Christian Church, Roman Catholic Church, The London Missionary
Church and The Christian Literature . C.M. Agur. B.A., worked as the
Office Manager of The British
Residents' office, at Trivandrum, for
nearly 20 years.
In 1855, in recognition of his contributions to the cause
of education, the Travancore Government appointed him Superintendent of
Schools, and while in this office he encouraged women's education in Nagercoil
and in the state of Travancore. He died on 19 January 1873 at the age of 80
years at Tiruvanandapuram.
Do you have any idea or source that talks about the Biblical verses and foundations that inspired Rev. Charles Mead? Please give me if you have
பதிலளிநீக்குNice to read the ancestors story
பதிலளிநீக்குAnybody has the photo of Ann Caemmerer (daughter of Rev. Charles Mead) and her husband Rev. Augustus Caemmerer? Please email matty@thebridginggap.com
பதிலளிநீக்கு