On 19 October the church remembers Henry Martyn, Bible translator, missionary, 1781-1812.

But who was Henry Martyn?

Born in Truro in 1781, Henry Martyn was educated at Truro Grammar School and St John’s College, Cambridge, where he graduated as Senior Wrangler (highest marks in the mathematics examination).

He had also undergone a conversion experience during his time in Cambridge under the influence of Charles Simeon, the Vicar of Holy Trinity. Consequently he abandoned his intended legal career and was ordained in 1803 to serve as curate (under Simeon) of the Cambridgeshire village of Lolworth, a post which he combined with a fellowship at St John’s College.

In the early nineteenth century the East India Company (a private company which controlled all of British India) did not allow Christian missionaries to operate in their territory lest Hindu susceptibilities be offended. This policy was being challenged in England but in the meantime the Clapham evangelicals and Charles Simeon were using their contacts and influence to have evangelical clergy appointed as East India Company chaplains. Officially they ministered to the Company’s employees and to the expatriate British community. Unofficially they also sought to begin mission work among indigenous Indians.

It was to such a chaplaincy in India that Henry Martyn embarked in 1805 on a nine-month voyage to Calcutta. The last-minute rush when a passage to India became available meant that he had to leave his sweet-heart, Lydia Grenfell, without becoming engaged to her. They were never to meet again.

Martyn’s main contribution to mission work was two-fold. First, what today would be called ‘dialogue’ – seeking to learn all he could about Indian religions by discussion with Hindus and Muslims. Second, his translation work. As well as his brilliance in mathematics he had a real ability in languages (he had spent his spare time at Lolworth learning oriental languages as a means of relaxation).

In his six short years in India, he translated the New Testament into both Urdu and Persian, revised an Arabic translation of the New Testament, and translated the Psalter into Persian and the whole Book of Common Prayer into Urdu.

But his health rapidly declined. He almost died of tuberculosis at Cawnpore in 1809, and he was given unlimited leave of absence. He left India in 1811, returning home via Persia, hoping to make further translations and to improve his existing ones. But he fell ill en-route to Damascus and died on 16 October 1812 aged 31 at Tokat, where he was given an honoured burial by the Armenians, whose ancient church he had long admired.

A Prayer

Almighty God,
who by your Holy Spirit gave Henry Martyn
a longing to tell the good news of Christ
and skill to translate the Scriptures:
by the same Spirit give us grace to offer you our gifts,
wherever you may lead, at whatever the cost;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen. 

Revd Paul A. Carr and extract from ‘Saints on Earth: A biographical companion to Common Worship’ by John H Darch and Stuart K Burns