Born August 17, 1761, Paulerspury, Northampton, England. Oldest of 2 sisters, 2 brothers. Father: schoolteacher, parish clerk. Parents lived well into his adult years. Raised Anglican church. Schooled until 12. Childhood distinctions: nature-lover, studious. 1775 apprenticed to shoemaker. 1779 became Dissenter. June 10, 1781, married Dorothy Plackett (with whom he had five sons, two daughters). 1782 first preached. 1785 dreamed of missionary work. 1787 ordained Baptist minister. 1792 published Enquiry, the classic delineation of missions, and helped found Baptist Missionary Society. 1793 arrived India. 1794 left deadly Sundarbans for indigo plant at Mudnabati. 1795 Dorothy mentally ill. 1797 completed New Testament in Bengali language. January 1800 opened base in Serampore, near Calcutta. 1801 began teaching at Fort William college (Calcutta) 1802 printed New Testament in Bengali. 1802 infanticide banned (for which he was partly responsible). 1805 began 'free schools' 1807 Dorothy (insane) died. 1808 printed New Testament in Sanskrit (key to all subsequent translations). 1808 married Charlotte Rumohr. 1812 Fire destroyed presses. 1818 founded Serampore College. 1820 founded Botanical Society. 1821 Charlotte died. 1822 married Grace Hughes. 1827 broke with B. M. S.. 1829 Sati (widow burning) banned (for which he was partly responsible). 1830 reunited with B. M. S.. June 6, 1834, died and buried at Serampore. Hailed as 'Father of Modern Missions'.

          Go to anecdotes on William Carey's...                               
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                                                                Failure
                                                                Defining Moment

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ABOUT THE LIFE AND TIMES OF WILLIAM CAREY:
Anderson, Gerald H., Mission Legacies: Biographical Studies of Leaders of                PB
     the Modern Missionary Movement. Orbis, 1995. 
Beck, James R., Dorothy Carey: The Tragic and Untold Story of Mrs. William           PB
     Carey. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1992. 
Berry, W. Turner and H. Edmund Poole, Annals of Printing: A Chronological
     Encyclopeaedia.  London: Blandford Press, 1966.
Briggs, Asa, How they lived, V. III, 1700-1815.  New York: Barnes & Noble, 1968.
Carey, Eustace, Memoir of William Carey. Hartford; Robins & Smith, 1836.
Carey, S. Pearce, William Carey, D.D., Fellow of the Linnean Society. London:
     Hodder & Stoughton Ltd., 1923. 
Carey, William, An Enquiry into the Obligations of Christians to Use Means for         PB
     the Conversion of the Heathens.  Leicester: Ann Ireland, 1792. 
Chakrabarty, Bhaskar, Fort William: a Historical Perspective.                                          PB
Chatterjee, S. K., Hannah Marshman: First Woman Missionary in India.
     India, 1987.
Chatterjee, S. K., Felix Carey: A Tiger Tamed. India, 1991.
Chatterjee, S. K., William Carey and serampore. India.
Davies, A. Mervyn, The Life and times of Warren Hastings, Maker of British India.    PB
Drewery, Mary, William Carey: Shoemaker and Missionary.  London, 1978.                  PB
Carter, Terry G., , Journal and Selected Letters of William Carey. Smyth &                    HC
     Helwyth, 1999.
Fuller, T. E., A Memoir of the Life and Writings of Andrew Fuller. London: 1863.
Gardner, Brian, The East India Company. New York: McCall Publishing, 1971.            PB
Heitzman, James and Robert Worden, eds., India: a Country Study. Washington,    HC
     DC: Library of Congress, 1996.
Lewis, C. B., The Life of John Thomas. London, 1873.
Losty, Jermiah P., Calcutta, a City of Palaces…in the Days of the East India                 PB
     Company, 1690-1858. 
Mangalwadi, Vishal and Ruth, Legacy of William Carey: A Model for                                PB
     Transformation of a Culture. Crossway, 1999.   
Mani, Lata, Contentious Traditions: The Debate on Sati in Colonial India.          HC      PB
     Un. Calif. Pr., 1998.   
Marshman, John C., The Life and Times of Carey, Marshman and Ward: Embracing
     the History of the Serampore Mission.  London: Longman et all, 1859.
Moorhouse, Geoffrey, India Britannica. New York: Harper & Row, 1983.                      PB
Neill, Stephen, A History of Christianity in India, 1707-1858. Cambridge                        HC
     Un. Press, 1985.
Neill, Stephen, A History of Christian Missions. Viking Press, 1994.                                  PB
Nida, Albert Eugene, Meaning Across Cultures: A Study on Bible Translating.            PB
Potts, E. D., British Baptist Missionaries in India, 1793-1837. Cambridge Un.                PB
     Press, 1967.
Quennell, Marjorie and C.H.B., A History of Everyday Things in England, V. II,          PB
     1733-1851.  New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1934. 
Rienits, Rex and Thea, The Voyages of Captain Cook. London: Hamlyn Publishing    PB
     Group Ltd., 1968. 
Robinson, Francis, ed., Cambridge Encyclopedia of India et al. Cambridge                  HC
     University Press, 1989.
Smith, George, The Life of William Carey, Shoemaker and Missionary. London:        PB
     Murray, 1887. 
Sreemani, Soumitra, Anatomy of a Colonial Town: Calcutta, 1756-1794.                        HC
     South Asia, 1994. 
Stanley, Brian, The History of the Baptist Missionary Society, 1792-1992.                    HC
      Edinburgh: Clark, 1992.
Thomas, Norman E., Classic Texts in Mission and World Christianity. Orbis, 1995.  PB
Tippleston, D., William Carey and Hackleton Baptist Church. UK: 1956.
Weller, Jac, Wellington in India.                                                                                                      PB
Wellman, Sam. William Carey: Father of Modern Missions. Barbour, 1997.                    PB