Charles Mead
இந்தப் பக்கத்தை தமிழில் வாசிக்க: சார்ல்ஸ் மீட்
Charles Mead (October 2, 1792 - January 10, 1873) was an LMS missionary and educator. Apart from promoting Christianity in South Travancore, he laid the foundations for Western education in the region. The work he did on behalf of the London Missionary Society in the city of Nagercoil, Tamil Nadu, India (then part of the Kingdom of Travancore) earned him the sobriquet, the Sculptor of Nagercoil.
Early Life and Education
Charles Mead was born to Anglican parents on October 2, 1792, in Bristol in the county of Gloucester, England. His maternal uncle, Rev. John Hunt, was a pastor in Wakefield. Mead did his schooling in Gosport Missionary School, Yorkshire. He was ordained on March 6, 1816.
Personal Life
Mead married Anne Hunt, the daughter of his uncle John Hunt. Having already taken ill when they arrived at Chennai (formerly, Madras), Anne Hunt died after giving birth to a son at Prince of Wales Island harbour. Charles Mead proceeded to Colachel (in present day Kanyakumari district) with his son, John Hunt.
Mead then married Johanna Coelestina, the first female missionary to serve in South Travancore. She was the daughter of Rev. Horst who served as a missionary in Thanjavur. Johanna Mead contributed immensely to women's education and to the development of handicraft as a business amongst women in Nagercoil. Johanna died on February 6, 1848 in Neyyoor due to liver disease. She was forty five.
In 1852, five years after Johanna’s death, Mead married Lois Biddulph, the daughter of his assistant, Devavaram Biddulph. He was 60. The couple had four children. European missionaries disapproved of his marriage to an Indian woman. Indian Christians too who registered their protest in various churches. Therefore, in April 1852, Mead resigned from his duties at the Missionary Society. The then Resident of Travancore granted him a government job and so Mead relocated to Thiruvananthapuram. He was appointed as a senior officer in the government's printing press and as an inspector for English schools. He was a minister at an English church that was part of the Christian Mission Society (C.M.S.) as well. The campus where he stayed in Thiruvananthapuram is now known as Mead's Compound.
Mead was father to fifteen children from his three wives. Joanna Carlotta, a daughter he had with his third wife, married the renowned Christian historian, C.M. Agur, the author of the classic book, ’Church History of Travancore'.
Anne Hunt
- John Hunt Mead
Johanna Mead
- Theodore Mead
- Joseph Mead
- Sophia Stemnett Mead
- Florence Mead
- Rachel Mead
- Ann Cammerer Mead
- Christopher Cornelius Mead
- Nathaniel Mead
- Eusebius Mead
- James Mead
Lois Biddulph
- Mary Ann Mead
- Joanna Carlotta Agur
- John James Mead
- Celestina Florence Kohlhoff
Religious Work
Mead, who joined the London Missionary Society, was nominated to succeed Rev. Ringeltaube in Nagercoil, after his death. He left England, along with his wife, on April 20, 1816 and landed in Chennai on August 28, 1816. Rev. Richard Knill accompanied him.
At the Madras Presidency, Mead stayed with the first English missionary in Madras, Rev. Loveless and learnt the Tamil language. His wife was undergoing medical treatment at that time. He informed Col. Munro, the then Resident of Travancore of their impending arrival and left for Travancore on September 9, 1817, along with his wife. He reached Colachel on January 17, 1818 without his wife, who died enroute.
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In Colachel, Mead was welcomed by the evangelist Vedamanikkam and other preachers, who by then had been converted by Rev. Ringeltaube. They escorted him to Myladi, where Mead witnessed first hand, the well-oiled missionary activities started by Ringeltaube. Mead stayed with Ringeltaube in a thatched hut, the latter's home. Mead was later allotted a government bungalow by Colonel Munro.
In due course, Mead relocated the headquarters of the Mission from Myladi to Nagercoil. The office of Colonel Munro in Nagercoil became his residence and the Church, his headquarters. In addition, Maharani Gowri Parvathi Bayi granted him the lands on which the Nagercoil Kasba Diocese Church and the printing press of Scott Christ College were located, as well as those surrounding these establishments.
In April 1818, the Maharani appointed Mead as the District Judge of Nagercoil. He also received a grant of five thousand rupees from her, towards the purchase of land and construction of a church in Nagercoil. Mead planned to build a large church with a capacity to seat at least three thousand people. On January 1, 1819, Rev. Knill laid the foundation for a church, 140 feet by 70 feet in area. The construction of the church was completed with monetary aid from Colonel Munro and the government. It later came to be known as C.S.I. Home Church.
Serving as a government officer, Mead built a well-protected granary that can hold 1500 kottai paddy at Myladi. It was also facilitated with upper-storey guest rooms for Europeans. The security forces for the granary were chosen from the family of Vedamanikkam.
Before the end of 1819, Mead increased the number of societies left by Ringaltaube from seven to fifteen. He divided the South Travancore Mission into five districts: Nagercoil, Neyyoor, Parassala, Thiruvananthapuram, Attingal, and Kollam; he initiated an administration that aimed for swift development.
Contribution to Education
Mead started a seminary in Nagercoil in October 1819, where the languages of English, Tamil, and Malayalam were taught in addition to theology. Further, he started an English school nearby in 1820. Johanna Mead started a school for girls and an institution for handicrafts as well in the vicinity. Mead dreamt of the seminary becoming a college, and it did so during 1893 as Scott Christian college. In 1820, Mead started an English school for non-Christians as well. Similarly, Neyyoor Mission started a school in Neyyoor. By 1927, London Mission had opened 47 schools in South Travancore.
While he was travelling in Thanjavur during 1820, Mead bought a printing press, and founded Travancore’s first printing press in Nagercoil. He used it to disseminate Mission news. Since there was no paper production in Travancore, it was shipped from Britain as a donation. The printing press was called Travancore Mission Press.
Mead went to Kumbakonam in 1825 leaving South Travancore and stayed there for almost two years; he founded a new Mission establishment there as well. He returned to Nagercoil in 1827 after he collected enough donations for the church being built there. In 1828, he was then transferred to the western region for which Neyyoor was the headquarters. He stayed with his family in a small housing beside Mandaikadu beach till a bungalow was built in Neyyoor as there were not any spacious buildings. He built a hospital and church in Neyyoor.
Mead left for England in December 1836 for vacation and returned to Travancore in March 1838 after improving his health. He contributed to religious and educational services in Thiruvananthapuram. He excelled as a full-time educator during his last days of his life. He ran schools and presses in Thiruvananthapuram.
Upper-body Cloth Revolt
During 1828, women from the oppressed caste started wearing upper-body clothes just as those from higher castes after taking up Christianity as their religion. In 1828 and 1829, this was opposed leading to riots in the areas around Kalkulam, Vilavancode, Agastheeswaram, and Eraniel. Mead arranged to control and end the riots in his meeting with the Resident. His house at Mandaikadu (formerly, Mondaicaud) was sieged in January 3, 1829, and he was rescued and saved with the help of the military from Udayagiri fort. See also Upper-body Cloth Revolt.
Death
Mead died on January 10, 1873 at the age of 81. He was buried in the compound of C.M.S. Church in Thiruvananthapuram.
Memorials
- A street in Nagercoil is named in the memory of Charles Mead.
- C.S.I. Church has named Mandaikadu diocese as Rev. Mead district.
Links
- Charles Mead
- Faith and Family: Robert Caldwell and his Missionary Dynasty
- Sirakugal: Rev.Charles Mead- Father of the South Travancore Mission
- Rev Charles Mead South Travancore Mission, biography, life, ministry
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