Thomas Bevan
Encyclopedia
Thomas Bevan was, with fellow Welshman David Jones
, the first Christian missionary to Madagascar
, sent by the London Missionary Society
.
.
It was decided that he should go to Madagascar. He was ordained at Neuaddlwyd, 20–1 August 1817, and married Mary Jones (née Jacob) of Pen-yr-allt Wen in the same district.
Bevan and Jones, with their families, sailed for Madagascar on 9 February, arriving in Mauritius
on 3 July 1818. Five weeks later, they embarked again, and landed at Tamatave, Madagascar, on 18 August 1818. Here they started a school with ten children. Bevan returned to Mauritius to fetch his family, returning on 6 January 1819. Tragedy followed. His child died on 20 January, he himself died on 31 January, and his wife died on 3 February 1819. They are buried in Tamatave cemetery.
David Jones (missionary)
David Jones was a pioneering Welsh Christian missionary to Madagascar. A gifted linguist, he was noted for establishing the orthography of the Malagasy language and for his translation of the Bible into Malagasy, a work that he undertook with fellow missionary David Griffiths.- Life and work...
, the first Christian missionary to Madagascar
Madagascar
The Republic of Madagascar is an island country located in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa...
, sent by the London Missionary Society
London Missionary Society
The London Missionary Society was a non-denominational missionary society formed in England in 1795 by evangelical Anglicans and Nonconformists, largely Congregationalist in outlook, with missions in the islands of the South Pacific and Africa...
.
Life and work
Bevan was born in the neighbourhood of Neuaddlwyd, Cardiganshire, about 1796. He came from a religious home, and at the age of 8 was already a reader of the Bible. He experienced conversion near Nantgwynfynydd farm, and on 19 November 1810 became a church member at Neuaddlwyd. There, the minister Thomas Phillips (1772–1842) encouraged him to begin preaching. He then went to Phillips's school at Pen-y-banc and later to colleges at Newtown and, with Jones, at GosportGosport
Gosport is a town, district and borough situated on the south coast of England, within the county of Hampshire. It has approximately 80,000 permanent residents with a further 5,000-10,000 during the summer months...
.
It was decided that he should go to Madagascar. He was ordained at Neuaddlwyd, 20–1 August 1817, and married Mary Jones (née Jacob) of Pen-yr-allt Wen in the same district.
Bevan and Jones, with their families, sailed for Madagascar on 9 February, arriving in Mauritius
Mauritius
Mauritius , officially the Republic of Mauritius is an island nation off the southeast coast of the African continent in the southwest Indian Ocean, about east of Madagascar...
on 3 July 1818. Five weeks later, they embarked again, and landed at Tamatave, Madagascar, on 18 August 1818. Here they started a school with ten children. Bevan returned to Mauritius to fetch his family, returning on 6 January 1819. Tragedy followed. His child died on 20 January, he himself died on 31 January, and his wife died on 3 February 1819. They are buried in Tamatave cemetery.