Papers relating to Rev Frederick William Kellett
Papers relating to the Rev Kellett probably compiled for a possible biography on him. Comprising: File of memorials and obituaries re Kellett, mostly from publications but a few handwritten, 1904-1905. Draft manuscript biography on Kellett, after 1904. A few published articles by or on Kellett, 190...
| Order number: |
MMS/Special Series/Biographical/India/FBN 21 (fiche 910-914) |
|---|---|
| Date(s) of creation: |
c1900-c1906 |
| Level: |
Sub-series |
| Format: | Archive |
| Main author: | Kellet; Frederick William (1862-1904); ordained and educational missionary, scholar, mission administrator, literary editor |
| collection |
SOAS Archive |
|---|---|
| id |
MMS.17.02.06.05 |
| recordtype |
archive |
| scb_item_location |
Archive & Special Collections |
| item_location |
Archive & Special Collections |
| scb_loan_type |
Reference only |
| scb_order_with |
MMS/Special Series/Biographical/India/FBN 21 (fiche 910-914) |
| callnumber |
MMS/17/02/06/05 |
| callnumber_txt |
MMS/17/02/06/05 |
| callnumber-sort |
MMS/17/02/06/05 |
| prefix_number |
05 |
| title |
Papers relating to Rev Frederick William Kellett |
| scb_date_creation |
c1900-c1906 |
| scb_level |
Sub-series |
| level_sort |
7/Collection/Sub-Collection/Sub-Sub-Collection/Sub-Sub-Sub-Collection/Series/Sub-Series/Sub-Sub-Series/File |
| scb_extent |
2 files |
| author |
Kellet; Frederick William (1862-1904); ordained and educational missionary, scholar, mission administrator, literary editor |
| author_facet |
Kellet; Frederick William (1862-1904); ordained and educational missionary, scholar, mission administrator, literary editor |
| authorStr |
Kellet; Frederick William (1862-1904); ordained and educational missionary, scholar, mission administrator, literary editor |
| author_letter |
Kellet; Frederick William (1862-1904); ordained and educational missionary, scholar, mission administrator, literary editor |
| format |
Archive |
| scb_admin_history |
Frederick William Kellett was born on 22 November 1862 in Camborne, Cornwall, to the Rev (1829-1906) & Mrs Featherstone Kellett. At the age of ten he was enrolled at Kingswood School, Bath, Somerset, where it soon became apparent that he was a very bright and gifted student. Before the age of twenty he attained a London BA degree and then excelled at Cambridge (double first), where he won the university prize for Prince Consort Dissertation and was subsequently made a fellow by Sidney Sussex College. Kellett had begun preaching whilst at Cambridge and was accepted as a candidate for the Wesleyan Methodist ministry in 1885. His academic abilities were quickly put to use when he was appointed as a tutor to Richmond College in 1886. After three years at Richmond he was appointed to circuit work in Leeds (where he married, probably in 1890) but in 1891 he was asked to replace the Rev George Patterson as Professor of History at the Madras Christian College (sometimes also called the United Christian College) in South India.
He arrived in February 1892 and with the exception of a furlough between 1898 and 1899 worked indefatigably in the Madras District until his health began to decline towards the end of 1902. Whilst in the Madras District Kellett expanded the work of the College and created a very good working relationship between staff and students. He also organised evening lectures at the Wesley High School in Triplicane on theology, science, literature, etc. (His impact being so profound that the school is now know as the Kellett Higher Secondary School). He served as Secretary to the Madras Missionary Committee for a number of years as well as the Board of Historical Studies at the University of Madras (where he was made a fellow in 1897). He was also involved with literary publications editing Bacon's 'Essays' and Shakespeare's 'As You Like It' for local publication, editing the Madras Christian College magazine for three years as well as editing 'The Inquirer' and, during the summer of 1901, was involved with the launch of a Tamil weekly newspaper entitled 'Dravidavarthamani'.
In December 1902 he was one of the co-organisers of the India Decennial Conference but by this time his health had begun to suffer. In July 1903 he was taken seriously ill and was unable to work for a number of weeks. Against medical advice he decided to remain in India until his furlough the following summer. On 9th May 1904 he departed India aboard the 'Golconda', sailing for England to stay with his father in Nottingham. In June malaria resurfaced and, after only a couple of days fever, he died in Nottingham on 29 June 1904 leaving a wife and two children (Mary b.12/10/1891 & Ernest b.2/10/1893). |
| description |
Papers relating to the Rev Kellett probably compiled for a possible biography on him. Comprising:
File of memorials and obituaries re Kellett, mostly from publications but a few handwritten, 1904-1905.
Draft manuscript biography on Kellett, after 1904.
A few published articles by or on Kellett, 1900-1906.
Three letters written by Kellett to Dr Findlay, 1903-1904.
Letter on Kellett written by Walter Sackett, 1906.
Copied brief extracts from a few of Kellett's letters.
'Work amongst educated Hindus. Triplicane, Madras' by D G M Leith (1905). |
| scb_related_name_code |
GB/SOASNAF/P957 |
| scb_related_name_relationship |
Subject of |
| scb_place_code |
1269750 7646145 7729895 |
| scb_access_status |
Open |
| scb_conditions_gov_access |
Only to be viewed on microfiche. |
| scb_copyright |
Copyright probably held by Trustees for Methodist Church Purposes |
| scb_use_restrictions |
For permission to publish, please contact Archives & Special Collections, SOAS Library in the first instance |
| language |
English Tamil |
| language_search |
English Tamil |
| scb_related_material |
Also within the records of the (Wesleyan) Methodist Missionary Society is the official correspondence for Frederick William Kellett (MMS/India/Correspondence/Madras/FBN 26-27). Further information on Kellett's work, as well as the work of his colleagues, will be contained in the relevant Synod Minutes (MMS/India/Synod Minutes/FBN 3-5).
Kellett's account of the Decennial Missionary Conference held in Madras in 1902 appears in Harvest Field NS Vol XIV No 1 (Jan 1903) whilst an extensive obituary with tributes to him appears in Harvest Field NS Vol XV No 8 (Aug 1904). A few of Kellett's letters (or extracts from them) appear in the Methodist missionary magazines.
A couple of images of Kellett can be found in MMS Box 1199 (file 4). |
| hierarchy_top_id_raw |
MMS |
| hierarchy_sequence |
MMS.0017.0002.0006.0005 |