Rev Benjamin Clough papers
Manuscript entitled 'A few Memorandums of my Voyage out to Ceylon' and being Clough's account of his return to Ceylon [Sri Lanka] after a furlough in England. The manuscript begins prior to departure on 31 March 1825 and ends the same year on 29th August at Latitude 031N, Longitude 67E (near the 'Ma...
| Order number: |
MMS/Special Series/Biographical/Ceylon/FBN 23 (fiche 986-988) |
|---|---|
| Date(s) of creation: |
1823 & 1825 |
| Level: |
Sub-series |
| Format: | Archive |
| Main author: | Clough; Benjamin (1791-1853); ordained and educational missionary, linguist |
| collection |
SOAS Archive |
|---|---|
| id |
MMS.17.02.08.01 |
| 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/Ceylon/FBN 23 (fiche 986-988) |
| callnumber |
MMS/17/02/08/01 |
| callnumber_txt |
MMS/17/02/08/01 |
| callnumber-sort |
MMS/17/02/08/01 |
| prefix_number |
01 |
| title |
Rev Benjamin Clough papers |
| scb_date_creation |
1823 & 1825 |
| 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 items |
| author |
Clough; Benjamin (1791-1853); ordained and educational missionary, linguist |
| author_facet |
Clough; Benjamin (1791-1853); ordained and educational missionary, linguist |
| authorStr |
Clough; Benjamin (1791-1853); ordained and educational missionary, linguist |
| author_letter |
Clough; Benjamin (1791-1853); ordained and educational missionary, linguist |
| format |
Archive |
| scb_admin_history |
Benjamin Clough was born in Bradford, Yorkshire, in 1791. He became a Methodist when seventeen and soon after became a local preacher. In 1813 he entered the ministry and made a sufficient impression on his peers to be recommended to Thomas Coke as one of the missionaries to accompany him to Ceylon [Sri Lanka]. Coke interviewed him and offered him a place with the mission and they subsequently sailed aboard the 'Cabalva' on 31 December 1813. Unfortunately Coke died on route leaving Clough and his colleagues to implement Coke's mission plan.
Upon arrival the missionaries agreed to assign stations by lot with Clough drawing Galle. During his tenure at Galle he opened a school with books supplied by Lord Molesworth, preached in the Dutch Church and held twice weekly class meetings at Galle Fort. His work with indigenous people was initially through translators although over time he became very fluent in Singhalese and Pali. He cultivated an interest in Buddhism and engaged in theological discussions with priests, his primary intention to encourage conversions. This lead to the high profile conversion of the important Buddhist priest Sri Dharma Pandito Thero (who was baptised as Petrus Panditasekara on Christmas Day 1814).
During 1815 Clough relocated to Colombo where he opened a school, continued his dialogue with Buddhists, expanded the Church's membership and supervised preaching in the villages south of Colombo. By 1818 he was suffering from ill health and was forced to take an unplanned furlough to Madras [Chennai, India]. Upon his return he was involved with the opening of an institute whose aim was to instruct indigenous converts so that they could be of 'public usefulness to the Church'. In 1821 he also published his English-Singhalese dictionary and between 1817 and 1823 he was involved in translating the Old and New Testaments into Singhalese.
In 1823 Clough took a furlough to England. Whilst there he met Margaret Morley (born 3 November 1804 in Doncaster, Yorkshire) and married her on the 31 March 1825 at St George's Church, Doncaster. They returned to Colombo later that year whereupon Clough assumed chairmanship of the 'Cingalese District'. In 1829 he relocated to Negombo (his wife having died in childbirth on 30 June 1827) and a year later published his Singhalese-English dictionary (having already published a Pali grammar and vocabulary in 1824).
For the remainder of his tenure Clough worked alternatively in Negombo and Colombo and during 1835 & 1836 he was also Chairman of the Tamil District. Under his stewardship further schools and places of worship were planned or even opened including a mission station at Kandy in 1835, a new chapel in Colombo in 1836 and a school at Bambalapitiya in 1837. A bout of fever forced him to convalesce in South Africa in early 1837 but his health did not recover sufficiently and he was eventually forced to return to England.
Clough spent the remainder of his career working in home circuits (including Sheffield in Yorkshire as well as Deptford and Maidstone in Kent). In 1852 he became a supernumerary in Southwark, Kent, and he died there on 13 April 1853.
Further reading:
Clarke, A, Extracts from the journal and correspondence of the late Mrs. M.M. Clough, wife of the Rev. Benjamin Clough, missionary in Ceylon (1829);
Findlay & Holdsworth, The History of the Wesleyan Methodist Missionary Society (vol V, 1924);
Small, W T J, History of the Methodist Church in Ceylon 1814-1964. |
| scb_custodial_history |
Manuscript (and possibly letter) given to the Museum of Methodist Antiquities by Mrs [Mary] Punshon, 1882 |
| description |
Manuscript entitled 'A few Memorandums of my Voyage out to Ceylon' and being Clough's account of his return to Ceylon [Sri Lanka] after a furlough in England. The manuscript begins prior to departure on 31 March 1825 and ends the same year on 29th August at Latitude 031N, Longitude 67E (near the 'Maldwen Islands' [Maldives]). Entries are in English except for at the start where some are in Portuguese.
Letter written by Clough at Millbrook [?Bedfordshire] on 22 Aug[us]t 1823 to Rev Jos Taylor at Hatton Gardens, London, re debt (500 pounds) of Mr Rodney, Chief Suty in Ceylon [Sri Lanka], and how it can be recovered in Ceylon [Sri Lanka]. Also includes general news. |
| scb_related_name_code |
GB/SOASNAF/P930 |
| scb_related_name_relationship |
Subject of |
| scb_place_code |
1227603 7729895 2635167 |
| scb_access_status |
Open |
| scb_conditions_gov_access |
Only to be viewed on microfiche |
| scb_copyright |
Copyright held by Methodist Missionary Society |
| scb_use_restrictions |
Apply to SOAS Archives & Special Collections in the first instance. |
| language |
English Portuguese |
| language_search |
English Portuguese |
| scb_scripts_material |
Latin |
| scb_related_material |
Also within the records of the (Wesleyan) Methodist Missionary Society is the official correspondence for Benjamin Clough (MMS/Ceylon/Correspondence/FBN 1-3). Further information on Clough's work, as well as the work of his colleagues, will be contained in the relevant Synod Minutes (MMS/Ceylon/Synod Minutes/FBN 1).
Odd letter from Clough to James Lynch amongst Lynch's papers (MMS/Special Series/Biographical/Ceylon/FBN 23 (fiche 991-1000)).
Images of Clough can be found within MMS Box 1203 and MMS/Ceylon/Photographs/Box 1196a (file 7). |
| hierarchy_top_id_raw |
MMS |
| hierarchy_sequence |
MMS.0017.0002.0008.0001 |