Incoming Correspondence: Malacca (Melaka)

So long as missionaries were excluded from mainland China, Dr Robert Morrison took the view that the mission to the Chinese would best make progress in a place near China frequented by numerous Chinese. Malacca was chosen for having good communications and a healthier climate than Java. Early correspondents from Malacca include William Milne, who arrived in 1815 and started a Chinese school, worship services and a magazine; Claudius Thomsen, who joined him in 1816 to minister to Malays; Milne baptised Leang A-fa [Leangafa, Leang A Fa, Leung A-Fa], the Chinese printer who went on to China in due course and served with Robert Morrison. Walter Medhurst joined Milne as a printer, was ordained, but soon moved on to other areas. Correspondents thereafter include George Huttman (1820-24), James Humphreys (1821-1829), David Collie (1822-1828), Samuel Kidd (1824-1832), Jacob Tomlin (1826-1832), Samuel Dyer (1835-1843), Josiah Hughes (1830-1836), John Evans (1833-1840) and H Werth (1839-1841). Humphreys, Collie, Kidd and Evans all took an active share in the work of the Anglo-Chinese College until in 1843 the opening of the Chinese ports led to the establishment in Hong Kong of an Anglo-Chinese Theological Seminary of which James Legge became principal. This brought the college and the mission at Malacca to an end.

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A detailed list of Incoming Correspondence for Malacca, 1815-1859, (list G1), is available for consultation in the Special Collections Reading Room, SOAS Library.

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