The missions in Java, at Batavia and Amboyna, were set up during a brief period of British rule which came about as a result of the Anglo-Dutch Java War (1810-1811). In 1816, the British returned Java and other East Indian possessions to the Dutch as part of the accord ending the Napoleonic Wars. Stamford Raffles, subsequently founder of Singapore, encouraged the missionaries. Raffles’s Dutch successor, governor Baron van der Kapellen, also displayed positive goodwill to the mission.
The LMS mission to Batavia [now known as Jakarta] began with the arrival of John Supper in 1814. Other missionary correspondents are John Slater, Walter Medhurst and William Young. Always seen as a step on the way to China, correspondence reflects developments in China as well as the work in Java. Concern is also expressed for the efforts of Samuel Dyer in Melaka to develop Chinese printing fonts. Some missionary journeys reached major towns including Serabang and Surabaya. Good relations were maintained with the Dutch Reformed Church who were recognized as ‘gate-keepers’ for mission enterprise in the Dutch East Indies. At the same time there was also contact with William Carey’s Baptist mission at Serampore.