Matthew Leighton

Last Name:

Leighton

First Name:

Matthew

Grave Plot No.:

719

Spatial:

Date of birth:

1825

year of death:

1857

date of death:

02.09.1857

Age at death:

32 years, 4 months and 28 days

Full Epitaph:

Sacred to the Memory of / Matthew Leighton / City Missionary / Died 2 Sept 1857, Aged 32 Yrs 4 Mo 28 D His Piety, disinterestedness and untiring zeal in the cause of Christ secured for him the love and esteem of Christians of all denominations, who with his brethren of the City Mission have united in erecting this memorial.

Occupation:

City Missionary at Calcutta.

Cause of death:

Dysentery

Tomb architecture:

Headstone

Detailed information:

The history of the City Mission goes back to the year 1844, when Rev W.W. Evans of the Baptist Church spoke at the Calcutta Missionary Conference of the need for a City Mission of Calcutta. In 1845 Rev. George Pearce spoke at the same conference of the “desirability and practicability” of a City Mission, followed soon by two minsters of the Free Church of Scotland, Rev John MacDonald and Mr. Macleod Wylie. Finally in 1853 a retired Calcutta Merchant sent a donation of Rs. 8,000 to start the Mission in co-operation with all Evangelical Churches. Founded on the lines of City missions of London and Manchester, by October 1853 it boasted seven agents at Boitakhanna, Chandney, Chitpore, Golinga, Lall Bazar, Mulunga and Taltallah. Of them, Matthew Leighton joined as the agent for the Chitpore district on 22.11.1853. The City Mission continued to work till 1868, when it was broken up. [Ref: Edward Steane Wenger, The Story of the Lall Bazar Baptist Church, Calcutta: Being the History of Carey’s Church from 24th April 1800 to the Present Day, Calcutta: Edinburgh Press, 1908]

Buried by:

J C Herdman, Senior Minister, St. Andrew's Church

Photo name/s:

Photo 2 close up:

Tags:

KSHT

missionary

This record has been created by::

Purba Hossain