Beighton, Thomas and Abigail

Identity Statement

Reference code(s)	: GB 0102 MS 380698
Held at	: School of Oriental and African Studies   Click here to find out how to view this collection at http://www.soas.ac.uk/Archives/home.html ›
Full title	: Beighton, Thomas and Abigail
Date(s)	: 1818-1821
Level of description	: Collection (fonds)
Extent	: 1 volume
Name of creator(s)	: Beighton | Thomas | 1790-1844 | missionary Beighton | Abigail | 1791-1879 | née Tobitt | missionary

Context

Administrative/Biographical history:

Thomas Beighton: born at Ednaston, Derbyshire, 1790; studied at Gosport; appointed to the Malacca mission of the London Missionary Society (LMS); ordained at Derby, 1817; married Abigail Tobitt; sailed to Malacca via Madras with his wife, 1818; stationed at Penang, 1819; carried out missionary work in Penang, the Malayan Peninsula, and the Queda coast, particularly educational work and translation; responsible for the mission printing press at Penang, which produced materials in Malay and English; died in Penang, 1844. Publications: various Christian texts published in Malay, 1836-1841.

Abigail Beighton (née Tobitt): born, 1791; engaged in missionary work in female education; returned to England, 1846; died at Barnet, 1879.

Content

Scope and content/abstract:

Typescript transcript of letters and extracts of letters, and some photocopies of original letters, 1818-1821, from Thomas and Abigail Beighton to family and friends, recording problems encountered on the journey from England to Madras; local customs; and missionary work in Malacca and Penang, particularly their work in education; also including much discussion of family matters and of relationships among the missionary communities.

Access & Use

Language/scripts of material:
English

System of arrangement:

Conditions governing access:

Unrestricted.

Conditions governing reproduction:

No publication without written permission. Apply to archivist in the first instance.

Finding aids:

Database.

Archival Information

Archival history:

Immediate source of acquisition:

Presented in 1999.

Allied Materials

Related material:

The School of Oriental and African Studies holds the records of the London Missionary Society (Ref: CWM/LMS), including Thomas Beighton's candidate's papers (Ref: CWM/LMS Candidates' Papers Box 1 No 39); journals (or extracts) of Thomas Beighton in Penang, 1819, 1822-1824, 1830, 1838-1839 (Ref: CWM/LMS Ultra Ganges Journals); letters of Thomas or Abigail Beighton from Penang, 1819-1845 (Ref: CWM/LMS Ultra Ganges Penang Incoming correspondence).

Publication note:

Description Notes

Archivist's note:
Compiled by Rachel Kemsley as part of the RSLP AIM25 project. Sources: Dictionary of National Biography; LMS Register of Missionaries, ed James Sibree; British Library OPAC.

Rules or conventions:
Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.

Date(s) of descriptions:
Aug 2002