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{{Short description|English Anglican priest and missionary in India and Persia}}
{{About|the Anglican missionary|the English cricketer|Henry Martyn (cricketer)|the economist|Henry Martyn (economist)|other people of a similar name|Henry Martin (disambiguation)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2021}}
{{Use British English|date=May 2012}}

{{Infobox saint
|name= Henry Martyn
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1781|2|18|df=y}}
| death_date = {{death date and age|1812|10|16|1781|2|18|df=y}}
|feast_day=19 October
|venerated_in= [[Anglican Communion]]
|image= Henry Martyn (missionary).jpg
|caption=
| birth_place = [[Truro]], [[Cornwall]], [[England]]
| death_place = [[Tokat]], [[Ottoman Empire]]
|titles=Missionary to India and Persia<br />Translator of the Scriptures
|beatified_date=
|beatified_place=
|beatified_by=
|canonized_date=
|canonized_place=
|canonized_by=
|attributes=
|patronage=
|major_shrine=
|suppressed_date=
|issues=
}}

'''Henry Martyn''' (18 February 1781 – 16 October 1812) was an [[Anglican]] priest and [[missionary]] to the peoples of [[British Raj|India]] and [[Qajar dynasty|Persia]]. Born in [[Truro, Cornwall|Truro]], [[Cornwall]], he was educated at [[Truro Grammar School]] and [[St John's College, Cambridge]].<ref name="ACAD" /> A chance encounter with [[Charles Simeon]] led him to become a missionary. He was ordained a priest in the [[Church of England]] and became a chaplain for the [[British East India Company]].

Martyn arrived in India in April 1806, where he preached and occupied himself in the study of linguistics. He translated the whole of the [[New Testament]] into [[Urdu]], [[Persian language|Persian]] and [[Judeo-Iranian languages|Judaeo-Persic]]. He also translated the [[Psalms]] into Persian and the [[Book of Common Prayer]] into Urdu. From India, he set out for [[Bushire]], [[Shiraz, Iran|Shiraz]], [[Isfahan (city)|Isfahan]], and [[Tabriz]].

Martyn was seized with fever, and, though the plague was raging at [[Tokat]], he was forced to stop there, unable to continue. On 16 October 1812, he died. He was remembered for his courage, selflessness, and his religious devotion. In parts of the [[Anglican Communion]] he is celebrated with a [[Lesser Festival (Church of England)|Lesser Festival]] on 19 October. Martyn's papers and private letters are held at the [[Cambridge Centre for Christianity Worldwide]] at Westminster College in Cambridge, England.

==Early life==
Martyn was born in [[Truro, Cornwall|Truro]], [[Cornwall]], on 18 February 1781.{{sfn|Hughes|1988|p=75}} His father, John Martyn, was a "captain" or mine-agent at [[Gwennap]]. As a boy, he was educated at Truro grammar school under Dr. Cardew and he entered [[St John's College, Cambridge]], in the autumn of 1797, and was [[Senior Wrangler|senior wrangler]] and first Smith's prizeman in 1801. In 1802, he was chosen as a fellow of his college.{{sfn|Cross|Livingstone|1997|p=1046}}

He had intended to go to the bar, but in the October term of 1802 he heard [[Charles Simeon]] speaking of the good done in India by a single [[Mission (Christian)|missionary]], [[William Carey (missionary)|William Carey]], and some time afterwards he read the life of [[David Brainerd]], a missionary to the [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Native Americans]]. He resolved, accordingly, to become a missionary himself. On 22 October 1803, he was ordained deacon at [[Ely, Cambridgeshire|Ely]], and afterwards priest, and served as Simeon's curate at [[Holy Trinity Church, Cambridge]], taking charge of the Cambridgeshire parish of [[Lolworth]].{{sfn|Cross|Livingstone|1997|p=1046}}

==Missionary work==
Martyn wanted to offer his services to the [[Church Missionary Society]], when a financial disaster in Cornwall deprived him and his unmarried sister of the income their father had left for them. It was necessary for Martyn to earn an income that would support his sister as well as himself.<ref name="DNB" /> He accordingly obtained a chaplaincy under the [[British East India Company]] and left for [[British Raj|India]] on 5 July 1805.{{sfn|Cross|Livingstone|1997|p=1046}} On his voyage to the East, Martyn happened to be present at the [[British Empire|British]] [[Battle of Blaauwberg|conquest]] of the [[Cape Colony]] on 8 January 1806. He spent that day tending to the dying soldiers and was distressed by seeing the horrors of war. He would come away feeling that it was Britain's destiny to convert, not colonize, the world.{{sfn|McManners|2001|p=457}} In his diary Martyn wrote that he hoped England would not remain 'proud and ungodly' at home while waging war abroad, but would instead send church ministers to spread the gospel.{{sfn|McManners|2001|p=457}}

===India===
Martyn arrived in India in April 1806, and for some months he was stationed at Aldeen, near [[Serampur]]. In October 1806, he proceeded to [[Danapur|Dinapur]], where he was soon able to conduct worship among the locals in the vernacular, and established schools.{{sfn|Wilberforce|1837|p=}} In April 1809, he was transferred to [[Cawnpore]], where he preached to British and Indians in his own compound, in spite of interruptions and threats from local non-Christians.<ref name="DNB" />

He occupied himself in linguistic study, and had already, during his residence at Dinapur, been engaged in revising the sheets of his [[Hindustani language|Hindustani]] version of the [[New Testament]]. He now translated the whole of the New Testament into [[Urdu]] also, and into [[Persian language|Persian]] twice. His work for the [[Persian Bible]] included translating the [[Psalms]] into Persian, the Gospels into Judaeo-Persic, and the [[Book of Common Prayer]] into Urdu, in spite of ill-health and "the pride, pedantry and fury of his chief munshi Sabat."<ref name="EB1911" /> Ordered by the doctors to take a sea voyage, he obtained leave to go to Persia and correct his Persian New Testament. From there, he wanted to go to [[Arabia]], and there compose an [[Arabic language|Arabic]] version.{{sfn|Cross|Livingstone|1997|p=1046}} On 1 October 1810, having seen his work at Cawnpore rewarded on the previous day by the opening of a church, he left for [[Calcutta]], from where he sailed on 7 January 1811 for [[Bombay]]. The ship reached port on his thirtieth birthday.{{sfn|Wilberforce|1837|p=}}

==Final voyage and death==
From Bombay he set out for [[Bushire]], bearing letters from [[John Malcolm|Sir John Malcolm]] to men of position there, as also at [[Shiraz, Iran|Shiraz]] and [[Isfahan (city)|Isfahan]]. After an exhausting journey from the coast he reached Shiraz, and was soon plunged into discussion with the disputants of all classes, "Sufi, Muslim, Jew, and Jewish Muslim, even Armenian, all anxious to test their powers of argument with the first English priest who had visited them."<ref name="EB1911" /> He next travelled to [[Tabriz]] to attempt to present the [[Shah]] with his translation of the New Testament, which proved unsuccessful. Sir [[Gore Ouseley]], the British ambassador to the Shah, was unable to bring about a meeting, but did deliver the manuscript. Although Martyn could not present the Bible in person, the Shah later wrote the ambassador a letter of thanks praising the quality of the translation and noting its clarity and simplicity.{{sfn|Padwick|1925|p=285}}

At this time, he was seized with fever, and after a temporary recovery, had to seek a change of climate. He set off for [[Istanbul|Constantinople]], where he intended to return to England to regain his strength and recruit help for the missions in India.<ref name="DNB" /> On 12 September 1812, he started with two [[Armenia]]n servants and crossed the [[Aras River]]. Urged on from place to place by their [[Tatars|Tatar]] guide, they rode from Tabriz to [[Yerevan|Erivan]], from Erivan to [[Kars]], and from Kars to [[Erzurum]]. They departed Erzurum and though the plague was raging at [[Tokat]], he was forced to stop there, unable to continue. He wrote his final journal entry on 6 October.<ref>{{harvnb|Wilberforce|1837|p=}}</ref> It read, in part:

{{quote|Oh! when shall time give place to eternity? When shall appear that new heaven and new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness? There, there shall in no wise enter in any thing that defileth: none of that wickedness which has made men worse than wild beasts, none of those corruptions which add still more to the miseries of mortality, shall be seen or heard of any more.|source={{harvnb|Wilberforce|1837|p=}}}}

On 16 October 1812 he died and was given a [[Christian burial]] by [[Armenian Apostolic Church|Armenian clergy]].{{sfn|Cross|Livingstone|1997|p=1046}}

==Legacy==
His devotion to his tasks won him much admiration in Great Britain and he was the hero of a number of literary publications.{{sfn|Cross|Livingstone|1997|p=1046}} [[Thomas Babington Macaulay, 1st Baron Macaulay|Thomas Babington Macaulay]]'s ''Epitaph'', composed early in 1813, testified to the impression made by his career:<ref>
{{Cite book
| last = Otto Trevelyan
| first = G
| title = The Life and Letters of Lord Macaulay, Volume II
| publisher = Creative Media Partners, LLC, 2015
| year = 2015
| isbn = 9781297321580
}} </ref>
{{quote|
<poem>
Here Martyn lies. In Manhood's early bloom
The Christian Hero finds a Pagan tomb.
Religion, sorrowing o'er her favourite son,
Points to the glorious trophies that he won.
Eternal trophies! not with carnage red,
Not stained with tears by hapless captives shed,
But trophies of the Cross! for that dear name,
Through every form of danger, death, and shame,
Onward he journeyed to a happier shore,
Where danger, death, and shame assault no more.
</poem>}}

An institution was established in his name in India, called the Henry Martyn Institute: An Interfaith Centre for Reconciliation and Research, Hyderabad, India. [[John McManners]] wrote in his ''Oxford Illustrated History of Christianity'' that Martyn was a man remembered for his courage, selflessness and his religious devotion.{{sfn|McManners|2001|p=457}} Henry Martyn is honoured in the [[Calendar of saints (Church of England)|Church of England]] and in the [[Calendar of saints (Episcopal Church)|Episcopal Church]] on [[October 19|19 October]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Calendar|url=https://www.churchofengland.org/prayer-and-worship/worship-texts-and-resources/common-worship/churchs-year/calendar|access-date=2021-03-27|website=The Church of England|language=en}}</ref>{{sfn|Cross|Livingstone|1997|p=1046}}<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bEq7DwAAQBAJ |title=Lesser Feasts and Fasts 2018 |date=2019-12-17 |publisher=Church Publishing, Inc. |isbn=978-1-64065-235-4 |language=en}}</ref>

In 1881, on the centennial of Martyn's birth, a trust was created in his name for the purpose of constructing a hall for a library and a place for public lecture on missions. The Henry Martyn Library opened in the Hall in 1898, and there it remained as a small collection of missionary biographies and other books until 1995. The evolution of the Henry Martyn Library into the present Henry Martyn Centre began in 1992, when Canon Graham Kings was appointed as the first Henry Martyn Lecturer in Missiology in the Cambridge Theological Federation.{{sfn|Cameron|2019|p=44}} In 2014 the Henry Martyn Centre was renamed the [[Cambridge Centre for Christianity Worldwide]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Henry Martyn Trust |url=https://www.cccw.cam.ac.uk/about-us/henry-martyn-trust/ |access-date=2026-03-13 |website=Cambridge Centre for Christianity Worldwide |language=en}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Christianity|Saints|Cornwall}}
*[[Cambridge Centre for Christianity Worldwide]]
*[[Henry Martyn Hall, Cambridge]], built 1887
*[[Saints in Anglicanism]]
*[[Church Missionary Society in India]]
*[[List of Protestant missionaries in India]]
*[[John Gilchrist (linguist)]]
*[[James Hawkes (missionary)]]
* [[Constance E. Padwick]] (biographer)

==References==
===Citations===
{{Reflist|refs=
<ref name="ACAD">{{acad|id=MRTN797H|name=Martyn, Henry}}</ref>
<ref name="DNB">{{cite DNB|wstitle=Martyn, Henry|volume=36}}</ref>
<ref name="EB1911">{{cite EB1911|wstitle=Martyn, Henry|volume=17|page=804}}</ref>
}}

===Sources===
{{refbegin|indent=yes}}
*{{Cite book|last=Cameron|first=J. E. M.|title=Charles Simeon of Cambridge: Silhouettes and Skeletons|publisher=Wipf & Stock|year=2019|location=Eugene, OR|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VfCaDwAAQBAJ|isbn=9781532663536}}
*{{cite book |editor1-first=F. L. |editor1-last=Cross |editor2-first=E. A. |editor2-last=Livingstone | title =The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church |edition=3rd | publisher =Oxford University Press | date =1997 | location =USA | url =https://archive.org/details/oxforddictionary00late/page/1046 | isbn =019211655X | url-access =registration }}
*{{cite book|last=Hughes|first=Philip Edgcumbe |title=No cross, no crown|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TXpnbikqeqQC&pg=PA75|year=1988|publisher=Morehouse-Barlow|isbn=978-0-8192-1423-2}}
*{{cite book|last=McManners|first=John |title=The Oxford Illustrated History of Christianity|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DhpKxQT8n74C&pg=PA457|year=2001|publisher=University Press|location=Oxford|isbn=978-0-19-285439-1}}
*{{cite book|last=Padwick|first=Constance E. |title=Henry Martyn: Confessor of the Faith|url={{google books|id=Eqk0AQAAIAAJ|keywords=unremitted exertions|plainurl=yes}}|year=1925|publisher=Student Christian Movement}}
*{{cite book|date=1837|editor-last=Wilberforce|editor-first= Samuel|url=http://justus.anglican.org/resources/pc/india/martyn/journal.html |title=Journal and Letters of the Rev. Henry Martyn B.D.|location= London|publisher= Seeley and Burnside}}
{{refend}}

===Further reading===
{{refbegin|indent=yes}}
*{{cite book|editor-last=Ayler|editor-first= Scott D. |title=The Letters of Henry Martyn, East India Company Chaplain|publisher=Boydell Press|location= Woodbridge |date=2019}}
*Bentley-Taylor, David. ''My Love Must Wait: the Story of Henry Martyn'', Downers Grove: IVP (1975).
*Henry, B. V. ''Forsaking All for Christ: A Biography of Henry Martyn'' London: Chapter Two, 2003.
*[[John Sargent (priest)|Sargent, John]]. ''Memoir of the Rev. Henry Martyn B. D.'', London: Hatchard (1816). Links to editions from [https://books.google.com/books?id=msEEAAAAYAAJ 1820] and [https://books.google.com/books?id=vsAEAAAAYAAJ 1844]
*Kellsye M. Finnie, ''Beyond the Minarets: A Biography of Henry Martyn'' Bromley: STL Books, 1988
*Smith, George. [https://archive.org/details/henrymartynfirs00smitgoog  ''Henry Martyn, Saint and Scholar''], London: Religious Tract Society (1892).
*Isaac, Peter. ''A history of Evangelical Christianity in Cornwall'', Privately published; Polperro, Cornwall (1999) – contains a chapter about Martyn, who was born in [[Cornwall]].
{{refend}}

==External links==
* [http://www.hmiindia.org Henry Martyn Institute of India]
* [http://www.martynmission.cam.ac.uk Henry Martyn Centre]
* [http://www.lcms.org/ca/www/cyclopedia/02/display.asp?t1=m&word=MARTYN.HENRY Martyn, Henry] in the Christian Cyclopedia
* [[s:The missionaries - Martyn, Huc, Livingstone, Selwyn|The missionaries - Martyn, Huc, Livingstone, Selwyn]] - ''[[Once a Week (magazine)|Once a Week]]''.
{{Protestant missions to India}}
{{Christianity in Iran}}
{{good article}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Martyn, Henry}}
[[Category:1781 births]]
[[Category:1812 deaths]]
[[Category:19th-century Christian saints]]
[[Category:19th-century English Anglican priests]]
[[Category:19th-century evangelicals]]
[[Category:Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge]]
[[Category:Anglican missionaries in India]]
[[Category:Anglican missionaries in Iran]]
[[Category:British missionaries in Iran]]
[[Category:Anglican saints]]
[[Category:Christian missionaries from Cornwall]]
[[Category:English Anglican missionaries]]
[[Category:English evangelicals]]
[[Category:English expatriates in Iran]]
[[Category:Evangelical Anglicans]]
[[Category:Evangelical missionaries]]
[[Category:Fellows of St John's College, Cambridge]]
[[Category:British missionary linguists]]
[[Category:People educated at Truro Cathedral School]]
[[Category:People from Truro]]
[[Category:Senior Wranglers]]
[[Category:Translators of the Bible into Persian]]
[[Category:Translators of the Bible into Urdu]]
[[Category:British missionaries in India]]

Henry Martyn - Revision history

KingsCharts at 11:30, 27 March 2026