| Administrative History | Henry Townsend (1815-1886) was accepted as a CMS missionary in 1836 and served the Society for nearly 40 years. He initially went to Sierra Leone but in 1843 he was transferred to the Yoruba mission which he was responsible for founding and from 1846 he was stationed at Abeokuta until 1867 when the missionaries were expelled. He retired in 1876. He wrote several hymns in Yoruba, compiled and printed the first hymn book in Yoruba, compiled the Yoruba primer and edited and printed the Iwe Irohin in English and Yoruba, a fortnightly publication.
Reference: Register of missionaries (clerical, lay & female) and native clergy from 1804 to 1904 (Church Missionary Society, 1905) |
| Custodial History | Presented to the CMS by R. Wilfred Townsend, 1955; transferred on permanent loan to the Special Collections Department by the CMS in the 1980s |
| Publication Note | Townsend's brother, George, published a memoir compiled from his journals and other papers under the title: Memoir of the Rev. Henry Townsend, late C.M.S. Missionary, Abeokuta, West Africa with a preface by Eugene Stock, (1887) A photocopy of this publication is available in the University's Main Library, BV 3625.S5T6 |