Thomas Burchell 

Thomas Burchell (1799-1846) was converted in the Baptist church at Nailsworth in 1816. After his marriage in 1822 and completion of his studies at Bristol Academy, he sailed for Jamaica, settling at Montego Bay early in 1824. Ill health forced his return to England in 1826, at which time he made known his views on slavery in a public letter. When he returned to Jamaica in 1827 he was sent to court because of the letter. He traveled to England for a short visit in 1831, but returned to Jamaica during the middle of the slave revolt in early 1832. He was arrested, but escaped to England, still advocating abolition. He returned once again to Jamaica in 1834 and continued to be an important leader for the BMS. Numerous references to Burchell appear in F. A. Cox, History of the Baptist Missionary Society, from 1792 to 1842, 2 vols. (London: T. Ward, and G. and J. Dyer, 1842), vol. 2, and in John Clarke, Memorials of the Baptist Missionaries in Jamaica (London: Yates and Alexander, 1869); see also Gordon A. Catherall, “Thomas Burchell, Gentle Rebel,” Baptist Quarterly 21 (1965-1966), 349-363; and Catherine Hall, Civilizing Subjects, Metropole and Colony in English Imagination, 1830-1867 (Cambridge UK: Polity, 2002), 84-209,