Ebenezer Daniel

Ebenezer Daniel (1784-1844) joined the Baptist church at Burford, Oxfordshire, when he was seventeen. After studying at the Bristol Academy, he ministered to Baptist congregations in Brixham (1808-1812) and Luton (1812-1830) before seeking appointment as a BMS missionary to Ceylon, replacing James Chater. Daniel and his family left England in May 1830; during the next fourteen years he would be the driving force behind the Cingalese Baptist Mission. His wife died on her return to England in 1838. After her death, Daniel was aided by two new BMS missionaries, Joseph Harris and C C. Dawson. In his last years he helped establish a missionary academy at Colombo. He died in Ceylon on 2 June 1844. Shortly before his death, he published a small volume titled Reminiscences of Two Years’ Missionary Labours in the Jungles of Ceylon, a portion of which appeared in the Baptist Magazine 35 (1843), 491-496; 545-550. See W. H. Carey, ed., Oriental Christian Biography, Containing Biographical Sketches of Distinguished Christians who have Lived and Died in the East, 3 vols. (Calcutta: J. Thomas, Baptist Mission House, 1852), 3:289-293.