Serampore Printing Office Fire 

Serampore Printing Office Fire – On 11 March 1812 the printing office at the BMS mission at Serampore suffered a devasting fire, with damages of £12,000.  Joshua Marshman sent a printed letter to John Ryland at Bristol, dated 9 September 1812, which was then printed by the BMS and distributed among churches and other BMS supporters throughtout Great Britain. Marshman writes, ‘How it arose we know not. Brother Ward and others think it must have been done by design, and that some Idolater among our servants, turning pale with envy at the sight of the Bible printing in so many languages, contrived this mode of stopping the work. This, however, is mere conjecture. Be strong in the Lord, my dear Brother, he will never forsake the work of his own hands.’ This is quite possibly the same account which Robert Edminson read to his congregation. Damages to the Serampore Mission exceeded £12,000. Offerings were taken and within a few months an amount exceeding the losses was received by the BMS and sent to Carey at Serampore. Baptists were not the only ones who contributed. William Wilberforce, the abolitionist leader in parliament, sent £5 to Ryland, with the promise of another £5 if the subscription drive proved insufficient. For the Marshman letter, see Baptist Magazine 4 (1812), 444-6; see also Wilberforce to Ryland, 2 November 1812, MS., Bristol Baptist College, MS. G97a, f. 4.