Introduction: Mr Christian David of Mylaudy was one of the remarkable personalities of Kanyakumri district has ever produced and definitely he was also one of the unsung heroes of our District. Like the Christian Poets Mr John Palmer and Devavaram Biddulph , Mr Christian David was also a brilliant student of Rev Charles Mead at the famous Central L.M.S Seminary, Nagercoil. In July 1854 Mr Charles Mead did quit Neyyoor on account of his historical and sensitive third marriage with Lois Biddulph of Mylaudy, and lived at Mandakadu for sometime and then he was invited by his friend General Cullen the British Resident, Travancore State and the Travancore Government to Trivanddrum . So Charles Mead moved to Trivandrum with this family in 1855, and there he was made as the Superintendent of the Government Press.. General Cullen transferred the Church of England Chaplaincy School to the management of Mr Charles Mead. and it is pertinent to remember here that the Chaplaincy School was a Brain Child of Mr Christian David of Mylaudy.
Christian David's Birth and Family Background: Mr. Christian David was born at Mylaudy during the early decades of 19th century ,in the family of the great Mylaudy Maharasan Vethamnickm and Mr. Christain David was one of the cousins of the great Christian Poet Mr John Palmer of Mylaudy.
Christian David Was a First Batch Student in Nagercoil Central LMS Seminary:
Rev Charles Mead started his Central Seminary at Nagercoil in 1818 , and he selected 10 smart and intelligent youths from Mylaudy and its neighboring villages and brought them with him to the Nagercoil Central LMS Seminary established by him. The first batch of students selected from among the youths of Mylaudy were: Devavaram , Moses , Christian David and three others.and also Mr.Munro [from Kurichi], Perinbanaygam [Kovilvilai], Satthianathan and Sivasoobramanian [Kottar] and a few others. Among this first batch of students more than half were from Mylaudy. After successfully having completed his studies at the Nagearcoil LMS Seminary, Mr Christian David worked as a Teacher in the LMS Central Seminary, Nagercoil, for a few years and afterwards he was sent to Trivandrum as Tamil Munshi to Col. Campbell of the British Nayar Regiment.
Mr. Christian David and Government Press at Trivandrum The LMS Press at Nagercoil was started by Rev Charles Mead in 1820 at Nagercoil and that was the first Printing Press in the whole of Travancore State and one of the oldest Press in South India. The then ruler of Travancore state, Maharaja Swathi Thirunal during his visit to Nagercoil ,was highly impressed by the LMS Printing Press at Nagercoil, an so he took necessary steps to establish a Printing Press at Trivandrum. In 1838 the Government of Travancore established a Printing Press at Trivandrum under Mr. Samathanam Maistry of Mylaudy ,who was one of the first batch of workers trained in the Nagercoil LMS Printing Press. Now the Government Printng Press at Trivandum is called Government Central Press. The Government Press at Trivandrum was started with the help of material and workers from London Mission Society's [LMS] Printing Press,Nagercoil . Mr. Christian David worked as a English Clerk in the Government Printing Press , Trivandrum..
Tamil Christian Population At Trivandrum : The Tamil Christians who moved to Trivandrum on account of their jobs at the Government Press and other Government offices and the people who worked in the houses of British officers, British Missionaries and some others formed the Tamil Christian population at Trivandrum . And these Tamil Christians were in need of a Church to worship and conduct Christian divine services . Mr Mead after having shifted to Trivandrum called a number of Christian families from the South [Kanyakumari District] and gave them work in the various government establishments under him.
The Formationof the Trivandrum native[Tamil} Congregation of the Church of England:
According to the great Church Historian Mr. C. M . Agur ,it was in 1837 that the Tamil or the Native Congregation of the members of the Church of England was formed at Trivandrum.. When the Printing Press was started at Trivandrum at the initiative of the then Maharja of Travancore , the workers of the LMS Printing Press from Nagercoil were brought from Kanyakumaari district to Trivandrum and most of those Printing Press workers were Christians. Moreover almost all the domestic servants of the European officials who were residing at Trivandrum were Tamil Christians. But these native Tamil Christian were not organized and there was no particular place to worship God. In this situation A well educated and respectable Native Member of the Church of England by name Mr Christian David who was working as English Clerk at the Government Printing Press, collected and organized all the scattered native Tamil Christians together and began to conduct regular Christian meetings for divine service in his own home at Trivandrum. Then Mr Christian David was working as Tamil Mushi to Capt.R. N. Campbell; and at that time Captain Campbell was working as Commandant Nayar Brigade. It was Col R.N. Campbell who brought the name Mr. Christian David to the kind attention and knowledge of the Chaplain Mr. Shortland and the then British Resident Col Frazer. Col Frazer and his brother-in-law Lieut. Stephenson were deeply and greatly interested in the affairs of the Native Christian Congregation. Mr Christian David was authorized by the British resident Col. Frazer to conduct Divine service [Worship service] on Sundays in the old Church[Cantonment Church] .Since then Worship Services were regularly conducted in the Tamil Language on every Sunday and the Chaplains when they paid monthly visits to the out-stations of Trivandrum, administered the Holy Sacraments of the Lord's Supper to the native Church congregation together with the English Congregation.
Establishment of a Preliminary English School at Trivandrum[Chaplaincy school] for Tamil Christians by the suggestion of Christian David: Mr Christian David was a great educationist and man of vision. At the suggestion of Mr Christian David the then Chaplain Revd. Rowlandson opened a Preliminary English School attached to the Chaplaincy and appointed Mr Christian David as School Master to conduct the Chaplaincy School in addition to his other duties as Church Clerk.. The Chaplaincy School at Cantonment, Trivandrum started by the idea of Mr Christian David thrived and progressed with the aid and help of the British Resident General Cullen and other Gentlemen. And quickly this Chaplaincy School progressed as an important educational institution and was the feeding School to H.H. Maharaja's free School [ Mr. Roberts the Headmaster of Nagercoil LMS Seminary started the free School at Trivandrum at the invitation of the Maharaja of Trvancore and later it was taken by the Government and this Free School developed into Maharaja's College and today it called as University College, Trivandrum]. At first the Chaplaincy School was under the management of the successive British Chaplains and for sometime under the inspection of the Revd Charles Mead, as the School progressed Mr Charles Mead appointed Mr . John Palmer as an Assistant Master in 1856.
BY P. BABU MANOHARAN, M.A, [Rights reserved, This Article will be altered or modified if needed later . Part Final will follow soon].
Christian David's Birth and Family Background: Mr. Christian David was born at Mylaudy during the early decades of 19th century ,in the family of the great Mylaudy Maharasan Vethamnickm and Mr. Christain David was one of the cousins of the great Christian Poet Mr John Palmer of Mylaudy.
Christian David Was a First Batch Student in Nagercoil Central LMS Seminary:
Rev Charles Mead started his Central Seminary at Nagercoil in 1818 , and he selected 10 smart and intelligent youths from Mylaudy and its neighboring villages and brought them with him to the Nagercoil Central LMS Seminary established by him. The first batch of students selected from among the youths of Mylaudy were: Devavaram , Moses , Christian David and three others.and also Mr.Munro [from Kurichi], Perinbanaygam [Kovilvilai], Satthianathan and Sivasoobramanian [Kottar] and a few others. Among this first batch of students more than half were from Mylaudy. After successfully having completed his studies at the Nagearcoil LMS Seminary, Mr Christian David worked as a Teacher in the LMS Central Seminary, Nagercoil, for a few years and afterwards he was sent to Trivandrum as Tamil Munshi to Col. Campbell of the British Nayar Regiment.
Tamil Christian Population At Trivandrum : The Tamil Christians who moved to Trivandrum on account of their jobs at the Government Press and other Government offices and the people who worked in the houses of British officers, British Missionaries and some others formed the Tamil Christian population at Trivandrum . And these Tamil Christians were in need of a Church to worship and conduct Christian divine services . Mr Mead after having shifted to Trivandrum called a number of Christian families from the South [Kanyakumari District] and gave them work in the various government establishments under him.
The Formationof the Trivandrum native[Tamil} Congregation of the Church of England:
According to the great Church Historian Mr. C. M . Agur ,it was in 1837 that the Tamil or the Native Congregation of the members of the Church of England was formed at Trivandrum.. When the Printing Press was started at Trivandrum at the initiative of the then Maharja of Travancore , the workers of the LMS Printing Press from Nagercoil were brought from Kanyakumaari district to Trivandrum and most of those Printing Press workers were Christians. Moreover almost all the domestic servants of the European officials who were residing at Trivandrum were Tamil Christians. But these native Tamil Christian were not organized and there was no particular place to worship God. In this situation A well educated and respectable Native Member of the Church of England by name Mr Christian David who was working as English Clerk at the Government Printing Press, collected and organized all the scattered native Tamil Christians together and began to conduct regular Christian meetings for divine service in his own home at Trivandrum. Then Mr Christian David was working as Tamil Mushi to Capt.R. N. Campbell; and at that time Captain Campbell was working as Commandant Nayar Brigade. It was Col R.N. Campbell who brought the name Mr. Christian David to the kind attention and knowledge of the Chaplain Mr. Shortland and the then British Resident Col Frazer. Col Frazer and his brother-in-law Lieut. Stephenson were deeply and greatly interested in the affairs of the Native Christian Congregation. Mr Christian David was authorized by the British resident Col. Frazer to conduct Divine service [Worship service] on Sundays in the old Church[Cantonment Church] .Since then Worship Services were regularly conducted in the Tamil Language on every Sunday and the Chaplains when they paid monthly visits to the out-stations of Trivandrum, administered the Holy Sacraments of the Lord's Supper to the native Church congregation together with the English Congregation.
Establishment of a Preliminary English School at Trivandrum[Chaplaincy school] for Tamil Christians by the suggestion of Christian David: Mr Christian David was a great educationist and man of vision. At the suggestion of Mr Christian David the then Chaplain Revd. Rowlandson opened a Preliminary English School attached to the Chaplaincy and appointed Mr Christian David as School Master to conduct the Chaplaincy School in addition to his other duties as Church Clerk.. The Chaplaincy School at Cantonment, Trivandrum started by the idea of Mr Christian David thrived and progressed with the aid and help of the British Resident General Cullen and other Gentlemen. And quickly this Chaplaincy School progressed as an important educational institution and was the feeding School to H.H. Maharaja's free School [ Mr. Roberts the Headmaster of Nagercoil LMS Seminary started the free School at Trivandrum at the invitation of the Maharaja of Trvancore and later it was taken by the Government and this Free School developed into Maharaja's College and today it called as University College, Trivandrum]. At first the Chaplaincy School was under the management of the successive British Chaplains and for sometime under the inspection of the Revd Charles Mead, as the School progressed Mr Charles Mead appointed Mr . John Palmer as an Assistant Master in 1856.
BY P. BABU MANOHARAN, M.A, [Rights reserved, This Article will be altered or modified if needed later . Part Final will follow soon].
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