Memorabilia

Memorabilia

This page concerns various remarkable items the Center holds either in material or electronic format. Click on any link below, and for some pictures, you will need to use your browser's scroll bars:

William Carey's Shew-board

This unique placard hung over William Carey's shoe shop in England.

"Carey Receives Memento From William Carey's Home." The Profile 20/2 (Summer 1983):4.

Published in the institution's news magazine, this article celebrates the donation of a brick from the house in which William Carey lived in Leicester, England.

Brass shilling, 1812

Reverse

This coin is a later version of the counterfeit shilling that William Carey encountered while he was an apprentice.

Richard, Marquess of Wellesley, Governor General of Bengal, India, 1797-1805

The obverse side of this medal presents an image of Richard Colley Wellesley (1760-1842), the Governor General of Bengal, India, 1797-1805.

The reverse side of this medal presents an image of the battle at Seringapatam, May 4, 1799. [Photography care of Ian Mahy.]

To view Wellesley's handwriting and signature from 1833, click here.

Another Signature of Richard, Marquess of Wellesley

Baptist Missionary Society's Jubilee Medal

Reverse Side Detail

This 1842 medal commemorates the establishment of the BMS in 1792.

On the obverse side, the top reads, "Baptist Mission Jubilee 1842." The description at the bottom reads, "The House at Kettering in Which the Baptist Missionary Society Was Formed Oct 2nd 1792." To view a color picture of this house, click here.

On the reverse side, the circular statement reads, "Not by might, not by power, but by my Spirit saith the Lord. Zech. c. 4, v. 6." The clockwise portraits are of William Carey, Andrew Fuller, Samuel Pearce, John Sutcliff, and John Ryland.

Baptist Missionary Society, Jubilee, Anti-Slavery Medal, 1842

This 1842 jubilee medal commemorates the establishment of the BMS in 1792. On the obverse side, the circular text reads: “Then Shalt Thou Cause The Trumpet of the Jubilee To Sound & Ye Shall Hallow the Fiftieth Year” Underneath the missionary’s lectern on which a Bible rests, the text reads: “Trans. Into 40 Lang.” The text on the obverse bottom reads: “Baptist Mission Jubilee 1842”

The reverse side of the medal displays a circular text on medal’s edge, which reads: “Expect Great Things from God Attempt Great Things for God”

The centralized text on the reverse side reads: "Baptist Mission Formed Oct^r 2^nd 1792 commenced in e. indies 1793. w. indies 1813. w. africa 1840 stations 157. missionaries 71. teachers & native preachers 127 members upwards of 30,000. scholars about 18,000 scriptures translated into

40 Languages & dialects. copies issued in the year 1841 85,000. slavery abolished aug^t 1^st 1838."

Baptist Missionary Society's Centenary Medal

This 1892 medal commemorates the establishment of the BMS in 1792.

On the obverse side, the top reads "Baptist Missionary Centenary, 1792-1892." At the bottom, the description reads, "The House at Kettering in Which the Baptist Missionary Society Was Formed Oct 2nd 1792." To view a color picture of this house, click here.

On the reverse side, the circular names are "Carey, Fuller, Ward, Marshman." The four circular portraits depict India, Africa, China, and the West Indies. The West Indies portrait includes a reference to "Emancipation."

Baptist Church, Cannon Street, Birmingham, England

Struck in 1837 to commemorate the centenary of Cannon Street Church, the obverse of this medal portrays the facade of the church. Beneath the church is the inscription, "THE FIRST BUILDING ERECTED 1738/ ENLARGED 1763 AND 1780/ PRESENT EDIFICE ERECTED 1806". Around the church building are the words "BAPTIST MEETING HOUSE CANNON STREET BIRMINGHAM/DIMENSIONS 70 FEET BY 45 FEET".

The reverse side of the medal displays in a circle at the edge "THE FIRST PARTICULAR BAPTIST CHURCH IN BIRMINGHAM/ FORMED IN HIGH STREET, AUGUST 24, 1837". The central portion of the reverse reads "THIS MEDAL COMMEMORATES THE FIRST CENTENARY OF THE BAPTIST CHURCH, CANNON St BIRMINGHAM, AUGUST 24, 1837/ NUMBER OF MEMBERS AT THE FORMATION OF THE CHURCH SEVENTEEN. PRESENT NUMBER OF MEMBERS 742./ PASTOR, THE REVd THOMAS SWAN./ DEACONS, OWEN JOHNSON. JAMES ROOM. JAMES C. PERRY. WILLm WILLCOX. JOHN WHITEHOUSE.S[.]HOWELL./ NOT UNTO US, O LORD, NOT UNTO US, BUT UNTO THY NAME GIVE GLORY. PSALM 115. V 1.

William Carey Medal, 1841

This 44mm white medal, by the Birmingham medallist J. Davis, displays Carey wearing a frock coat. The reverse reads around the edge "Expect Great Things from God. Attempt Great Things for God. In the center of the reverse is "Baptist Mission/Formed Octr 2d 1792/Commenced in E. Indies 1793/W. Indies 1813 W. Africa 1840/Stations 157 Missionaries 71/Teachers & Native Preachers 127/Members Upwards of 30,000/Scholars About 18,000/Scriptures Translated into/40 Languages & Dialects/Copies Issued in the /Year 1841 85,000/Slavery Abolished/Augt 1st 1838." The medal has been pierced in order to be worn, retains the original suspension rings, and is in “extremely fine” condition.

Baptist Missionary Society Souvenir Pendant (ca. 1910)

Obverse Detail

Reverse Detail

Baptist Missionary Society, Medical Missionary Donation Box, ca. 1900

1804 British East India Company Coin

Obverse

Reverse

East India Company Coin, 1808

Chartered by the British Crown, the British East India Company's rule in India lasted from 1600 to 1857. The Company established a trading station in Calcutta in 1699, and during the eighteenth century gradually acquired the land of Bengal. During Carey's work in Bengal, he had to seek refuge in the Danish colony of Serampore because of the Company's oppressive authority and policy forbidding the proselytizing of Indian natives.

To view an 1808 coin minted by the Company, click on the links below:

Obverse Detail (the Latin phrase above the date reads, "Ausp: Regis & Senat: Anglia" (under the auspices of the King and Senate of England)

Reverse Detail (Arabic is the language)

Christian VIII – King of Denmark, Coin, 1847

Christian VIII was King of Denmark, 3 December 1839 – 20 January 1848, was the King of Denmark who sold Serampore to the British in 1845. Hannah Marshman, the last survivor of the original missionaries in Serampore, died in 1847 the year in which this coin appeared.

Obverse Detail (CHRISTIANVS VIII | D:G: DANIÆ V: G: REX F.K. ♔ 1843. V.S.)

Reverse Detail (* 1 RIGSBANKDALER * 30 SCHILL COURANT)

Baptist Missionary Society's Bicentennial Anniversary Plate

This 1992 plate commemorates the establishment of the BMS in 1792; to view the Widow Wallis House in detail, click here.

Baptist Missionary Society Sesquicentennial Lectern

The BMS donated a hand carved lectern to Westminster Abbey, Westminster, England, in 1949, commemorating the sesquicentennial of the BMS, which Carey helped to establish. The lectern stands near the High Altar. By kind permission of the Dean and Chapter of Westminster Abbey, the following links provide photograph images of the lectern:

Full Vertical View of Lectern

"Attempt Great Things" 1 "Attempt Great Things" 2

BMS Gift Inscription 1 BMS Gift Inscription 2

William Carey Lectern (VERY LARGE video file) in Westminster Abbey, Westminster, England

(N.B. the official name of this church is The Collegiate Church of St Peter, Westminster)

"Serampore" Transferware Soup Bowl by John Ridgway ca. 1830-1855

Reverse Side Detail

"Serampore" Porcelain Plate by John Ridgway, ca. 1814-1855

Reverse Side Detail

Adoniram Judson Centenary Medal

This 1914 medal commemorates the 1813 arrival of American Baptist missionary Adoniram Judson in Burma.

The obverse side reads "First American Baptist Foreign Missionary" and "Arrived in Burma July 13 1813."