George Percy Badger (April 6 1815–February 21 1888) was an English

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Tho ...

, and a scholar of

oriental studies Oriental studies is the academic field that studies Near Eastern and Far Eastern societies and cultures, languages, peoples, history and archaeology. In recent years, the subject has often been turned into the newer terms of Middle Eastern studi ...

. He is mainly known for his doctrinal and historical studies about the

Church of the East The Church of the East ( syc, ܥܕܬܐ ܕܡܕܢܚܐ, ''ʿĒḏtā d-Maḏenḥā'') or the East Syriac Church, also called the Church of Seleucia-Ctesiphon, the Persian Church, the Assyrian Church, the Babylonian Church or the Nestorian C ...

Life

''George Percy Badger'' was born at

Chelmsford Chelmsford () is a city in the City of Chelmsford district in the county of Essex, England. It is the county town of Essex and one of three cities in the county, along with Southend-on-Sea and Colchester. It is located north-east of London a ...

on 6 April 1815. His father served in the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

and in 1821 his

regiment A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, service and/or a specialisation. In Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of front-line soldiers, recruited or conscripted ...

was transferred in

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

. After his father's death in 1823, George's mother decided to raise her sons in Malta, thus George Badger passed there his youth where he learned the

Maltese language Maltese ( mt, Malti, links=no, also ''L-Ilsien Malti'' or '), is a Semitic language derived from late medieval Sicilian Arabic with Romance superstrata spoken by the Maltese people. It is the national language of Malta and the only offici ...

and

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

, which he studied also in

Beirut Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...

from 1835. On 8 January 1840 Badger married Maria Wilcox in

Valletta Valletta (, mt, il-Belt Valletta, ) is an Local councils of Malta, administrative unit and capital city, capital of Malta. Located on the Malta (island), main island, between Marsamxett Harbour to the west and the Grand Harbour to the east, i ...

. He returned to England in 1841, and after some theological studies at the Church Missionary College,

Islington Islington () is a district in the north of Greater London, England, and part of the London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's High Street to Highbury Fields, encompassing the ar ...

, he was ordained Anglican priest in 1842. For his knowledge of the

Near East The ''Near East''; he, המזרח הקרוב; arc, ܕܢܚܐ ܩܪܒ; fa, خاور نزدیک, Xāvar-e nazdik; tr, Yakın Doğu is a geographical term which roughly encompasses a transcontinental region in Western Asia, that was once the hist ...

he was appointed by the

Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. The current archbishop is Justi ...

as delegate to the Christians of

Mesopotamia Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, or , ) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the F ...

and

Kurdistan Kurdistan ( ku, کوردستان ,Kurdistan ; lit. "land of the Kurds") or Greater Kurdistan is a roughly defined geo-cultural territory in Western Asia wherein the Kurds form a prominent majority population and the Kurdish culture, Kurdish la ...

, and in this work he was engaged for three years. On his return to England in 1845 he was appointed chaplain in

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

. Thence he was transferred to

Aden Aden ( ar, عدن ' Yemeni: ) is a city, and since 2015, the temporary capital of Yemen, near the eastern approach to the Red Sea (the Gulf of Aden), some east of the strait Bab-el-Mandeb. Its population is approximately 800,000 people. ...

, where he chiefly resided during the remainder of his term of service. He served as staff chaplain and Arabic interpreter to the force in the

Anglo-Persian War The Anglo-Persian War or the Anglo-Iranian War () lasted between 1 November 1856 and 4 April 1857, and was fought between the United Kingdom and Iran, which was ruled by the Qajar dynasty. The war had the British oppose an attempt by Iran to ...

. Badger returned to England in 1861, and in the same year again joined

Sir James Outram Lieutenant-General Sir James Outram, 1st Baronet (29 January 1803 – 11 March 1863) was a British general who fought in the Indian Rebellion of 1857. Early life James Outram was the son of Benjamin Outram of Butterley Hall, Butterley, Derbysh ...

in the latter's visit to Egypt. In 1862 he left the service, and devoted himself henceforth mainly to literature. In 1872 he left England serving as secretary and interpreter of

Sir Bartle Frere Sir Henry Bartle Edward Frere, 1st Baronet, (29 March 1815 – 29 May 1884) was a Welsh British colonial administrator. He had a successful career in India, rising to become Governor of Bombay (1862–1867). However, as High Commissioner for ...

in a diplomatic travel in

Zanzibar Zanzibar (; ; ) is an insular semi-autonomous province which united with Tanganyika in 1964 to form the United Republic of Tanzania. It is an archipelago in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of the mainland, and consists of many small islands ...

. In recognition of his various services Badger was, in 1873, created D.C.L. by the

, and Knight of the Crown by King

Victor Emmanuel II of Italy en, Victor Emmanuel Maria Albert Eugene Ferdinand Thomas , house = Savoy , father = Charles Albert of Sardinia , mother = Maria Theresa of Austria , religion = Roman Catholicism , image_size = 252px , succession1 ...

in the same year. Badger helped a Catholic priest from

Diyarbakır Diyarbakır (; ; ; ) is the largest Kurdish-majority city in Turkey. It is the administrative center of Diyarbakır Province. Situated around a high plateau by the banks of the Tigris river on which stands the historic Diyarbakır Fortress, ...

Louis Sabunji Louis Sabunji (1838–1931) was a Catholic priest and political figure who founded and edited various publications, including '' Al Nahla'' (Arabic: The Bee). He was also one of the earliest photographers in Beirut. Early life and education Sabu ...

, to continue his journal, '' Al Nahla'', in London in 1877. Badger died on 21 February 1888, at his residence in London and he was buried in the

Kensal Green Cemetery Kensal Green Cemetery is a cemetery in the Kensal Green area of Queens Park in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in London, England. Inspired by Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris, it was founded by the barrister George Frederic ...

Works

Between the years 1839 and 1883 a large number of books were written by George Percy Badger, most of them dealing with

history and literature, and with his travels. Among these may be mentioned ' (1838),
Nestorians and their Rituals
' (1852),
The Travels of Ludovico Varthema in India and the East, A.d. 1503-8
' (1873) (both these for the

Hakluyt Society The Hakluyt Society is a text publication society, founded in 1846 and based in London, England, which publishes scholarly editions of primary records of historic voyages, travels and other geographical material. In addition to its publishing rol ...

), and an ''English-Arabic Lexicon'' (1881). George Percy Badger translated also a text about

Ibadism The Ibadi movement or Ibadism ( ar, الإباضية, al-Ibāḍiyyah) is a school of Islam. The followers of Ibadism are known as the Ibadis. Ibadism emerged around 60 years after the Islamic prophet Muhammad's death in 632 AD as a moderate sc ...

in 1871: ''History of the Imāms and Seyyids of Omān from A.D. 661-1856'' by Salīl-Ibn- Razīk.Translated from the original Arabic, and edited, with notes, appendices, and an introduction, continuing the history down to 1870. New York: Burt Franklin, n.d. Reprint, 1871. Reprint London: Darf Publishers, 1986. .

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Badger, George Percy 1815 births 1888 deaths English Anglican missionaries 19th-century English Anglican priests Anglican missionaries in Iraq English military chaplains Anglo-Persian War chaplains Burials at Kensal Green Cemetery Ibadi Islam Ibadi studies