Thomas Bevan (c.1796 – 31 January 1819) was, with fellow Welshman David Jones, the first Christian missionaries to

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

, sent by the

London Missionary Society The London Missionary Society was an interdenominational evangelical missionary society formed in England in 1795 at the instigation of Welsh Congregationalist minister Edward Williams. It was largely Reformed in outlook, with Congregational miss ...

.Gerald H. Anderson, ''Biographical Dictionary of Christian Missions'', Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1999. p.336 ,

Life and work

Bevan was born in the neighbourhood of Neuaddlwyd,

Cardiganshire Ceredigion ( , , ) is a county in the west of Wales, corresponding to the historic county of Cardiganshire. During the second half of the first millennium Ceredigion was a minor kingdom. It has been administered as a county since 1282. Cere ...

, about 1796. He came from a religious home, and at the age of 8, he was already a reader of the

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...

. He experienced conversion near Nantgwynfynydd farm and on 19 November 1810, became a church member at Neuaddlwyd. There, the minister Thomas Phillips (1772–1842) encouraged him to begin preaching. He then went to Phillips's school at Pen-y-banc, and later to colleges at Newtown and, with Jones, at

Gosport Gosport ( ) is a town and non-metropolitan borough on the south coast of Hampshire, South East England. At the 2011 Census, its population was 82,662. Gosport is situated on a peninsula on the western side of Portsmouth Harbour, opposite t ...

. It was decided that he should go to Madagascar. He was ordained at Neuaddlwyd, 20–1 August 1817, and married Mary Jones (née Jacob) of Pen-yr-allt Wen in the same district. Bevan and Jones, with their families, sailed for Madagascar on 9 February, arriving in

Mauritius Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label=Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It incl ...

on 3 July 1818. Five weeks later, they embarked again, and landed at

Tamatave Toamasina (), meaning "like salt" or "salty", unofficially and in French Tamatave, is the capital of the Atsinanana region on the east coast of Madagascar on the Indian Ocean. The city is the chief seaport of the country, situated northeast of it ...

, Madagascar, on 18 August 1818. Here they started a school with ten children. Bevan returned to Mauritius to fetch his family, returning on 6 January 1819. Their own child died on 20 January, Bevan himself died on 31 January, and his wife died on 3 February 1819. They are buried in Tamatave cemetery.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bevan, Thomas 1796 births 1819 deaths Welsh Protestant missionaries Protestant missionaries in Madagascar British expatriates in Madagascar