Hannah Marshman

Hannah Marshman (13 May 1767 – 5 March 1847) was an English missionary who founded a school at Serampore, India. She was the daughter of John Shepherd, a farmer, and his wife Rachel, and the granddaughter of John Clark, pastor of the Baptist church at Crockerton, Wiltshire. Her mother died when she was eight. In 1791 Hannah Shepherd married Joshua Marshman. In 1794, the couple moved from Westbury Leigh in Wiltshire to Bristol, where they joined the Broadmead Baptist Church. The couple were to eventually have 12 children; of these only five were alive when Hannah Marshman died. Hannah Marshman is considered to be the first woman missionary in India. Missionary work On 29 May 1799, Hannah, Joshua and their two children set out from Portsmouth for India, aboard the ship Criterion. Although there was a threat of a French naval attack, the family landed safely at the Danish settlement of Serampore (a few miles north of Calcutta) on 13 October 1799. They had chosen to land here because the East India Company was at that time hostile to missionaries. They settled in the Danish colony and were joined there by William Carey on 10 January 1800.