Thomas Birch Freeman

The Reverend
Thomas Birch Freeman
Thomas Birch Freeman, 1840s
Born(1809-12-06)6 December 1809
Twyford, Hampshire, England
Died12 August 1890(1890-08-12) (aged 80)
Accra, Gold Coast
NationalityBritish
Occupations
Spouses
  • Elizabeth Booth
    ​
    ​
    (m. 1837; died 1838)​
  • Lucinda Cowan
    ​
    ​
    (m. 1840; died 1841)​
  • Rebecca Morgan
    ​
    (m. 1854)​
Children4
Parents
  • Thomas Freeman (father)
  • Amy Birch (mother)
ChurchWesleyan Methodist Missionary Society
Ordained

Thomas Birch Freeman (6 December 1809 in Twyford, Hampshire – 12 August 1890 in Accra) was an Anglo-African Wesleyan minister, missionary, botanist and colonial official in West Africa.[1][2][3][4] He is widely regarded as a pioneer of the Methodist Church in colonial West Africa, where he also established multiple schools.[5][6][7][8] Some scholars view him as the "Founder of Ghana Methodism".[9][10] Freeman's missionary activities took him to Dahomey, now Benin, as well as to Western Nigeria.[3][11]

  1. ^ Walls, Andrew F. "Freeman, Thomas Birch (1809-1890)". History of Missiology. Boston University, School of Theology. Archived from the original on 30 November 2017. Retrieved 7 June 2018.
  2. ^ Walls, Andrew F. "Thomas Birch Freeman 1809-1890". Dictionary of African Christian Biography. Archived from the original on 7 June 2018. Retrieved 7 June 2018.
  3. ^ a b Milum, John (1893). Thomas Birch Freeman : missionary pioneer to Ashanti, Dahomey, and Egba. Robarts - University of Toronto. New York: F.H. Revell Co. Archived from the original on 22 November 2018. Retrieved 19 June 2018.
  4. ^ "Freeman, Thomas Birch". Dictionary of African Christian Biography Online. Archived from the original on 22 November 2018.
  5. ^ Anderson, Gerald H. (1999). Biographical Dictionary of Christian Missions. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. ISBN 9780802846808. Archived from the original on 22 November 2018. Retrieved 22 November 2018.
  6. ^ Ansah, David (2014). Time Series Analysis of Enrolment of Pupils in Public Second Cycle Schools in the Assin South District (PDF). Kumasi: KNUST: College of Science, Department of Mathematics. p. 21. Archived (PDF) from the original on 22 November 2018. Retrieved 22 November 2018.
  7. ^ Anderson, Gerald H. Biographical Dictionary of Christian Missions, © 1998. Grand Rapids, Michigan: W. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. By permission of Macmillan Reference USA, New York, NY.
  8. ^ Igwe, E. (June 1963). "Thomas Birch Freeman: Pioneer Methodist Mission to Nigeria". Nigeria Magazine. 77: 79–89.
  9. ^ Essamuah, Casely B. (2004). Ghanaian Appropriation of Wesleyan Theology in Mission 1961-2000. Methodist Missionary Society History Project. November 25-26, 2003. Salisbury, United Kingdom.: Sarum College.
  10. ^ Eagle Omnibus (1947). Number Six: [A collection of short biographies of Joseph Hardy Neesima, Alexander Mackay, Thomas Birch Freeman, Robert Hockman, William Brett, and Kwegyir Aggrey]. London: Cargate Press.
  11. ^ Omoyajowo, J. Akinyele (1995). Makers of the Church in Nigeria. Lagos, Nigeria: CSS Bookshops Ltd. Pub. Unit.