John Liggins
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The Reverend John Liggins |
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John B. Liggins
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| Personal details | |
| Born |
May 11, 1829 Nuneaton, Warwickshire, England |
| Died | 8 January 1912 (aged 82) Cape May, New Jersey |
Rev. John Liggins (11 May 1829 – 8 January 1912) was an English-born Episcopalian missionary to China and Japan. The first Protestant missionary and ordained representative of Anglican Communion to reach Japan, together with his seminary classmate Channing Moore Williams, he helped found the Nippon Sei Ko Kai.
Liggins was born in 1829 in Nuneaton, Warwickshire, England. In 1841, following the death of his father, Liggins emigrated to the United States of America, initially residing in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was among 14 people confirmed at Emmanuel Episcopal Church in Philadelphia's then-developing Holmesburg neighborhood by Rt. Rev. Alonzo Potter on April 4, 1848.
In June 1855, Liggins graduated from the Virginia Theological Seminary (VTS) at Alexandria, Virginia, which had sent several missionaries to China to assist VTS graduate bishop William J. Boone after that country opened to foreigners following the First Opium War. Virginia bishop William Meade on July 1, 1855 ordained Liggins as a deacon, together with Williams and other classmates, and soon the Board of Foreign Missions in New York interviewed and accepted both Liggins and Williams as missionaries. In November of the same year they sailed for China around South America, the ship stopping in Rio de Janeiro to repair damage, and Sydney, Australia to reprovision.
The young missionaries arrived in Shanghai on June 28, 1856, and attended Morning Prayer in Chinese the next day (a Sunday) at the Church of Our Saviour, which Boone had established (together with a boarding school). Then they visited the city's other Episcopal Church, Christ Church in the city's Chinese section. Obviously, they needed to learn the local dialect, as well as Mandarin (the main dialect) and the literary language Wen-li--although dictionaries were poor, textbooks unavailable, and most Chinese teachers focused on Confucian classics and memorizing thousands of characters. Bishop Boothe, VTS graduate Cleveland Keith (who had arrived in 1851) and local teachers helped the young missionaries, who studied nine hours daily. Soon, Liggins substituted for the British chaplain, John Hobson, who ministered to foreign sailors and the British settlement at Trinity Church. More seasoned VTS graduates (class of 1845) Rev. Robert Nelson and Rev. Edward Syle allowed the young missionaries to accompany them as they were able. Before Rt. Rev. Boone returned to the United States for health and furlough, he ordained both to the priesthood (on January 11, 1857).
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