12 Books Read in 2022:

1. Singapore Swing, John Malathronas, Summersdale, 2007, 318pp

I read this book as I’d been in Singapore in the past. Quite likeable, but including too many Buddhist myths: 2 stars.

2. Lion and the Unicorn – Gladstone v Disraeli, Richard Aldous, Pimlico, 2007, 368pp

I’ve been to Gladstones Library in North Wales several times, so this was an interesting book to read. It’s hard to work out who came out on top, as these men had both strengths and weaknesses. However, this is a great book and well worth reading: 5 stars.

3. A Field Guide to the British, Sarah Lyall, Quercus, 2008, 277pp

The author is American, and I’d recently read a book by her husband, Robert McCrum, ‘Every Third Thought’, about his stroke in London (very good). However, this book looks at the many differences between the UK and America. Quite interesting: 3 stars.

4. Conclave, Robert Harris, Penguin, 2017, 380pp

This is one of my favourite authors. This book is good, and I enjoyed it very much. It basically looks at ‘power’ in the Catholic Church as the Cardinals choose their next Pope. Definitely worth reading: 4 stars.

5. Prisoners of Geography, Tim Marshall, Elliott and Thompson, 2016, 304pp

An excellent author. I came to read this book quite late, but it is so good. It looks at ten regions and countries around the world, including Russia. I learnt so much from it. Do read it: 5 stars.

6. Crete (Travel), Fisher and Garvey, Rough Guides, 2022, 380pp

7. Crete (Travel), Marco Polo, 2018, 156pp

We visited Crete last year. These are the two books we took with us. Both very good: 4 stars.

8. Operation Mincemeat, Ben Macintyre, Bloomsbury, 2010, 414pp

Another good author – I love what he writes. This book looks at an Allied attempt at fooling the Germans in WW2. Good film too. It’s set in Spain, and apparently it changed the course of the war. Somewhat of an unbelievable plot, but it seemed to work: 4 stars.

9. Power of Geography, Tim Marshall, Elliott and Thompson, 2021, 380pp

More Tim Marshall, and more regions/countries of the world including ‘Space’ as well. Again, I learnt so much from reading this book. Please get one yourself, it’s very good: 5 stars.

10. Crossways, Guy Stagg, Picador, 2018, 416pp

An interesting author, and for Guy, this was a ‘secular’ pilgrimage as he’s a practising non-believer. Guy walked across Europe, through Turkey and he finished in Jerusalem, Israel. I heard him speak recently and enjoyed what he said. I like this book, and he is quite open about all that he saw en-route. A very useful book, and I hope you enjoy a good read too: 4 stars.

11. A303 – Highway to the Sun, Tom Fort, Simon and Schuster, 2019, 355pp

I live in the South-West of England now, and use this road quite frequently. It’s a much better road that the M4. This is an excellent book, and I really enjoyed reading it: 5 stars.

12. Andalucia and Gibraltar (Travel), Noble and Forsyth, Lonely Planet, 1999, 440pp

We visited Spain at the end of last year. This was a helpful book, although it was the first printing: 4 stars.

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Review: The Church in Madras (Rev Frank Penny) 1904-12

‘The Church in Madras’

A 3-volume red hardback set (I.88.1) housed in Gladstone’s Library, Hawarden, Wales.

Written by Rev Frank Penny from 1904. Final volume published in 1912.

Frontispiece: Presented by the Secretary of State for India (1905, Vol 1-2), Presented by the Secretary of State for India in Council (1912, Vol 3).

Vol 1    1640 – 1805     Inc. St Mary’s, Madras, page 81

Vol 2   1805 – 1835     Inc. St Stephen’s, Ooty, page 320

Vol 3    1835 – 1861     Inc. All Saint’s, Coonoor, page 169

It was thrilling to see on page 196, the word ‘should’ written in pencil in the margin by William Gladstone replacing ‘shall’, proving that Gladstone himself read these volumes!

The East India Company (EIC)

The EIC was neutral about Christianity and its work, but their Charter of 1698 (renewed in 1792 by William Wilberforce) required them to employ Chaplains. These, in turn, had to be approved by the Bishop of London and had to be from the Protestant Communion.

However, the EIC officially discouraged and sometimes prevented the work of missionaries and Christian mission. The Royal Danish Mission and the SPCK (mostly Germans) worked in the south of India for the ‘Great principle of the duty of promoting Christian Knowledge’. There was therefore a marked difference between the work of the EIC Chaplains and that of the SPCK missionaries.

Fifteen Churches were built within the bounds of the Madras Presidency by the Company and six or eight more were built privately.

By 1835-61, 41 Churches had been built in India.

See also – Bishop Stephen Neill, ‘The History of Christianity in India’.