28 Facts About William Knibb

1.

William Knibb, OM was an English Baptist minister and missionary to Jamaica.

2.

William Knibb is chiefly known today for his work to free enslaved Africans.

3.

William Knibb was the first white male to receive the country's highest civil honour.

4.

William Knibb's father was a tradesman, Thomas Knibb, and his mother, Mary was active in the local independent church.

5.

William Knibb was their fifth child, along with his sister, Ann.

6.

When Thomas died at 24, William Knibb volunteered to replace him.

7.

The newly-weds sailed to Jamaica on 5 November 1824, when William Knibb was aged only 21.

8.

William Knibb found six English Baptist missionaries, African-Caribbean Baptist deacons, and thriving congregations already in Jamaica when he arrived.

9.

William Knibb began work as the schoolmaster of the Baptist mission school in Kingston and worked closely with fellow missionaries Thomas Burchell and James Phillippo, who formed a trio.

10.

William Knibb sided with the slaves and the cause of emancipation.

11.

When Sam Swiney, a black slave, was unjustly accused of a minor offence, William Knibb spoke for him in court.

12.

William Knibb's account reached the Secretary of State in London, who eventually dismissed from office the two responsible magistrates.

13.

Not long afterwards the church in Falmouth needed a minister and William Knibb's name was put forward.

14.

The missionary who chaired the meeting recorded that when he proposed William Knibb should be their new minister and asked for a show of hands, the entire membership stood up, held up both hands, and wept.

15.

William Knibb himself was placed under armed guard and only obtained bail through the intervention of two prominent colonialists.

16.

The planters plotted to murder him, but the plot became known and William Knibb's family found refuge with one of the leading islanders.

17.

William Knibb told the truth about the good work being done by the nonconformist churches in Jamaica, and about the treatment of the enslaved population.

18.

William Knibb was summoned to appear before committees of both Houses of Parliament that had been convened to investigate the state of the West Indian colonies.

19.

William Knibb did what he could, but was hampered by a lack of teachers.

20.

William Knibb helped to raise money to purchase thousands of acres of land, to enable 19,000 former slaves to own their own property.

21.

William Knibb recalled that "in those seven years, through the labour of about twenty [Baptist] missionaries, 22,000 people were baptised upon their profession of faith in Jesus Christ".

22.

William Knibb personally baptised 6,000 converts, and translated the Bible into Creole, the native language of the slaves.

23.

William Knibb had already encouraged his congregation in Jamaica to take unilateral action and free any of their unpaid staff.

24.

William Knibb had brought with him to England two deacons from Jamaica named Edward Barrett and Henry Beckford.

25.

William Knibb was personally associated with the founding of 35 churches, 24 missions, and 16 schools.

26.

William Knibb bought land in 1845 which he used to create the village of Granville, Jamaica that was named after Granville Sharp.

27.

William Knibb died of fever in Jamaica on 15 November 1845, aged 42, and was buried at his Baptist Falmouth Chapel, the service attracting eight thousand African islanders.

28.

In 1988, the 150th anniversary of the abolition of slavery in the British Empire, William Knibb was posthumously awarded the Jamaican Order of Merit; the first white man to receive the country's highest civil honour.