Life of James Mursell Phillippo: Missionary in Jamaica

Edward Bean Underhill (1813-1901), the energetic and much-travelled secretary of the Baptist Missionary Society, was active throughout his life in publishing and researching Baptist history. This 1881 biography of his recently-deceased friend James Phillippo (1798-1879) is based on diaries, a manuscript autobiography and papers made available to Underhill by Phillippo’s family. Phillippo devoted over fifty years to Baptist missionary work in Jamaica and was a fierce advocate for the abolition of slavery. He landed in Jamaica in 1823, and developed a strong following, despite being banned from preaching to slaves on several occasions. In the 1830s he helped to establish free villages where newly emancipated (and now homeless) slaves could settle. Underhill’s thorough account of Phillippo’s eventful life focuses specially on the missionary’s hard-won victories over his wealthy and powerful opponents. The book includes a list of the many schools and churches established by Phillippo in Jamaica.