Henry Townsend (missionary)

Henry Townsend (1815-1886) was an Anglican missionary in Nigeria. He was ordained in 1842 and he then set off for Sierra Leone. After working there for only a few months he was transferred to the Yoruba Mission.

He celebrated Christmas Day, 1843, in Badagry sharing the Gospel with Thomas Birch Freeman in who was the first European to enter Abeokuta.

From 1846-67 -twenty- one years - he based his mission in Abeokuta, Nigeria.

Working with Samuel Crowther, a Yoruba Anglican priest, He wrote several hymns in Yoruba and helped in the compilation of Crowther’s Yoruba primer.

In 1858 he published a Yoruba newspaper - it was the first bilingual paper in Nigeria. Paper finished in 1866 but is said to have stated off the print media in Nigeria.

From 1971-2 Henry and his wife were co-principals of CMS Female Institution Lagos, Nigeria.

Henry retired in 1876. He died 10 years later in 1886.