Shep's Place Family Tree

William Henry Carey, the eldest son of Jabez and Anne Eliza ‎(née Hilton)‎ Carey, was born on 12th June 1817 at Amboyna ‎(now Ambon, Indonesia)‎ in the Moluccas, known as the Spice Islands. Jabez was a missionary and Superintendent of Schools for the Moluccas. In March 1817 the Dutch William Henry and Charlotte Carey had reclaimed Amboyna from the British and even though Jabez was allowed to stay he was restricted in his preaching and by the following year he had returned to Calcutta with his family. In April 1819 the family went to Ajmeer where Jabez set up a Mission Station and became Superintendent of Schools for Rajputana and stayed there for over ten years. William Carey DD was the grandfather of William Henry and he mentions him in letters to Jabez when he says "kiss little William for me".

William Henry was sent to school in London paid for by Jabez's brother, Jonathan. Years later when William talked about his boyhood he used to recall hearing the Night Watchman in the streets of London call out "Four o"clock in the mornin', and a fine frosty mornin'" as he went on his rounds carrying his huge lantern.

On 16th August 1842, William Henry married Charlotte ‎(née Kauntze)‎, the daughter of Edward and Sarah Ann Kauntze.

Edward Kauntze was born in Hanover and came to Kent in May 1802 when he joined the 11th Light Dragoons. He married Sarah Ann in Guernsey. The family was sailing to India on the Indiaman "Atlas" when Charlotte was born on board ship off the Cape of Good Hope on 29th April 1819. One of Charlotte's brothers, Frederick, died on board before the ship reached Calcutta. Charlotte's mother died in 1821 and Edward married Elizabeth, whose husband had also recently died. When Charlotte was only three years old both her father and step-mother died in 1822 at Meerut.

William Henry and Charlotte had seven children, Sophia born in Calcutta, Charlotte, Anne, William, Ernest, Mary, and George. The four youngest children were born in Delhi. George died in infancy and was buried at Allahabad. William Henry started work at the Baptist Mission Press in Calcutta. Then, in the early 1850s, he travelled on one of the first trains run by the East India Company to work in Allahabad. He also worked in Lahore. In the 1860s William Henry and his family moved to Simla ‎(now known as Shimla)‎ where he became a very well known person. He wrote numerous books and newspaper articles and he wrote a guide to Simla. He was an editor of the "Times of India" and started the first Simla weekly newspaper, "The Simla Argus". He was also Superintendent for the Adjutant – General's Press in Simla and Calcutta and wrote three volumes of Christian Biographies about many men and women who had laid down their lives for India.

Charlotte started the first Day School for small boys and girls which was well attended. Her husband built the first Non-Conformist Church and several houses in Simla. These were Argyle House, Melville Lodge, Balmoral, Eglantine, Boxmore and Comely Bank. In one, Melville Lodge at Jakko, on the outskirts of Simla, there was a large loft where he taught his sons, William and Ernest, boxing, fencing and other sports. The estate here was a favourite haunt for leopards but it did not deter him from living there. William and Ernest attended the Bishop Cotton School in Simla, and then went to Edinburgh University to train as Doctors. William became a surgeon, too, but sadly, Ernest died in Edinburgh. William married his cousin, Rebecca Charlotte ‎(née Kauntze)‎. Rebecca Charlotte was the daughter of Charlotte's brother, Henry Edward Kauntze. The couple went to India and William was a BMS medical missionary in Delhi, Simla, Patna, and Dinapore.

William Henry was a rugged, quick-tempered, clever man who did not hesitate to state his opinions on local affairs, especially in the "Argus". He led a simple Spartan life getting up at 4am in the summer and 6am in winter. He walked five miles daily and had little time for meals or recreation. Charlotte also led a busy life, always doing her best. In the evenings, William Henry and Charlotte sat at a round table in a room with the walls lined from floor to ceiling and they read proofs. They finished by reading a Chapter or Psalm from the Bible together. They had a log fire and kerosene lamps in winter. Charlotte died on 10th June 1886 and on her grave in the old Simla Cemetery is inscribed "The faithful wife for forty years of W H Carey". William Henry then returned to England and died at Teddington, Middlesex on 29th November 1889. He was known as the person "who rocked the cradle of the Press" of Simla, Allahabad and Lahore.