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John Breeden (9 May 1872 –1942) was an English Wesleyan Methodist Missionary Society missionary in the Madras Presidency. He was an educationalist and the founder of St George's Homes, an Orphanage-cum-School for abandoned and deprived children of Eurasians or Anglo-Indians in Kodaikanal, later renamed as The Laidlaw Memorial School, Ketti in the Nilgiris. ==Biography== Breeden was born on 9 May 1872 to Fredrick Breeden and Jane Breeden at St. Saviour in Surrey, England. He spent his adolescence with his family at Newington, London and finished his primary education at St John’s, Inner London. Having been influenced by the teachings of John Wesley, founder of Methodist Movement, from his early life, he joined Handsworth College, Birmingham and studied for ordination as a Wesleyan Methodist Minister. While studying at Handsworth College, he met James Cooling, who was on sabbatical leave from Madras and was a speaker on the Methodist Circuit; James remained as a mentor of Breeden till his death in Madras in 1915.〔〔 In 1888, he entered the ministry and learnt the Tamil language in London under the guidance of missionaries who had served in India. Having volunteered for service as a missionary in Madras Presidency with Wesleyan Methodist Missionary Society (WMMS), he sailed to India on 30 September 1898. Upon arrival in Madras, he served as a minister in the Wesley Church at Black Town, also known as George Town, Chennai where he preached the sermon ''The Unpardonable Sin''. In 1899, he worked as probationer with the Foreign Missions, active with recording and officiating at Births, Deaths and Marriages at Wesleyan Methodist Church in Perambur. In 1901, he married Frances Cox and served in Madras in the English colonies of the WMMS, referred to as the Madras English circuit, between 1898 and 1911. During this time, he was involved in raising money to build a new church at Egmore called the Egmore Church, the present Wesley Church, Chennai; for this, he visited the homes of European and Eurasian families (or Anglo-Indian), British Raj government servants, and visitors to Madras-both Christian and non-Christians alike. Egmore Church was formally inaugurated on 11 February 1905 by James Cooling, his mentor; Breeden was appointed as its first minister by Cooling.〔 During his furlough in England, he served as missionary lecturer at Richmond Theological College in 1907. After he returned from England to Madras, Breeden devoted most of his time to the cause of education of orphans of European, Eurasians, or Anglo-Indians origin, between 1911 and 1915 as his ministry was the English circuit in Madras, which meant that his flock were the families of British Raj soldiers, civil servants, and Eurasian population; during this time, he founded St. George's Homes an Orphanage, initially at Kodaikanal and later moved to Ketti in Nilgiris—St. George's Homes was subsequently named as Laidlaw Memorial School 〔〔〔 He returned to England in 1921 due to ill-health after missionary service of twenty-three years. In 1937, he published ''He Suffered There'', an ecumenical book. During World War II, he continued to work from St. Stephens House in Westminster which was used to provide relief for those displaced by the bombing of London. At the age of 70, he died in the district of Meriden in the West Midlands, United Kingdom.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア(Wikipedia)』 ■ウィキペディアで「John Breeden」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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