Henry Bower
British missionary (1812–1885)
Reverend Henry Bower (1812–1885) was an Anglo-Indian missionary of the Society of the Propagation of the Gospel who was known for his scholarship over Tamil.
Early life
Bower was born in 1812 in an Anglo-Indian family in Madras. He was educated at the Vepery (formerly Veperi) seminary. After completing his schooling, he was employed as a catechist by the Wesleyan Missionary Society. In 1838, he was appointed Assistant Missionary in the Madras mission.
Bower was ordained deacon in 1843 and priest in 1845. Bower preached at Tanjore from 1844 to 1846, Vediarpuram from 1846 to 1857, Madras from 1857 to 1875 and 1878 to 1884 and Kumbakonam from 1875 to 1878.
Writings
At an early stage in his life, Bower attained mastery over Tamil. He was the principal Tamil examiner of the University of Madras. Bower translated Tom Butler's anthology, Pearson on the Creed, a Biblical and Theological Dictionary, Lectures on the Moral Law, the History of Christianity in India, and other works into Tamil.
The public source identifies “Henry Bower” as british missionary (1812–1885). This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Henry, Bower and British.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Henry Bower”, the useful work is to connect “british missionary (1812–1885)” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Dec 26, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q5718448. VIAF identifies the subject as 4891955. The Library of Congress control number is nr2006017850. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1812, 1885, 1838 and 1843.
The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Henry Bower”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Henry Bower primary sources, Henry Bower archive and Henry research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Henry Bower”?
- Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Henry Bower” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.