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history |
The founding of the first Mission at Calabar did not initially come from Scotland but from Jamaica in the West Indies. The slave population of the colony of Jamaica had been brought from the West Coast of Africa, largely from the Calabar region and when emancipation came, and the slaves from Calabar settled down in freedom under the care of the missionaries, they did not forget their homeland and had a wish to see it also enjoy the blessings brought to them by the missionaries. The Scottish Missionary Society and the United Secession Church, who together formed the Jamaica Presbytery, therefore resolved to take action and established a society with a view to setting up a mission in Calabar. A Mr Waddell, of the Scottish Missionary Society, thus sailed from Jamaica to Scotland to promote and organise the establishment of the mission and was successful in securing the Secession Churches support with the Calabar scheme. Having also secured funds Mr Waddell sailed with several others to Calabar in 1846 where, after some initial difficulties, he founded the Mission. In the following year Calabar Mission was taken over by the United Presbyterian Church and later became known as the Overseas Presbytery of Calabar. In 1955 the presbytery was dissolved by the General Assembly. |