Reverend Walter Henry Medhurst
Walter Henry Medhurst, the founder of Parapattan Orphanage. Walter Medhurst was born in London in 1796 but spent his entire adult life as a missionary in Southeast Asia. He had 5 years in Malaya, 21 years in Batavia and 14 years in China. Until his death Medhurst's wife, Eliza, was a faithful partner and support.
Medhurst was compassionate. He responded to need wherever he saw it. In the 1820's and 1830's Batavia was in very low spiritual state. There was only one Dutch communities responded generously. As a result he built in 1831 the English church. It survives to this day as All Saints' Anglican Church, beside "Tugu Tani". Medhurst also set up the Batavia Mission Press which produced huge amounts of Christian literature in Chinese, Indonesian, Javanese, etc. When China opened up he left Batavia and in 1843 settled in Shanghai. There he became the first Chairman of the Shanghai Municipal Council, helping it to became what today, on of the world's greatest cities.
Medhurst convened the inaugural meeting of the Orphanage on 17 October 1832. Subscriptions were., a piece of ground was obtained on a 20 year lease, a building erected, and a management committee of eight was established. It opened on 1 February 1833 with 16 children and a matron. In 1834 another 6 children were admitted. Medhurst was glad to report that the children 'have been boarded, clothed and educated, without the least expense to the missionary society'.
