Henry Graham

Biography

Henry Graham (born in 1806) served as a missionary to Sierra Leone, Africa with the Church Missionary Society from 1829 to 1832. Graham served as the first medical missionary within the Church Missionary Society, one of the largest organizers of mission trips at the time. As such, Graham was a trailblazer in the role and worked to find appropriate balance between medical and religious duties and values in missionary service. In addition to his medical efforts, Graham took it upon himself to reopen the area's Sunday school for adults and apprentices, helping to teach lessons in reading and scripture. Through successes and hardships, ranging from medical feats to the death of his wife, Graham remained steadfastly pious; he attributed all occurrences to God's greater plan. In comparison to other missionaries and medical officers, Graham placed a rare emphasis on helping and learning from the natives of Sierra Leone. Due to his eagerness to learn from native colonial surgeon, Dr. Boyle, he contributed to introducing unfamiliar African medical practices to the CMS and England, such as the use of Ergot and Rye in midwifery. Graham made efforts to somewhat immerse himself into Sierra Leone's native population, studying the Eyó dialect through conversations with local Oku people. Graham demonstrates an alteration to the customary dynamic between missionary and native and strengthened relations in Sierra Leone. Straying from his primary reason for recruitment, to provide medical assistance to those connected to the Mission in Sierra Leone, Graham dedicated much of his time to providing assistance to the natives, playing a role in his eventual removal from the Mission in 1832.

Bio from Wikipedia