Elijah Hoole (1798–1872) was an English orientalist and Wesleyan Methodist missionary. Elijah Hoole -2 processed

Life

The son of Holland Hoole, a Manchester shoemaker, he was born there; he entered

Manchester grammar school The Manchester Grammar School (MGS) is a highly Selective school, selective Private_schools_in_the_United_Kingdom, private day school for boys aged 7-18 in Manchester, England, which was founded in 1515 by Hugh Oldham (then Bishop of Exeter). ...

6 April 1809, leaving in 1813 to help in his father's business. After studying privately, he became a probationer for the Wesleyan ministry in 1818, and was chosen a missionary by the Wesleyan Methodist missionary committee in November 1819. Hoole arrived in

Madras Chennai, also known as Madras ( its official name until 1996), is the capital and largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost state of India. It is located on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal. According to the 2011 Indian ce ...

(now

Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...

) in September 1820, having lost his library and outfit by shipwreck on the way. After short stays there and at Negapatam, he settled at

Bangalore Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...

in April 1821. He was recalled to Madras in March 1822, and was elected a member of the committee for revising the Tamil version of the Bible. In 1828 Hoole was forced by ill-health to leave India, and shortly after his return to Europe was appointed a superintendent of schools in Ireland. He moved to London in 1834, and became assistant-secretary, and from 1836 till his death one of the general secretaries of the Wesleyan Missionary Society. Hoole died on 17 June 1872 and is buried in a family grave in the dissenters section of the west side of

Highgate Cemetery Highgate Cemetery is a place of burial in North London, England, designed by architect Stephen Geary. There are approximately 170,000 people buried in around 53,000 graves across the West and East sides. Highgate Cemetery is notable both for so ...

, in front of the grave of Charles Chubb, the lock and safe manufacturer. Family grave of Elijah Hoole in Highgate Cemetery

Works

During his stay in Southern India, Hoole published a number of translations into Tamil, including portions of the Bible, a book of hymns (Madras, 1825), tracts on Methodism, and a life of

John Wesley John Wesley ( ; 2 March 1791) was an English cleric, Christian theology, theologian, and Evangelism, evangelist who was a principal leader of a Christian revival, revival movement within the Church of England known as Methodism. The societies ...

. He wrote: * ''A Personal Narrative of a Mission to the South of India from 1820–8'', London, 1829, an account of his experiences; an enlarged edition, with the title ''Madras, Mysore, and the South of India'' appeared in London in 1844. * ''The Year-book of Missions'', 1847. * ''Oglethorpe and the Wesleys''. Hoole also contributed articles to the ''Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society'' and ''London Quarterly Review'', and edited two books on missions by Walter Lawry, 1850 and 1851.

Family

Hoole married in 1835 Elizabeth, third daughter of Charles Chubb. His son

Elijah Elijah ( ) or Elias was a prophet and miracle worker who lived in the northern kingdom of Israel during the reign of King Ahab (9th century BC), according to the Books of Kings in the Hebrew Bible. In 1 Kings 18, Elijah defended the worsh ...

(1837-1912) was an architect of Methodist churches and social housing.Biographical dictionary of architects in Canada 1800-1950
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Notes

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Hoole, Elijah 1798 births 1872 deaths Methodist missionaries in India Wesleyan Methodists English orientalists English translators Clergy from Manchester 19th-century English translators Burials at Highgate Cemetery British missionary linguists