William Carey, an English missionary and oriental scholar, born in Paulerspury, Northamptonshire, Aug. 17, 1761, died at Seram-pore, India, in June, 1834. He was the founder, in connectiou with other ministers, of the first Baptist missionary society. In 1793 he devoted himself personally to the missionary work, and embarked with his family for India. After five years spent in preaching and studying the Bengalee and Sanskrit languages, he fixed the scene of his labors at Mudnabat-ty, but was not permitted by the Indian government to make a permanent establishment there. He next removed to the Danish settlement of Serampore, where he established that large and successful missionary post of his denomination which has been the theatre not only of his own labors and death, but of the toils of Ward and of Marshman, the English translator of Confucius. Carey became an unremitting student of the oriental languages, and lived to see 40 different oriental dialects become the channels of transmission for Christianity to as many tribes.

In addition to these labors, he taught in the college of Fort William the Bengalee, Sanskrit, and Mahratta languages, and furnished to the Asiatic society, of which he was a member, many valuable papers on the natural history and botany of India. He published several works on the oriental languages, the most important being a Bengalee and English dictionary (3 vols., 1815-25).