William Girdlestone Shellabear (1862–1947) was a "pioneer"[1] scholar and missionary in British Malaya (today, part of Malaysia). He was known for both his appreciation of Muslim society and also his translation of the Bible into the Malay language.[2][3]
W. G. Shellabear, as he was generally known, was born at Holkham Hall on 7 August 1862 in Norfolk, England, where his father was estate manager.[4]
He first went to Malaya as a British soldier, then returned as a Methodist missionary, where he worked from 1891 to 1948. "He introduced and guided changes in attitudes towards Malays and Islam, which made it possible for Methodist missionaries to relate positively to Malays while maintaining the integrity of their evangelistic outreach."[5] He helped Westerners appreciate "how Malay spirituality represented a genuine commitment to Islam, despite its failure to conform to the expectations of [Western] Orientalists".[6] His appreciation of Malay language and culture made him promote Malay language schools, which brought him into disagreement with many missionaries who preferred to organise and teach at English-language schools.
He produced a voluminous amount of writings, some of which were aimed at Christian Malays, some for Muslim Malays, some for missionaries coming to Malaya, and some for scholars. These included Sejarah Melayu (Malay Annals), Hikayat Abdullah (The Life of Abdullah bin Abdul Kadir), a Malay hymnal, dictionary and grammar of Malay, and a translation of Pilgrim's Progress. He also collaborated with a Malay scholar, Sulaiman bin Muhammed Nur (also known as Sulaiman bin Muhammad Nor), in joint publications such as Kitab Kiliran Budi (The Book of Wisdom, a collection of proverbs) and Hikayat Hang Tuah (The Life of Hang Tuah). According to John Roxborogh, "[h]is grammar, dictionary, and Bible translation remained in print for decades".[7]
His scholarly activities involved him in the Straits Philosophical Society, the Straits Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society (later known was the Malayan Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society and now known as the Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society), and the faculty of Hartford Seminary.
Shellabear is the founder of MPH Group, a publishing house that was founded in Singapore in 1890 as the Amelia Bishop Press and then renamed in 1893 as the American Mission Press, in 1906 as the Methodist Publishing House, in 1927 as the Malaya Publishing House, and in 1963 as the Malaysia Publishing House.[8] For some years he was the chief editor of the Methodist Publishing House and from 1906 he was the editor of that firm's book series, Malay Literature Series.
He was associated with the founding of the Straits Chinese Methodist Church, now the Kampong Kapor Methodist Church in Singapore.
Shellabear was married three times. He married his first wife, Fanny Marie (nee Kealy) (born 1895), the daughter of a medical practitioner, Dr John Kealy, in 1886. They had one son, Hugh Percy Shellabear (1891-1972), who in 1947 would be reported as working a general practitioner in Reading, Pennsylvania.[9] Fanny died after a long illness on 15 March 1895.
In 1897 he married Elizabeth Emmeline "Emma" (nee Ferris) (born circa 1862), a Canadian missionary with the Woman's Foreign Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church. In November of that year their first daughter Margaret Anna Shellabear (1897-1972) was born. After marrying, the latter was known as Margaret Gulland and in 1947 she was the principal of the Methodist Girls School in Klang, Malaya.[9] Emma died in 1922.
In 1924 he married Emma Naomi (nee Ruth) (1886-1972), a missionary to Java who was then studying in Madison, New Jersey.
William Shellabear had a second daughter, Fanny Shellabear. After marrying she was known as Fanny Blasdell and in 1947 she and her husband, Robert Allen Blasdell (1892-1986),[10] were working as Methodist missionaries in Malacca.[9]
After retiring from the Hartford Seminary, Shellabear continued his literary work until shortly before he died in Hartford, Connecticut on 16 January 1947.
