William Henry Brett (missionary)
William Henry Brett was an English missionary in British Guiana.
He was born in Dover and, following the death of his father, he was raised by his grandfather. At the age of thirteen or fourteen, Brett became a Sunday school teacher. He was recommended to the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel by the Reverend Thomas Medland, the curate of his church. In 1840, he left England for British Guiana. Brett was ordained a deacon in 1843 by Bishop William Austin. After suffering from malaria, he was forced to return to England in 1849 but returned late the following year. In total, Brett spent almost forty years as a missionary to the native peoples of South America, retiring in 1879. He translated the New Testament and the Book of Common Prayer into several of their languages.
William Henry Brett married Caroline Nowers in 1845.
Brett died Oct. 2, 1886 Paignton at the age of 67.
In 1880, Brett published Legends and Myths of the Aboriginal Indians of British Guiana and, in 1881, Mission work among the Indian tribes in the forests of Guiana. In 1851, he had published Indian missions in Guiana.
