row
in his career under the Bible Society in Russia and the Peninsula; but we
must just note that he obtained his appointment with that society through
the Rev. Francis Cunningham, a brother-in-law of the great banker J. J.
Gurney, of Earlham, having married his sister Richenda at Earlham Church
in 1816. He became Rector of Pakefield in 1814, and of Lowestoft from
1830 till his death in August, 1863.

[Picture: William Taylor]

[Picture: George Borrow's House, Oulton, near Lowestoft]

To this gentleman Borrow was introduced by a young farmer, no doubt Mr.
Skepper, of Oulton Hall, on December 27th, 1832. It is believed that it
was through the Batemans, of Norwich (of whom the late Sir Frederic
Bateman, M.D., was best known), that the acquaintance with the Skeppers
began, as the families had intermarried. On the very day of the
introduction Mr. Cunningham wrote to the Rev. Andrew Brandram, Secretary
of the Bible Society, recommending Borrow as one who could read the Bible
in thirteen languages--a very produceable person, of no very defined
denomination of Christians, but, thought Mr. Cunningham, of certain
Christian principle. Dr. Knapp errs in stating that Borrow owed this
introduction to J. J. Gurney ("Life of Borrow," i. p. 152). Anyway, he
was invited to interview the Bible Society secretaries, and when one of
them hoped he had slept well, replied: "I am not aware that I fell asleep
on the road; I have walked from Norwich to London." He records that he
did the hundred and twelve miles in twenty-seven hours, his outlay on the
journey being 5.5d. for one pint of ale, half-pint of milk, a roll of
bread, and two apples. Thus began the period of Bible distribution in
Russia and Spain, still a life crowded with adventures and risky
situations--the tall, handsome, young Englishman now in a prison, and
anon kissing his hands to a group of tittering nuns. "The Bible in
Spain" was the chief enduring result of these experiences, a work which
secured immediate popularity; moreover, the halo of the Bible Society
shed a glamour of unquestionable respectability on Borrow's head. At
Seville, in some inexplicable way, Borrow met Mrs. Clarke (born Mary
Skepper), the widow of Lieut. Clarke, by whom she had the daughter
Henrietta, the "Hen" of "Wild Wales," who in 1865 married Dr. MacOubrey,
apparently both a physician and a barrister. Accompanied by her
daughter, now about twenty-two, Mrs. Cl