Taylor , William Ernest , 1856-1927 , missionary and Swahili scholar

Born in Worcester, England, 1856; educated at King's School, Worcester; won a scholarship to Hertford College, Oxford; 3rd class in classical honour moderations, 1876; enrolled in the Medical Faculty, Edinburgh University, 1879-1880; did not complete his medical education; became a deacon, 1880; served the Church Missionary Society (CMS) in East Africa, 1880-1884; began to learn Swahili soon after his arrival and became acquainted with eminent Swahili scholars there; collected Swahili manuscripts, both poetry and prose; returned to East Africa as CMS missionary, 1885-1889; ordained priest, 1885; travelled extensively among the Giryama (north of Mombasa) and studied Giryama (a Bantu language closely related to Swahili); married Catherine Tesseyman (d 1959) in Hull, 1892; served again in East Africa, 1892-1896; returned to England, 1896; posted to Cairo, 1898-1900; sent to Khartoum as a chaplain, but returned on medical grounds a few months later, 1903; ended his connection with the CMS, 1904; subsequently held a succession of clerical appointments, the last at Halton Holgate, Lincolnshire; retained his interest in Swahili, examining for the War Office and translating for the Salvation Army; died at Bath, 1927. Publications include: African Aphorisms; or, Saws from Swahili-land (1891); Giryama Vocabulary and Collections (1891); The Groundwork of the Swahili Language (1898); contributed to Mrs F Burt's Swahili Grammar and Vocabulary (1910); contributed to C H Stigand's A Grammar of Dialectic Changes in the Kiswahili Language (1915); Ukumbosho wa Uongozi (Memorandum of Guidance for East African Field Officers) [1925]; translations of the Bible into Swahili and Giryama, published 1889-1909.