Aaron Buzacott - Early Life

Early Life

Greatly influenced by his mother, he was born in South Moulton, Devon where his father was a whitesmith and ironmonger and the family attended the local Congregational chapel. Sarah, his wife, was also from South Moulton, and became known for her educational work and writings in the South Seas mission. Her sisters also married missionaries, and her brother, Mr George Hitchcock, a friend and neighbour of Samuel Morley's at St Paul's Churchyard, became noted for his support of Congregationalism and his support for the nascent Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA).

Aaron Buzacott entered Hoxton Academy in 1820 and devoted himself for three years to the study of general and classical literature and frequently attended the metropolitan Methodist chapels, the Tottenham Court Road Chapel and Moorfields Chapel (Whitefield's Tabernacle). Expressing an interest in missionary work, his tutors commended him to the Board of the London Missionary Society, and after examination they accepted him for training at their Mission College under Dr Bogue. Upon his death the students were transferred to Highbury College and the old Hoxton Academy near London. He completed his course in 1826, being ordained in January 1827 at Castle Street Congregational Church in Exeter. He married Miss Hitchcock the following month and later that year the couple set sail, via Tahiti, for Rarotonga in the South Seas, where they were to spend most of the rest of their lives.