George Bennet (16 April 1774 – 13 November 1841) was an English missionary from Sheffield, Yorkshire. He travelled widely in Asia.
Bennet was a Congregationalist organiser in Sheffield.[1] He was also a philanthropist.[2] In 1821 he set out with Daniel Tyerman, supported financially by the London Missionary Society. They travelled together to China, Southeast Asia, and India.[3] [4]
Bennet stopped in Macau during his Pacific voyage. He was impressed by the garden and aviary of opium trader Thomas Beale, devoting 45 pages of his travelogue to them.[5] Bennet and Tyerman made an extended stay in Tahiti, and Bennet's letters from there were published in the Sheffield Iris by James Montgomery.[6] Tyerman died in Madagascar, where they had set up missions with the support of King Radama I.[7]
Bennet also travelled to the Sandwich Islands, New Zealand, New South Wales, Java, Singapore and Calcutta.[8]
After his voyage Bennet gave historical artifacts that he had collected to the London Natural History Museum. He died in London on 13 November 1841.[9] He is buried with an inscribed monument in his memory in Sheffield General Cemetery.
. James Montgomery (poet). Daniel Tyerman . George Bennet . Journal of voyages and travels by the Rev. Daniel Tyerman and George Bennet, Esq: deputed from the London missionary society, to visit their various stations in the South Sea Islands, China, India, etc. between the years 1821 and 1829, Volume 3 . London Missionary Society . 1832 .