[1] He was employed by the Baptist Missionary Society and he taught theology in Serampore College in India where his and his wife Elizabeth's first child was born.

He returned to Britain in 1828 to lead the large Cannon Street Baptist Church in Birmingham.

[1] In 1837 his grateful congregation awarded him a silver medal in celebration of the chapel's centenary.

This society was planning a major convention in 1840 with Bitmingham Quaker Joseph Sturge taking the lead.

[5] They were both based in Birmingham and the frequent letters between them and Knibb illustrate their joint aim of the abolition of slavery.