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It is not every day that one finds an American Presbyterian minister who was knighted by a British monarch. Billy Graham comes to mind — he was awarded an honorary knighthood by Queen Elizabeth II in 2001. But the subject of today’s post was knighted by King George V on January 1, 1923.
The reason for such an honor in the case of Sir James Caruthers Rhea Ewing (1854-1923) was to acknowledge Ewing’s 43 years of service as a missionary in what was then British-controlled India. King George at that time was not only king of the United Kingdom and British dominions, but also Emperor of India.
Ewing had previously been titled Companion of the Order of the Indian Empire in 1915, but in 1923, he gained the title of Honourary Knight Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire and was henceforth known as “Sir James.”
A graduate of Washington & Jefferson College in Western Pennsylvania, Ewing went on to serve in the missionary field, but also as Vice-Chancellor of the University of the Punjab and as President of the Forman Christian College. An educator as well as a missionary, Ewing labored many decades for the cause of Christ to shine a bright light in a dark place.
Read more about his life story in the biography by Robert E. Speer: Sir James Ewing, For Forty-Three Years a Missionary in India: A Biography of Sir James C.R. Ewing, M.A., D.D., LL.D., Litt.D. C.I.E, K.C.I.E. (1928).
