Robert Morrison, born in 1782 as the youngest son of eight children in Northumberland, England, paved the way for future missionary work in and further study of China. By the age of 20, Morrison had already decided to join the ministry of the church, where his talents as both a missionary and a scholar began to emerge. In 1805, he traveled to London to pursue the study of medicine and Chinese. There, he began to transcribe Chinese manuscripts for the British Museum and translate some extracts of the New Testament. In addition, preparations started to be underway for Morrison to travel to China under the financial support of both the London Missionary Society and the American Bible Society. In May 1807, Morrison, with a letter of introduction written by Secretary of State James Madison (1751-1836), finally departed for China from New York.