Peter Pope (c. 1600) is thought to be the 1st person from South Asia to arrive in England.

Patrick Copland, a chaplain in the East India Company, had been in India for 2 years. He returned to England in 1614 with a young Bengali boy he had been teaching to speak, read & write in English.

Patrick Copland’s ward caused a stir in London with children following him down the streets.

In 1616, Coplan requested & received permission for the boy to be publicly baptised.

The baptism was performed on 22 December 1616 in front of a sizeable crowd at the Church of St Denis on Fenchurch St.

Thus, the boy from Bengal became Petrus Papa or Peter Pope, a name chosen apparently by King James 1 & by whom he was baptised.

(King James 1 of England & King James VI of Scotland had himself grown up without parents).

Peter Pope became an interpreter & translator & is credited with having published a Patrick Copland sermon, “Virginia’s God be thanked”