Journal of a Residence at Bagdad: During the Years 1830 and 1831

In Short

Anthony Norris Groves’s journal captures the devastating overlap of bubonic plague, cataclysmic flooding, and military siege in Baghdad during 1830 and 1831. Sent as a Christian missionary to establish schools and distribute scripture, Groves instead finds himself trapped inside a dying city. As thousands perish daily, his household faces isolation, food shortages, the loss of companions to desert bandits, and the death of his beloved wife, Mary. Written with directness and spiritual intensity, the journal endures as a rare, immediate eyewitness account of total urban collapse and an unvarnished testament of personal faith tested to its absolute limits.

The Story

The narrative begins as Anthony Norris Groves arrives in Baghdad with his family and small missionary circle, intent on building a network of Christian education and scripture distribution across the Middle East. They establish a school, hire local teachers, and begin translating texts into Armenian and Arabic while maintaining ties with British officials like Major Taylor and neighboring mission outposts. Initial obstacles—such as the robbery and murder of several companions traveling through the desert—already hint at the region's perilous volatility, yet the group remains optimistic about their calling.

Disaster strikes in the spring of 1831 when bubonic plague invades Baghdad. Daily mortality rates skyrocket from hundreds to well over a thousand, quickly paralyzing the city. Deciding against fleeing with a caravan to Damascus—a route that ultimately ends in disaster and death for those who attempt it—Groves and his family choose to isolate inside their home. Their retreat is soon compounded by environmental ruin: the Tigris River overflows its banks, flooding the city, collapsing buildings, inundating their cellars, and driving swarms of mosquitoes into their living quarters.

As the physical environment deteriorates, political collapse follows. The local ruler, Daoud Pasha, loses control as his troops disperse, corn stores are looted, and rival military forces led by the Pasha of Aleppo advance to besiege the city. Famine sets in, forcing Groves to subsist on preserved meats, dried sausages, and the milk of domestic goats. Amidst this compounding horror, the ultimate personal tragedy strikes: Groves's wife, Mary, contracts the plague and dies. Left alone with his children—including an ailing infant—Groves must manage the domestic burden, bury his partner, and sustain his remaining household without basic supplies or medical aid.

In the aftermath of the epidemic and flood, the siege reaches its climax. Famine drives the population to general plunder, forcing residents to eat camel flesh at astronomical prices until political figures are overthrown. Throughout these months of agony, Groves reflects deeply on his theological stance, questioning the structures of established state churches and reaffirming his commitment to a simple, non-institutional faith. As the journal concludes in early 1832, sickness once again thwarts his plans to leave for Aleppo. He remains in the ruined city, exhausted but resigned to the providence of God.

How It Unfolds

The mission takes root Groves establishes a small school, coordinates with local merchants to transport Bibles across the region, and begins teaching local children and adults despite widespread religious apathy.

Tragic news from the desert Reports arrive revealing that a party of companions, including Mr. James Taylor and Mr. Aspinal, has been betrayed, robbed, and murdered by their own guards during a desert journey.

The plague descends Bubonic plague breaks out in Baghdad, prompting mass mortality, the collapse of public trade, and the hasty isolation of families within their homes.

Rising waters and isolation The Tigris River overflows, flooding the city's underground cellars, knocking down houses, and ruining the caravan routes that offered the only potential escape.

** Bereavement in the household** Groves’s wife, Mary, falls ill with the plague and dies, leaving him to mourn her passing in solitude while caring for their small children amidst the city's chaos.

Famine and civil breakdown Food supplies vanish from the bazaars, driving prices out of reach and forcing Groves to rely on tiny stores of potted goat meat and eggs as social order completely dissolves.

Aftermath and uncertain horizons As the epidemic wanes and political factions battle for control of the ruined city, Groves attempts to re-open his school, only to have his departure delayed once more by his son's sudden illness.

The People

• Anthony Norris Groves: The author and mission leader. He wants to plant self-sustaining, non-sectarian Christian schools and distribute scriptures across the Ottoman territories. Stood in the way by plague, political instability, and tragic personal loss, he ends up stripped of his domestic support, forced to evaluate his deepest theological assumptions, yet firmly devoted to his calling.
• Mary Groves: Anthony’s wife and essential partner in the mission. She wants to support the household, raise their children, and serve the local population. Her life is cut short when she contracts the plague, leaving her husband spiritually inspired by her death but utterly alone in his practical labors.
• Major Taylor: The British Resident in the region and a key supporter of the mission. He wants to maintain stability and assist Groves's work by offering financial help, protection, and logistical connections. His efforts are constantly hindered by the region's chaos, the loss of his own associates, and the breakdown of communication.
• Marteroos: An Armenian schoolmaster brought from Shiraz to lead the school. He wants to teach grammar, translation, and scripture to the young pupils. Though his work is interrupted by the outbreak, he remains a vital local link for the mission's educational goals.

In Its Own Voice

"The accounts of the dead are truly terrific; they say the day before yesterday 1200 died, and yesterday Major T.'s man of business obtained a receipt to the amount of 1040 on this side of the river."

Groves notes the catastrophic daily mortality rate as the plague takes hold of Baghdad in April 1831.

"Though the Lord has taken away the desire of my eyes, as it were with a stroke, and left me a few hours to cry unto him in the midst of my deep, deep waters; yet these visions of his love have so revived my soul, that my whole soul is brought to acquiesce in his holy and fatherly arrangements..."

Following the death of his wife Mary, Groves struggles to reconcile his profound personal grief with his unyielding spiritual submission.

"Within the city every article of food has disappeared except buffaloes' and camels' flesh, and this at about twenty times its usual price."

The author describes the desperate famine that overtakes the surviving population during the combined siege and blockade of the city.

What It's Really About

Beneath the grim day-to-day log of disaster, the journal is an extended meditation on divine providence versus human control. Groves continuously explores the friction between organized, state-backed missionary strategy and an radical reliance on God's immediate guidance. He argues against the pride of established church institutions, using his isolation to critique the Church of England's reliance on political power and wealth. The book also examines the psychological toll of grief, measuring the limits of human endurance when external purpose, family, and safety are stripped away simultaneously. Ultimately, it asks how an individual maintains purpose when every planned endeavor fails, finding answer not in visible success, but in quiet, unyielding submission to a higher power.

Why Read It Today

This journal appeals to readers of primary historical sources, classic travel literature, and spiritual memoirs. It offers a rare, microscopic look at a major nineteenth-century Middle Eastern urban center facing total systemic failure—a perspective rarely captured with such raw, unedited immediacy.

Reading Groves’s account feels like standing alongside someone writing by candlelight while the world crumbles outside his door. The prose is functional, direct, and unvarnished by literary pretensions; its power lies entirely in its stark honesty and emotional transparency.

Modern readers should be prepared for certain hurdles. The narrative style is that of an unedited diary, filled with repetitive daily entries, old anglicized spellings of Middle Eastern locations (Bussorah, Mousul), and mid-nineteenth-century religious terminology. Furthermore, Groves views the local population through the clear lens of a 19th-century evangelical Christian, expressing frustration at foreign religious customs and social norms. Yet what stays with you long after finishing is the sheer resilience of a man who buries his life's companion in a flooded, besieged city, yet continues to light his stove, care for his children, and open his door to the world.