Owen first aspired to be a painter, and apprenticed under the Cornish artist John Opie (1761-1807), but he felt called to the church instead, and embarked in 1783 for India as a missionary with the British East India Company.
Owen first aspired to be a painter, and apprenticed under the Cornish artist John Opie (1761-1807). He next became curate of Walthamstow and later St. John's, Clerkenwell, before embarking in 1783 for India as a missionary with the British East India Company.