Yorkshire Missionaries
Africa
Edith MOULES nee PATTON born 1900 in Redcar, Yorkshire was a Christian nurse in Africa. She had live with her grandmother, after the death of her mother. She went to work as a servant for a minister's family in Ilkley. She later began training as a registered nurse in Leytonstone, London. In 1927 she went to Brussels to learn French before sailing to Africa. She ministered to the needs of the people and became engaged to a young missionary, Percy Moules. In 1932 she returned to England after her 5 year commitment. She then returned to Africa to marry Percy in 1934. They devoted their lives to taking care of lepers.
China
James Hudson TAYLOR (1852-1905) born in Barnsley, Yorkshire; died in Changsa, China. He was founder of the China Inland Mission. He prepared himself for his lifework by becoming an assistant to a doctor in Hull. He then studied medicine at the London hospital. In 1853 he sailed for China and for the next 6 years he worked diligently, trusting God to supply all his needs. He married Maria Dyer, daughter of Rev. Samuel Dyer of the London Missionary Society. Two of their children became missionaries in China. He was invalided home to England in 1860 but the call to China remained strong, so he returned again in 1866 with his wife, children and 16 missionaries. By 1911, the China Inland Mission had 968 missionaries (including wives) connected with it. Taylor travelled throughout North America, Australasia and Britain raising funds for this great work. Signs of weakness were beginning to show. Early in 1905 he visited China where he died at Changsa. He was buried by his wife and their children who had died in China.
William Edward SOOTHILL (1861-1935) born in Halifax, Yorkshire. He spent 29 years as a missionary in Wenzhou, China as a minister of the United Methodist Free Church. He founded a hospital, a training college, schools and 200 preaching stations. When he returned to England in 1920 he was appointed Professor of Chinese at Oxford University. He had married Lucy Farrar in 1884.
Fiji
James CALVERT (1813-1892), missionary of Pickering. Married 1838 Shoreditch, London Mary Fowler. He went to Fiji then returned to England in 1856 to publish the Fijian Bible, he returned to Fiji for awhile then back to England again. Went to South Africa from 1872-1880 returned to England. Continued to revise the Fijian Bible. Died in 1892.
New Zealand
Samuel IRONSIDE (1814-1897) Wesleyan missionary, born in Sheffield, son of Samuel Ironside and Mary Bradbury, who married in Rotherham in 1804. In 1836 young Samuel was accepted as a candidate for the ministry and entered Hoxton Wesleyan College to train. On 24 August, 1838 at Trinity Church, Sheffield Ironside married Sarah Eades. A month later they sailed from Gravesend in the James, arriving at Hokianga, New Zealand in March 1839. Immediately Ironside began to learn Maori. He ministred amongst the Maoris, meeting with their chiefs and bringing peace amongst the different groups. In 1840 Ironside arrived at Cloudy Bay, Marlborough, to open a Wesleyan mission in the area. The Cloudy Bay Mission was very succesful. In less than 3 years the Maori converts erected 16 churches in their villages and Ironside paid regular visits to each. He moved to Wellington, where from 1843 to 1848, he took an active part in the town. He retired from the ministry and settled in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia, where he died in 1897 age 83.
South Seas
George BENNETT born Sheffield, Yorkshire, a member of the London Missionary Society set out on a missionary journey with Rev. Daniel Tyerman of the Isle of Wight in 1820 to the South Seas, Chinas and India. It was the first missionary journey around the world.
