'Soldiers of Christ'? Images of female missionaries in late nineteenth-century Britain: Issues of heroism and martyrdom

Gender and History

Volumn 12, Issue 1, 2000, Pages 82-106

  Rowbotham, Judith ^a  

^a NOTTINGHAM TRENT UNIVERSITY   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 0040183816     PISSN: 09535233     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1111/1468-0424.00172     Document Type: Article

References (101)

1. Emma Raymond Pitman, Heroines of the Mission Field: Biographical Sketches of Female Missionaries who have Laboured in Various Lands among the Heathen (Cassell, Petter, Galpin & Co., London, 1888), p. 1.
2. Emma Raymond Pitman, Missionary Heroines in Eastern Lands: Woman's Work in Mission Fields (S. W. Partridge & Co., London, 1882), p. v.
3. Annie E. Coombes, '"For God and for England": Missionary Contributions to an Image of Africa', in her Reinventing Africa Museums: Material Culture and Popular Imagination in late Victorian and Edwardian England (Yale University Press, New Haven and London, 1994), p. 162.
4. The CMS in 1837 and 1887 (CMS, London, 1887), p. 8.
5. FML, Recitations for Missionary Meetings (Robert Culley, London, 1903), p. 51.
6. These debates have recently been most advanced through work on race and gender issues. See, for example, N. Chaudhuri and M. Strobel (eds), Western Women and Imperialism: Complicity and Resistance (Indiana University Press, Bloomington, 1992); D. Savage, 'Missionaries and the Development of a Colonial Ideology of Female Education in India', Gender & History, 9 (1997), pp. 201-21.
7. These debates have recently been most advanced through work on race and gender issues. See, for example, N. Chaudhuri and M. Strobel (eds), Western Women and Imperialism: Complicity and Resistance (Indiana University Press, Bloomington, 1992); D. Savage, 'Missionaries and the Development of a Colonial Ideology of Female Education in India', Gender & History, 9 (1997), pp. 201-21.
8. P. J. Marshall, 'Imperial Britain', Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History, 23 (1995), pp. 381-2.
9. Bishop Coxe, 'Saviour, Sprinkle Many Nations', Hymns Ancient and Modern (Thomas Clowes, London, 1875), no. 359, verse 2.
10. Judith Rowbotham, '"Hear an Indian Sister's Plea": Reporting the Work of Nineteenth Century British Female Missionaries', Women's Studies International Forum, 21 (1998), p. 248.
11. There had been some independent women missionaries before this, but they were exceptions, and the major missionary societies had not encouraged them. See, for instance, Edward Band, Working His Purpose Out: The History of the English Presbyterian Mission 1847-1947 (Presbyterian Church of England Publishing Office, London, 1948) p. 110; Georgina Gollock, Eugene E. Stock: A Biographical Study 1836-1928 (Church Missionary Society, London, 1929), pp. 170-74.
12. There had been some independent women missionaries before this, but they were exceptions, and the major missionary societies had not encouraged them. See, for instance, Edward Band, Working His Purpose Out: The History of the English Presbyterian Mission 1847-1947 (Presbyterian Church of England Publishing Office, London, 1948) p. 110; Georgina Gollock, Eugene E. Stock: A Biographical Study 1836-1928 (Church Missionary Society, London, 1929), pp. 170-74.
13. Farewell Service, The Grain of Mustard Seed, or Women's Work in Foreign Parts, 1 (1881), pp. 86-7.
14. John Wolffe, God and Greater Britain: Religion and National Life in Britain and Ireland 1843-1945 (Routledge, London, 1994), ch. 5; Marshall, 'Imperial Britain', p. 381; Thomas H. Gill, The Anniversaries. Poems in Commemoration of Great Men and Great Events (Macmillan & Co., London, 1858), p. vi.
15. John Wolffe, God and Greater Britain: Religion and National Life in Britain and Ireland 1843-1945 (Routledge, London, 1994), ch. 5; Marshall, 'Imperial Britain', p. 381; Thomas H. Gill, The Anniversaries. Poems in Commemoration of Great Men and Great Events (Macmillan & Co., London, 1858), p. vi.
16. John Wolffe, God and Greater Britain: Religion and National Life in Britain and Ireland 1843-1945 (Routledge, London, 1994), ch. 5; Marshall, 'Imperial Britain', p. 381; Thomas H. Gill, The Anniversaries. Poems in Commemoration of Great Men and Great Events (Macmillan & Co., London, 1858), p. vi.
17. On Britain as a modern Israel, and its implications, see, for instance, CMS Archives, University of Birmingham Library, G/AZ1/1, Circular Letter, 1812, 'Christianity in India'. See also Wolffe, God and Greater Britain, p. 120. It should also be noted that during this period, 'Britain' and 'England' were used interchangeably, underlining English cultural dominance.
18. Emily Entwhistle, Outline Missionary Talks and Stories (H. R. Allenson Ltd, London, 1906), p. 34.
19. William Arthur, Heroes (James Nisbet & Co., London, 1851), pp. 315-17.
20. Catherine Marsh, Memorials of Captain Hedley Vicars, Ninety-seventh Regiment (London, 1855) ; John Shaw Banks, Three Indian Heroes: The Missionary, the Statesman, the Soldier (Wesleyan Conference Office, London, 1874); EBU, Christian Missions in the East and West: In Connection with the BMS 1792-1872 (Yates & Alexander, London, 1873); Mrs Charles, Three Martyrs: Livingstone, Gordon, Patteson, (SPCK, London, 1900). See also J. M. Mackenzie, 'Heroic Myths of Empire', in Popular Imperialism and the Military 1850-1950, ed. J. M. Mackenzie (Manchester University Press, Manchester, 1992).
21. Catherine Marsh, Memorials of Captain Hedley Vicars, Ninety-seventh Regiment (London, 1855) ; John Shaw Banks, Three Indian Heroes: The Missionary, the Statesman, the Soldier (Wesleyan Conference Office, London, 1874); EBU, Christian Missions in the East and West: In Connection with the BMS 1792-1872 (Yates & Alexander, London, 1873); Mrs Charles, Three Martyrs: Livingstone, Gordon, Patteson, (SPCK, London, 1900). See also J. M. Mackenzie, 'Heroic Myths of Empire', in Popular Imperialism and the Military 1850-1950, ed. J. M. Mackenzie (Manchester University Press, Manchester, 1992).
22. Catherine Marsh, Memorials of Captain Hedley Vicars, Ninety-seventh Regiment (London, 1855) ; John Shaw Banks, Three Indian Heroes: The Missionary, the Statesman, the Soldier (Wesleyan Conference Office, London, 1874); EBU, Christian Missions in the East and West: In Connection with the BMS 1792-1872 (Yates & Alexander, London, 1873); Mrs Charles, Three Martyrs: Livingstone, Gordon, Patteson, (SPCK, London, 1900). See also J. M. Mackenzie, 'Heroic Myths of Empire', in Popular Imperialism and the Military 1850-1950, ed. J. M. Mackenzie (Manchester University Press, Manchester, 1992).
23. Catherine Marsh, Memorials of Captain Hedley Vicars, Ninety-seventh Regiment (London, 1855) ; John Shaw Banks, Three Indian Heroes: The Missionary, the Statesman, the Soldier (Wesleyan Conference Office, London, 1874); EBU, Christian Missions in the East and West: In Connection with the BMS 1792-1872 (Yates & Alexander, London, 1873); Mrs Charles, Three Martyrs: Livingstone, Gordon, Patteson, (SPCK, London, 1900). See also J. M. Mackenzie, 'Heroic Myths of Empire', in Popular Imperialism and the Military 1850-1950, ed. J. M. Mackenzie (Manchester University Press, Manchester, 1992).
24. Catherine Marsh, Memorials of Captain Hedley Vicars, Ninety-seventh Regiment (London, 1855) ; John Shaw Banks, Three Indian Heroes: The Missionary, the Statesman, the Soldier (Wesleyan Conference Office, London, 1874); EBU, Christian Missions in the East and West: In Connection with the BMS 1792-1872 (Yates & Alexander, London, 1873); Mrs Charles, Three Martyrs: Livingstone, Gordon, Patteson, (SPCK, London, 1900). See also J. M. Mackenzie, 'Heroic Myths of Empire', in Popular Imperialism and the Military 1850-1950, ed. J. M. Mackenzie (Manchester University Press, Manchester, 1992).
25. Gollock, Stock, pp. 78-9.
26. Revd S. F. Harris, A Century of Missionary Martyrs: Being an Account of Some Who Have Suffered Martyrdom for the Truth during this Century of Missionary Work (James Nisbet & Co., London, 1897), p. x.
27. Brian Stanley, The Bible and the Flag: Protestant Missions and British Imperialism in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries (Apollos, Leicester, 1990), p. 161; Harris, Missionary Martyrs, pp. 3-15.
28. Brian Stanley, The Bible and the Flag: Protestant Missions and British Imperialism in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries (Apollos, Leicester, 1990), p. 161; Harris, Missionary Martyrs, pp. 3-15.
29. See, for example, Marmaduke Osborn, 'Missions and Missionaries of the Last Half Century: A Lecture', in Lectures Delivered before the Young Men's Christian Association in Exeter Hall from November 1863 to February 1864 (Simpkin Marshall & Co., London, 1864).
30. J. S. Mill, 'On the Subjection of Women', in On Liberty; Representative Government; The Subjection of Women: Three Essays by John Stuart Mill (Oxford University Press, London, 1948), pp. 540-48.
31. A. O. Cockshut, Truth to Life: The Art of Biography in the Nineteenth Century (Collins, London, 1974), esp. p. 105.
32. A. J. Morris, Glimpses of Great Men: or, Biographic Thoughts of Moral Manhood (Ward & Co., London, 1853), p. 1.
33. See, for example, Samuel Smiles, Self-Help, with Illustrations of Conduct and Perseverance (John Murray, London, 1859).
34. Entwhistle, Missionary Talks, p. 1.
35. Such as Sarah Stickney Ellis, The Mothers of Great Men (Richard Bentley, London, 1859).
36. Heroines of Our Time: Being Sketches of the Lives of Eminent Women, with examples of their Benevolent Works, Truthful Lives, and Noble Deeds (Darton & Co., London, 1864), p. viii.
37. Joseph Johnson, Heroines of Our Time: Being Sketches of the Lives of Eminent Women, (London, 1860), p. 1; Anna Davin, 'Imperialism and Motherhood', History Workshop Journal, 5 (1979).
38. Joseph Johnson, Heroines of Our Time: Being Sketches of the Lives of Eminent Women, (London, 1860), p. 1; Anna Davin, 'Imperialism and Motherhood', History Workshop Journal, 5 (1979).
39. See Mrs Octavius Frere Owen, The Heroines of Domestic Life (Roudedge & Sons, London, 1861); William Wilson, Heroines of the Household (London, 1869); Frank Mundell, Heroines of Daily Life (Sunday School Union, London, 1896).
40. See Mrs Octavius Frere Owen, The Heroines of Domestic Life (Roudedge & Sons, London, 1861); William Wilson, Heroines of the Household (London, 1869); Frank Mundell, Heroines of Daily Life (Sunday School Union, London, 1896).
41. See Mrs Octavius Frere Owen, The Heroines of Domestic Life (Roudedge & Sons, London, 1861); William Wilson, Heroines of the Household (London, 1869); Frank Mundell, Heroines of Daily Life (Sunday School Union, London, 1896).
42. Phyllis Browne, Mrs Somerville and Mary Carpenter(Cassell & Co., London, 1887), p. 49.
43. Lizzie Alldridge, Florence Nightingale, Frances Ridley Havergal, Catherine Marsh, Mrs Ranyard ('LNR') (Cassell & Co. Ltd, London, 1885), pp. 5-34; Helen Callaway and Dorothy O. Helly, 'Crusader for Empire: Flora Shaw/Lady Lugard', in Western Women and Imperialism, pp. 79-80; Dea Birkett, Spinsters Abroad (Basil Blackwell, London, 1989).
44. Lizzie Alldridge, Florence Nightingale, Frances Ridley Havergal, Catherine Marsh, Mrs Ranyard ('LNR') (Cassell & Co. Ltd, London, 1885), pp. 5-34; Helen Callaway and Dorothy O. Helly, 'Crusader for Empire: Flora Shaw/Lady Lugard', in Western Women and Imperialism, pp. 79-80; Dea Birkett, Spinsters Abroad (Basil Blackwell, London, 1989).
45. Lizzie Alldridge, Florence Nightingale, Frances Ridley Havergal, Catherine Marsh, Mrs Ranyard ('LNR') (Cassell & Co. Ltd, London, 1885), pp. 5-34; Helen Callaway and Dorothy O. Helly, 'Crusader for Empire: Flora Shaw/Lady Lugard', in Western Women and Imperialism, pp. 79-80; Dea Birkett, Spinsters Abroad (Basil Blackwell, London, 1989).
46. Entwhistle, Missionary Talks, p. 1.
47. John Williams in the South Sea Islands (Thomas Nelson, London, 1874) p. 17, for example.
48. Owen, Heroines, pp. 370-71; 388-9; 377-8; 391-2. Such presentations contrast interestingly with recent scholarly presentations of Nightingale in particular.
49. E. C. Dawson, Missionary Heroines in India: True Stories of the Wonderful Bravery and Patient Endurance of Missionaries in India (Seeley, Service & Co., London, 1909).
50. Sir William Hunter, 'Missions', Nineteenth Century and After, 24 (1901).
51. The non-sectarian periodical Woman's Work in the Great Harvest Field provides a good example of the ways in which home and foreign missions were linked.
52. Official lists indicated their presence by 'the letter (m)' after their husbands' names. See Gollock, Stock, p. 170.
53. Andrew Picken, Travels and Researches of Eminent English Missionaries (William Kidd, London, 1830), pp. 1-5.
54. Ann Judson, first wife of Adoniram Judson, the American missionary to Burma, provides a notable example. He received the credit for work done, his wife had to make do with credit for ministering to him, though she actually taught him the Burmese language and helped him to translate the Bible into Burmese. See Emma Raymond Pitman, Ann H. Judson (Pickering & Inglis, London, 1882).
55. Pitman, Heroines of the Mission Field, pp. 81-95.
56. See, for example, Amy Carmichael, From Sunrise Land: Letters from Japan (Marshall Bros, London, 1895).
57. Rowbotham, 'Indian Sister', p. 256; Dugald Butler, Address to Lady Missionaries on Their Departure for the Foreign Mission Field (Church of Scotland Women's Association for Foreign Missions, Edinburgh, 1903).
58. Rowbotham, 'Indian Sister', p. 256; Dugald Butler, Address to Lady Missionaries on Their Departure for the Foreign Mission Field (Church of Scotland Women's Association for Foreign Missions, Edinburgh, 1903).
59. Martha Vicinus, Independent Women: Work and Community for Single Women 1850-1920 (Virago Press, London, 1985).
60. John Angell James, A Sermon Preached to the Members of the Juvenile Auxiliary Missionary Societies, at the 35th Anniversary of the Missionary Society (Frederick Westley & A. H. Davis, London, 1828).
61. Revd Edward Storrow, Preface, in Mary E. Leslie, Eastern Blossoms: Sketches of Native Christian Life in India (John Snow & Co., London, 1875), pp. vi-vii.
62. Revd H. Williams, Itineration, India's Women, 5 (1885), pp. 171-2.
63. Revd William Clarkson, Christ and Missions: or, Facts and Principles of Evangelism (John Snow & Co., London, 1858), p. 80. It was a slightly contradictory argument, for at the same time it was also argued that one of the major condemnations of heathen societies was the lower level of influence exerted by women over their menfolk!
64. Rowbotham, 'Indian Sister', p. 255.
65. James, Sermon, pp. 15-16.
66. See, for example, Missionary Speech by the Lord Bishop of Oxford, Chester, October 12, 1857 (Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, London, 1857).
67. Susan Thorne, 'Protestant Ethics and the Spirit of Imperialism: British Congregationalists and the London Missionary Society' (unpublished PhD thesis, University of Michigan, 1990), pp. 156-7, 160-62.
68. Brian Stanley, The History of the Baptist Missionary Society, 1792-1992 (T. & T. Clark, Edinburgh, 1992), pp. 198, 228-32; C. Sylvester Horne, The Story of the LMS, 1795-1895 (John Snow & Co., London, 1894), p. 254.
69. Brian Stanley, The History of the Baptist Missionary Society, 1792-1992 (T. & T. Clark, Edinburgh, 1992), pp. 198, 228-32; C. Sylvester Horne, The Story of the LMS, 1795-1895 (John Snow & Co., London, 1894), p. 254.
70. Thorne, 'Protestant Ethics', p. 192.
71. 'All my collectors are women' was a typical comment. See Revd J. E. Sampson, Parochial Associations in Aid of the CMS: A Paper Read at the Conference of Association Secretaries at the Church Mission House, January 19 1871 (CMS, London, 1873), p. 6.
72. The Missionary World, Being an Encyclopaedia of Information, Facts, Incidents, Sketches and Anecdotes Relating to Christian Missions in All Ages and Countries and of All Denominations (Eliot Stock, London, 1872), pp. 239-10.
73. \57. Stanley, History of the BMS, pp. 227-32; Gollock, Stock, pp. 170-74.
74. \57. Stanley, History of the BMS, pp. 227-32; Gollock, Stock, pp. 170-74.
75. Brian Heeney, The Women's Movement in the Church of England 1850-1930 (Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1988).
76. Comment, India's Women, 7 (1887), p. 5.
77. Johnson, Heroines, p. 1.
78. Pitman, Heroines of the Mission Field, pp. 5-6.
79. 'Batala - From Miss Tucker', India's Women, 2 (1882), p. 48.
80. 'Leave-Taking', India's Women, 4 (1884), pp. 323-6.
81. J. H. Neele, 'India's Rights and Women's Wrongs', India's Women, 2 (1882), p. 66; H. B. Boswell, 'A Plea for Zenana Work and Zenana Missions', India's Women, 3 (1883), pp. 3-5.
82. J. H. Neele, 'India's Rights and Women's Wrongs', India's Women, 2 (1882), p. 66; H. B. Boswell, 'A Plea for Zenana Work and Zenana Missions', India's Women, 3 (1883), pp. 3-5.
83. Comment, India's Women, 7 (1887), p. 6.
84. T. P. Hughes, 'In Memoriam - Miss Annie Norman', India's Women, 4 (1884), p. 225.
85. 'Leave-Taking', India's Women, 4 (1884), pp. 323-6.
86. See the discussions during 1882 and 1883 throughout India's Women, 2 and 3. See also Irene Barnes, Behind the Great Wall: The Story of the CEZMS Work and Workers in China (Marshall Bros, London, 1897).
87. Isabel Suart Robson, Two Lady Missionaries in Tibet (S. W. Partridge & Co., London, 1909).
88. Jean Perry, Chilgoopie the Glad: A Story of Korea and Her Children (S. W. Partridge, London, 1900).
89. Seven Speeches by Women Missionaries in China (CMS, London, 1901), Appendix, p. 29.
90. Harris, Missionary Martyrs, pp. ix-x.
91. The noted missionary commentator Sir William Hunter, for instance, was deeply disapproving of women so venturing themselves. See also The Times, 16 August 1888, 7d; 20 September 1890, 7d; 12 October 1894, 3f.
92. H. F. Turner, His Witnesses: Kucheng, August 1, 1895 (Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent & Co., London, 1896), p. 58.
93. Barnes, Great Wall, pp. 142-4.
94. Barnes, Great Wall, pp. 150-51.
95. Turner, His Witnesses, pp. 58-9.
96. Turner, His Witnesses, pp. 62, 151.
97. Charles Bullock, The Lives of Three Bishops: James Fraser, Robert Bickersteth, James Hannington (Home Words, London, 1889); William Berry, Bishop Hannington: The Life and Adventures of a Missionary Hero (RTS, London, 1908).
98. Charles Bullock, The Lives of Three Bishops: James Fraser, Robert Bickersteth, James Hannington (Home Words, London, 1889); William Berry, Bishop Hannington: The Life and Adventures of a Missionary Hero (RTS, London, 1908).
99. Barnes, Great Wall, p. 151.
100. See, for example, Robert Coventry Forsyth, The China Martyrs of 1900: A Complete Roll of the Christian Heroes Martyred in China in 1900, with Narratives of Survivors (RTS, London, 1904).
101. Mrs G. S. Reaney, cited Pitman, Heroines of the Mission Field, p. 1.