Mary Geraldine Guinness
Encyclopedia
Mary Geraldine Guinness a.k.a. Mrs. Howard Taylor 金樂婷(25 December 1865 – 6 June 1949), was a British
Protestant Christian
missionary
to China
, and author of many missionary biographies regarding the history of the China Inland Mission
(renamed as Overseas Missionary Fellowship, (now OMF International
). She was the daughter of the famous revivalist preacher and author Henry Grattan Guinness
, a friend of James Hudson Taylor, founder of the CIM. She became Taylor's daughter-in-law when she married his son (and fellow CIM missionary), Frederick Howard Taylor
.
In her youth, Geraldine taught a Bible class for "factory-girls" in Bromley-by-Bow
in the East End of London
where they lived. She attended meetings at "Berger Hall" named after William Thomas Berger
.
She left London for China as a second-class passenger on the P&O vessel "Kaisar-i-Hind I" in January, 1888, age 22. The Hundred missionaries had all sailed to China the previous year. Amongst the 25 passengers (16 men, 5 ladies [sic]) aboard the steam ship with her were Miss Mary Reed (daughter of Mrs Henry Reed and sister of Mrs Harry Guinness), Mr & Mrs Hunt (travelling to Hanchung) and the Pigott family of The Sheo Yang Mission
(who were eventually killed during the Boxer Rebellion
).
As recorded in "In the Far East" the Kaisar-i-Hind took a route passing Gibraltar (10:30pm, 31 January 1888), calling at Naples and then passing the Straits of Messina; stopping for a day at Aden and then onward to Colombo
, Ceylon
.
At Colombo
the missionary party boarded the P&O vessel "S.S. Deccan", bound for Shanghai
. A stop in Penang
, Malaysia allowed Geraldine a first contact with many Chinese who came on board. Then a stop at Singapore
followed. Her first time on Chinese soil was later at a stop at Hong Kong
where she was received by Dr & Mrs Chalmers of the London Missionary Society
who introduced them also to Mr & Mrs Bender of the Basle Mission. Shanghai was reached next. But Shanghai was not their final destination. Staying only long enough to exchange their European clothes for the national Chinese costume, the missionaries started on again, leaving this first station of the China Inland Mission behind them and travelling on the boat Fuh-ho("Happy Harmony") in the substantially cheaper Chinese accommodations up the Yang-tsi River to Chinkiang. Lastly on to a barge some 6 hours to Yang-chau
, finally arriving at Yang-chau on 23 March 1888.
She wrote to her sister after a short time in China:
After training in China, Geraldine was eventually stationed in Honan
Province.
and Elizabeth Elliot to engage in overseas work. However, her writings have received some criticism for omitting some less favorable details of her subjects, specifically regarding the life of Hudson Taylor. Historians Ruth Tucker and John Pollock have noted with dismay the lack of detail given to Taylor's humanity and personal relationships. Writer Alvyn Austin bluntly accuses her of a "conspiracy of silence" about the workings of the mission. Alfred James Broomhall
's perspective as the definitive historian of the CIM is more sympathetic, as he cites the need for prudence and tact that often motivated Geraldine's editorial decisions.
Her niece, Joy Guinness, wrote her biography entitled Mrs. Howard Taylor: Her Web of Time, published by the China Inland Mission.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
Protestant Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
missionary
Missionary
A missionary is a member of a religious group sent into an area to do evangelism or ministries of service, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care and economic development. The word "mission" originates from 1598 when the Jesuits sent members abroad, derived from the Latin...
to China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, and author of many missionary biographies regarding the history of the China Inland Mission
China Inland Mission
OMF International is an interdenominational Protestant Christian missionary society, founded in Britain by Hudson Taylor on 25 June 1865.-Overview:...
(renamed as Overseas Missionary Fellowship, (now OMF International
OMF International
OMF International is an interdenominational Protestant Christian missionary society, founded in Britain by Hudson Taylor on 25 June 1865.-Overview:...
). She was the daughter of the famous revivalist preacher and author Henry Grattan Guinness
Henry Grattan Guinness
Henry Grattan Guinness D. D. was an Irish Protestant Christian preacher, evangelist and author. He was the great evangelist of the Evangelical awakening and preached during the Ulster Revival of 1859 which drew thousands to hear him...
, a friend of James Hudson Taylor, founder of the CIM. She became Taylor's daughter-in-law when she married his son (and fellow CIM missionary), Frederick Howard Taylor
Frederick Howard Taylor
Frederick Howard Taylor a.k.a F. Howard Taylor , was a British pioneer Protestant Christian missionary to China, author, speaker and second son of James Hudson Taylor, founder of the China Inland Mission , and Maria Jane...
.
Single woman and missionary
Bromley-by-Bow
Bromley-by-Bow, historically and officially Bromley, is a place in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is an inner-city district situated east north-east of Charing Cross.-Toponymy:...
in the East End of London
East End of London
The East End of London, also known simply as the East End, is the area of London, England, United Kingdom, east of the medieval walled City of London and north of the River Thames. Although not defined by universally accepted formal boundaries, the River Lea can be considered another boundary...
where they lived. She attended meetings at "Berger Hall" named after William Thomas Berger
William Thomas Berger
William Thomas Berger was a Christian starch manufacturer in London and owner of Samuel Berger & Co., a patent rice starch manufacturer, who became the first home director of the China Inland Mission with James Hudson Taylor in 1865. At this time the headquarters of the mission agency was located...
.
She left London for China as a second-class passenger on the P&O vessel "Kaisar-i-Hind I" in January, 1888, age 22. The Hundred missionaries had all sailed to China the previous year. Amongst the 25 passengers (16 men, 5 ladies [sic]) aboard the steam ship with her were Miss Mary Reed (daughter of Mrs Henry Reed and sister of Mrs Harry Guinness), Mr & Mrs Hunt (travelling to Hanchung) and the Pigott family of The Sheo Yang Mission
The Sheo Yang Mission
The Sheo Yang Mission was a Protestant Christian missionary society that was involved in sending workers to China during the late Qing Dynasty. It was founded by the Pigott family in 1892 , they had previously been members of the China Inland Mission...
(who were eventually killed during the Boxer Rebellion
Boxer Rebellion
The Boxer Rebellion, also called the Boxer Uprising by some historians or the Righteous Harmony Society Movement in northern China, was a proto-nationalist movement by the "Righteous Harmony Society" , or "Righteous Fists of Harmony" or "Society of Righteous and Harmonious Fists" , in China between...
).
As recorded in "In the Far East" the Kaisar-i-Hind took a route passing Gibraltar (10:30pm, 31 January 1888), calling at Naples and then passing the Straits of Messina; stopping for a day at Aden and then onward to Colombo
Colombo
Colombo is the largest city of Sri Lanka. It is located on the west coast of the island and adjacent to Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte, the capital of Sri Lanka. Colombo is often referred to as the capital of the country, since Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte is a satellite city of Colombo...
, Ceylon
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
.
At Colombo
Colombo
Colombo is the largest city of Sri Lanka. It is located on the west coast of the island and adjacent to Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte, the capital of Sri Lanka. Colombo is often referred to as the capital of the country, since Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte is a satellite city of Colombo...
the missionary party boarded the P&O vessel "S.S. Deccan", bound for Shanghai
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
. A stop in Penang
Penang
Penang is a state in Malaysia and the name of its constituent island, located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia by the Strait of Malacca. It is bordered by Kedah in the north and east, and Perak in the south. Penang is the second smallest Malaysian state in area after Perlis, and the...
, Malaysia allowed Geraldine a first contact with many Chinese who came on board. Then a stop at Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
followed. Her first time on Chinese soil was later at a stop at Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
where she was received by Dr & Mrs Chalmers of the London Missionary Society
London Missionary Society
The London Missionary Society was a non-denominational missionary society formed in England in 1795 by evangelical Anglicans and Nonconformists, largely Congregationalist in outlook, with missions in the islands of the South Pacific and Africa...
who introduced them also to Mr & Mrs Bender of the Basle Mission. Shanghai was reached next. But Shanghai was not their final destination. Staying only long enough to exchange their European clothes for the national Chinese costume, the missionaries started on again, leaving this first station of the China Inland Mission behind them and travelling on the boat Fuh-ho("Happy Harmony") in the substantially cheaper Chinese accommodations up the Yang-tsi River to Chinkiang. Lastly on to a barge some 6 hours to Yang-chau
Yangzhou
Yangzhou is a prefecture-level city in central Jiangsu Province, People's Republic of China. Sitting on the northern bank of the Yangtze River, it borders the provincial capital of Nanjing to the southwest, Huai'an to the north, Yancheng to the northeast, Taizhou to the east, and Zhenjiang across...
, finally arriving at Yang-chau on 23 March 1888.
She wrote to her sister after a short time in China:
After training in China, Geraldine was eventually stationed in Honan
Henan
Henan , is a province of the People's Republic of China, located in the central part of the country. Its one-character abbreviation is "豫" , named after Yuzhou , a Han Dynasty state that included parts of Henan...
Province.
Legacy
Geraldine Taylor's books have inspired generations of young missionaries such as JimJim Elliot
Philip James Elliot was an evangelical Christian who was one of five missionaries killed while participating in Operation Auca, an attempt to evangelize the Waodani people of Ecuador.-Early life:...
and Elizabeth Elliot to engage in overseas work. However, her writings have received some criticism for omitting some less favorable details of her subjects, specifically regarding the life of Hudson Taylor. Historians Ruth Tucker and John Pollock have noted with dismay the lack of detail given to Taylor's humanity and personal relationships. Writer Alvyn Austin bluntly accuses her of a "conspiracy of silence" about the workings of the mission. Alfred James Broomhall
Alfred James Broomhall
Alfred James Broomhall , a.k.a. A. J. Broomhall, was a British Protestant Christian medical missionary to China, and author and historian of the China Inland Mission .-Chinese roots:“Jim” Broomhall was born in Chefoo , Shandong, China, in 1911,...
's perspective as the definitive historian of the CIM is more sympathetic, as he cites the need for prudence and tact that often motivated Geraldine's editorial decisions.
Her niece, Joy Guinness, wrote her biography entitled Mrs. Howard Taylor: Her Web of Time, published by the China Inland Mission.
Published works
- Peru: Its Story, People and Religion (1909)
- In the Far East (1889)
- The Story of the China Inland MissionChina Inland MissionOMF International is an interdenominational Protestant Christian missionary society, founded in Britain by Hudson Taylor on 25 June 1865.-Overview:...
(2 Vols.) read vol II here 1893 1902 (Biography of Xi ShengmoXi ShengmoXi Sheng Mo 席勝魔 also known as Pastor Hsi, was a Chinese Christian leader.-Life:He was born Xi Liaozhi in a village near Linfen, became a Confucian scholar, and after his conversion to Christianity changed his given name to Shengmo or Conqueror of Demons...
) - Guinness of Honan, China Inland Mission (1930) (Biography of her brother, Dr. Gershom Whitfield Guinness)
- Borden of Yale '09 1913 (Biography of William Whiting BordenWilliam Whiting BordenWilliam Whiting Borden was a Christian missionary to Northern China and the heir to the Borden, Inc. family fortune.-Life and work:...
) - Hudson Taylor In Early Years; The Growth of a Soul 1911
- Hudson Taylor and the China Inland Mission; The Growth of a Work of God 1918
- Though War Should Rise 1914
- Pearl's Secret 1920?
- The Call of China's Great North-West, or, Kansu and Beyond, London: China Inland Mission (1923)
- With P’u and His Brigands 1922
- Hudson Taylor's Spiritual Secret 1932 (an abridged version of the previous 2-volume biography)
- Faith's Venture 1932
- Margaret King’s Vision 1934
- The Triumph of John and Betty StamJohn and Betty StamJohn Cornelius Stam and Elisabeth Alden Scott Stam, aka, "Betty" were American Christian missionaries to China, with the China Inland Mission, during the Chinese Civil War...
1935 - By Faith: biography of Henry Frost 1938
- Sirs, Be of Good Cheer 1941
- A Story Without End
- Behind the Ranges: Fraser of Lisuland, S. W. China, Lutterworth press and the China inland mission 1944 (Biography of James O. FraserJames O. FraserJames Outram Fraser was a British Protestant Christian missionary to China with the China Inland Mission. He pioneered work among the Lisu people of Southwestern China in the early part of the 20th century.- First years in Yunnan:...
)