Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-25wd4 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-25T18:53:26.288Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

‘Not Quite Gentlemen’: an Examination of ‘Middling Class’ Protestant Missionaries from Britain, c. 1850–1900

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 March 2011

C. P. Williams
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

Many missionaries in the nineteenth century came from the lower middle and artisan classes. From this two deductions have been drawn. Firstly, it has been pointed out that these were the social origins of many of the most dynamic and discontented elements of Victorian society, for example, trade union leaders. This parallel has led t o the suggestion that the typical nineteenth-century missionary was a potential radical who could easily become a threat to the status quo. Secondly, the employment of so many men from the skilled mechanic class has been taken to indicate some awareness by missionary administrators of the wider dimensions of the gospel message; that they were concerned with the material as well as the spiritual, with the passing on of practical skills as well as with the inculcating of a new religious understanding. It will be argued below, on the evidence from four British missionary societies, the Church Missionary Society, the London Missonary Society, the Wesleyan Methodist Missionary Society and the China Inland Mission, that these deductions require substantial qualification.

Type
Articles
Information
The Journal of Ecclesiastical History , Volume 31 , Issue 3 , July 1980 , pp. 301 - 315
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1980

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1 Warren, Max, Social History and Christian Mission, London 1967, ch. 2Google Scholar ; Piggin, F. S.. ‘The Social Background, Motivation and Training of British Protestant Missionaries to India, 1789-1858’, Univ. of London, Ph.D. thesis, 1974, 19–58Google Scholar ; Williams, C. P., ‘The Recruitment and Training of Overseas Missionaries in England between 1850 and 1900’, Univ. of Bristol, M.Litt. thesis, 1976, ch. 4Google Scholar.

2 Warren, op. cit., 42-3; Piggin, op. cit., 44, 57-8.

3 Warren, op. cit., 43.

4 Ibid., 43-4.

5 Piggin, op. cit., 47; Williams, op. cit., 144-8, 152-6.

6 Neale, R. S., Class and Ideology in the Nineteenth Century, London 1972, 26-7, 30.Google Scholar

7 Ibid., 30, 32.

8 Ibid., 21.

9 Church Missionary Society (hereafter cited as C.M.S.), G/AC 1/17, 172-5, 16 May 1868, Henry Venn to Dr Dyer. Cf. Knight, W., ed., Memoir of the Rev. H. Venn: The Missionary Secretariat of Henry Venn, B.D., London 1880, 246Google Scholar ; Conference on Missions Held in 1860 at Liverpool, London 1860 (hereafter cited as Liverpool Conference), 246Google Scholar.

10 C.M.S., G/AZ 1/1, no. 109, Special Paper, 1854.

11 Ibid., no. 228, 1, 2 February 1864, Report of Sub-Committee. The London Missionary Society (hereafter cited as L.M.S.) salaries were comparable (L.M.S., Box 2, Bk- 3. 339. 4 March 1886, Funds and Agency Committee Minutes). The Wesleyan Methodist Missionary Society salaries were sometimes rather better (The Missionary Controversy: Discussion, Evidence and Report, 1890, by Order of the General Committee of Wesleyan Methodist Missionary Society (hereafter cited as Missionary Controversy), London 1890, 240-1).

12 C.M.S., C/AC 2/1, 25-7, 4 August 1857, Rev. W. Knight to Rev. S. Cousins. Cf. the official regulations and their provisions (C.M.S., G/AZ 1/1, no. 87, February 1855).

13 Cf. C/AC 1/3, 3 February 1853, G. Thompson to C.M.S.; cf. C.M.S., G/Ci, xxix, 277, 8 February 1853, Clerical Sub-Committee Minutes.

14 L.M.S., Box 27, application forms prior to 1861.

15 C.M.S., G/AZ1/1, no. 21, questions to referees.

16 L.M.S., Box 27, 13, 292, 12 january 1858, S.Mateerto L.M.S.

17 Moule, G. E., A Retrospect of Sixty Years, Shanghai 1907, 14.Google Scholar

18 Lunn, H. S., Chapters from My Life, London 1921, 60.Google Scholar

19 The Missionary Controversy, 6.

20 Church Missionary Intelligence (hereafter cited as C.M.I.), N.S., iii (1867). 258Google Scholar ; cf. Taylor, I.. ‘The Great Missionary Failure’, The Fortnightly Review, xliv (1888), 498Google Scholar ; Knollys, Henry, English Life in China, London 1885, 207Google Scholar ; Church Congress Report (1891), 183Google Scholar ; Spottiswoode, G. A., The Official Report of the Missionary Conference of the Anglican Communion, London 1894, 61Google Scholar ; Thompson, R. Wardlaw, Griffith John: The Story of Fifty Years in China, London 1906, 264Google Scholar.

21 C.M.S., G/AC 1/17, 172-5, 16 May 1868, Venn to Rev. Dr Dyer. Cf. , Knight, Memoir of H. Venn, 246–7Google Scholar.

22 Lovett, R., History of the London Missionary Society, 1795-1895, 2 vols, London 1899, ii. 668–70.Google Scholar

23 Wesleyan Methodist Magazine, 5th ser., vi (1860), 429Google Scholar ; Work and Workers in the Mission Field, iii (1894), 140Google Scholar ; , Williams, ‘Recruitment and Training’, 227Google Scholar.

24 Cf. C.M.S., G/AC 1/10, 124-5, 17 February 1853, Knight to Rev. V. Ryan, Principal of Highbury Teacher Training College. Later in 1853 all transfers from Highbury to an ordination course were forbidden (C.M.S., G/C 1, xxix, 409, 24 May 1853, Committee of Correspondence Minutes hereafter cited as C.C.M.).

25 C.M.S., G/C 1, xxviii, 256, 1 July 1851, Clerical Sub-Committee Minutes.

26 C.M.S., C/AC 1/3/372, 12 July 1851, J. C. Guest to C.M.S., cf. G/C 1, xxix, 184, 7 December 1852, Clerical Sub-Committee Minutes.

27 C.I.M., letter from Taylor to all candidates and in use by October 1867.

28 C.I.M., 9 April 1871, letter from Taylor.

29 C.I.M., 17 October 1873, letter from Taylor.

30 Pollock, J. C., Hudson Taylor and Maria: Pioneers in China, London 1962, 163.Google Scholar

31 C.I.M., 5 November 1868, M'Carthy to William Berger.

32 Occasional Papers of the China Inland Mission (hereafter cited as O.P), 31 (1872), 9 and for the later policyGoogle Scholarcf. , Williams, ‘Recruitment and Training’, 227–8Google Scholar.

33 Williams, op. cit., 47.

34 C.M.S., G/CC b 8/3, February 1899, Centenary Review Committee. Cf. for L.M.S., Box 9, Bk. 12, 12, 3 January 1876, Examination Committee Minutes (hereafter cited as E.C.M.).

35 Minutes of the Methodist Conference, 1881, 200.Google Scholar

36 Williams, op. cit., 54-5, 58-60, 62-3, 66.

37 C.M.S., G/AZ i/i, no. 132, 8 Octobe r 1861, Venn to the Rev. T. Green.

38 C.M.S., C/AC 2/2, 415, 9 june 1874, letter from the Rev. H. Wright.

39 C.M.S., C/A C 2/1, 20 January 1859, letter from the Rev. W. Knight.

40 G.M.S., N.S., iii (1867), 26a.Google Scholar

41 Liverpool Conference, 240 ; cf. C.M.I., xiv (1863), 272Google Scholar ; C.M.S., G/AZ 2/1, 72, 21 October 1896, Memorandum of Rev. Wilkinson, D. E. G.; Report of the London Missionary Society (hereafter cited as R.L.M.S.), 1893, 12Google Scholar.

42 Liverpool Conference, 240-1.

43 C.I.M., 10 October 1861, Taylor to Berger ; , Pollock, Hudson Taylor, 113Google Scholar ; The Revival, 1 09 1864, 135Google Scholar.

44 O.P., 31 (1872), 5.Google ScholarPubMed

45 C.I.M., 6 and 23-5 December 1868, Berger to Taylor.

46 The Christian, 21 01 1875.Google Scholar

47 C.I.M., 28 March 1873, Taylor to Henry Soltau.

48 C.M.S., G/AZ l/i, no. 109, Special paper, 1854. Cf. C.M.S., G/C 1, xxxviii, 107, 13 July 1868, General Committee Minutes ; R.L.M.S., 1868, 28Google Scholar.

49 In the 16 years prior to 1884 it was calculated that only one-third of their students had finished their courses before being sent abroad (Annual Report of the Wesleyan Theological Institution, 1884, 15)Google Scholar.

50 The early C.I.M. candidates spent at most a couple of months with Taylor or his Home Director (China's Millions, 12 1875, 69)Google Scholar.

51 In 1886 the new Deputy Director, J. W. Stevenson, set up a training course in China for all prospective missionaries (C.I.M., 29 June 1886, Stevenson to Taylor).

52 , Knight, Memoir of H. Venn, 246.Google Scholar

53 C.M.S., G/AC 1/5, 117-18, 9 May 1846, Venn to Archdeacon Musgrave.

54 R.L.M.S., 1868, 27.Google Scholar

55 , Spottiswoode, Missionary Conference, 44–63Google Scholar ; World Missionary Conference, 1910 , Report of Commissions, , Edinburgh n.d., v. 37-8, 72, 156, 277, 281Google Scholar.

56 Stock, E., The History of the Church Missionary Society, 4 vols, London 1899-1916, iii. 355, 703.Google Scholar

57 C.M.S., C/AC 2/1, 105-106, 7 October 1859, Knight to Rev. R. Twigg.

58 C.M.S., G/CC b 8/1, 17 November 1896, Rev. T. S. Drury, Principal of Islington, to the Centenary Review Committee.

59 C.M.S., G/AZ 1/1, no. 132, 21 July 1863, C. C. Fenn to Green; G/AT m 1/2, iv, I2 july 1870 Islington Visitors' Minutes.

60 C.M.S., G/AT m 1/2, iii, 287-9, 2 1 December 1863, Islington Visitors' Minutes.

61 C.M.S., G/AT m 1/2, iv, 77, 12 July 1870, Islington Visitors' Minutes.

62 C.M.I., N.s., iii (1867), 258.Google Scholar

63 , Knight, Memoir of H. Venn, 247.Google Scholar

64 L.M.S., Box 41, 284, 28 November 1881, Board Minutes.

65 World Missionary Conference, Report, v. 17, my italics.

66 , Pollock, Hudson Taylor, 93.Google Scholar

67 The Times, 10 03 1869, 8.Google Scholar

68 , Neale, Class and Ideology, 22Google Scholar.

69 , Lovett, History of L.M.S., i. 64,67-73, 127.Google Scholar

70 , Stock, History of C.M.S., i. 71–2Google Scholar ; Hennell, M.. John Venn and the Clapham Sect, London 1958, 243-4Google Scholar ; Pinnington, J., ‘Church Principles in the Early Years of the Church Missionary Society’, JTS, N.S., XX (1969), 527–32.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

71 C.M.S., G/AZ 1/1, no. 109, Special Paper, 1854; C/AC 1/3/438, 4 September 1851, Venn to Rev. C. F. Carey.

72 Stock, op. cit., iii. 96; C.M.S., C/A6/N, 23 November 1875, Nyanza Sub-Committee Minutes.

73 Stock, op. cit., iii. 96.

74 Ibid., 97-8.

75 C.M.S., C/AT m 5, Register of Candidates, shows that in 1875 the C.M.S. had 79 applicants, 72 in 1877, but 117 in 1876.

76 (Harrison, J. W.), A. M. Mackay: Pioneer Missionary of the Church Missionary Society of Uganda, by his Sister, London 1891, 20.Google Scholar

77 Ibid., 26-8.

78 Ibid., 29.

79 Cust, R. N., Notes on Missionary Subjects, London 1889, 16.Google Scholar

80 C.M.S., G/AK 2, 20 January 1891, Report ot'Sub-Committee B on the Keswick Letter.

81 Liverpool Conference, 57; cf. 100 ; Tatchell, A., Medical Missions in China in Connexion with the Wesleyan Methodist Church, London n.d., 56Google Scholar ; Lectures on Medical Missions Delivered at the Instance of the Edinburgh Medical Missionary Society, Edinburgh 1849, 115.Google Scholar

82 Lowe, John, Medical Missions: Their Place and Power, London 1886, 10Google Scholar ; Johnston, J., ed., Report of the Centenary Conference on the Protestant Missions of the World, London 1888, 2 vols, London 1889, ii. 104–5Google Scholar.

83 C.M.S., G/C 1, I, 378-9, 7 July 1885, C.C.M. ; Proceedings of the General Conference on Foreign Missions Held at the Conference Hall in Mildmay Park, London, in October 1878, ed. by the Secretaries of the Conference, London 1879, 212Google Scholar.

84 R.L.M.S., 1899, 10.Google Scholar

85 Tatchell, op. cit., 107.

86 Proc. of the Church Missionary Society, 1894, 279Google Scholar ; L.M.S., Box 11, Bit, 14, 16-17, 9 June 1896, E.C.M.

87 China's Millions, 07/08 1887, 93.Google Scholar

88 , Johnston, Centenary Conference, i. 424.Google Scholar

89 C.M.S., G/C 1, lii, 410, 9 January 1888, General Committee Minutes and ibid., lv, 356, 15 April 1891; L.M.S., Box 44, 249-50, 9 March 1889, Board Minutes.

90 R.L.M.S. 1893, 12Google Scholar ; cf. ibid., 1891, 10-11.

91 C.M.S., G/AK 1, 27 February 1891, Report of Sub-Committee A on the Keswick Letter; L.M.S., Box 10, Bk. 13, 98, 26 November 1888, and ibid., 145-6, 11 February 1890, E.C.M.

92 Barber, W. T. A., David Hill: Missionary and Saint, London 1898, 229Google Scholar ; Rattenbury, B., David Hill: Friend of China, London 1949, 107Google Scholar.

93 Findlay, G. G. and Holdsworth, W. W., The History of the Wesleyan Methodist Missionary Society, 5 vols.; London 1921-1924, v. 540Google Scholar ; Champness, E. M., The Life Story of Thomas Champness, London n.d., 239–43Google Scholar.

94 C.M.S., G/C S2, 164, 8 July 1895, Sub-Committee on the Relations of Lay and Clerical Missionaries.

95 Thus, in the C.M.S., of the 66 lay graduates recruited in the period 1881-1900, 54 (81.82%) were qualified in medicine (C.M.S., Register of Missionaries (Clerical, Lay and Female) and Native Clergy, from 1804-1904, private circulation n.d.). The comparative figures for the L.M.S. are 35 out of 43 (83.33%) (Sibree, J., ed., A Register of Missionaries, Deputations etc. from 1796 to 1923, 4th edn, London 1923)Google Scholar.

96 Oliver, R., The Missionary Factor in East Africa, London 1952, 213.Google Scholar