Geraldine Taylor
Mary Geraldine Guinness | |
|---|---|
| Born | Error: Invalid birth date for calculating age |
| Died | June 6, 1949 (aged 86) |
| Occupation(s) | Protestant missionary, author |
| Known for | Missionary work in China, biographies of China Inland Mission |
Mary Geraldine Guinness (; 25 December 1862 – 6 June 1949), widely recognized as Mrs. Howard Taylor, was a British Protestant missionary who served in China and authored numerous biographies chronicling the development of the China Inland Mission (CIM).
Life
Mary Geraldine, born in 1865 to revivalist ministers and writers Fanny Grattan Guinness and Henry Grattan Guinness, was introduced to missionary endeavors early on through her father’s association with James Hudson Taylor, the CIM’s founder. She eventually wed Taylor’s son, fellow CIM missionary Frederick Howard Taylor.
Single woman and missionary
During her youth, she led Bible study sessions for factory employees in Bromley-by-Bow, East London, and participated in gatherings at Berger Hall, named after William Thomas Berger.
At 22 years old, she embarked from London to China aboard the P&O ship Kaisar-i-Hind I in January 1888. The group of 25 passengers included distinguished missionaries such as Miss Mary Reed and the Pigott family from The Sheo Yang Mission. The journey featured stops at Gibraltar, Naples, Aden, Colombo, Penang, and Singapore before arriving in Hong Kong—her initial exposure to Chinese territory—where she met with leading missionaries from the London Missionary Society and Basel Mission.
After a short period in Shanghai to trade Western garments for Chinese clothing, she proceeded up the Yangtze River to Zhenjiang aboard the Fuh-ho, opting for affordable Chinese-style lodging. From there, she continued by barge to Yangzhou, reaching her destination on 23 March 1888.
Her early letters reveal a deep dedication:
Following her preparation in China, Geraldine was deployed to Henan Province.
Published works
- In the Far East (1889)
- The Story of the China Inland Mission (1893)
- One of China's Scholars: The Early Life and Conversion of Pastor Hsi (1900)
- Peru: Its Story, People and Religion (1909)
- Hudson Taylor In Early Years; The Growth of a Soul (1911)
- Borden of Yale '09 (1913)
- Though War Should Rise (1914)
- Hudson Taylor and the China Inland Mission; The Growth of a Work of God (1918)
- The Call of China's Great North West - Kansu and Beyond (1920)
- Pearl's Secret (1920)
- With P’u and His Brigands (1922)
- The Call of China's Great North-West or Kansu and Beyond (1923)
- Guinness of Honan (1930)
- Hudson Taylor's Spiritual Secret (1932)
- Faith's Venture (1932)
- Margaret King’s Vision (1934)
- The Triumph of John and Betty Stam (1935)
- By Faith: Henry W. Frost and the China Inland Mission (1938)
- Sirs, Be of Good Cheer (1941)
- A Story Without End
- Behind the Ranges: Fraser of Lisuland (1944)
Sources
External links
- 1865 births
- 1949 deaths
- Protestant writers
- 19th-century English historians
- English Protestant missionaries
- Protestant missionaries in China
- British missionaries in China
- Guinness family
- Female Christian missionaries
- Clergy from Liverpool
- Family of Hudson Taylor
- British women historians
- 20th-century English historians