Herbert Hudson Taylor
Encyclopedia
Herbert Hudson Taylor British
Protestant Christian
missionary
to China
, author, speaker and eldest son of James Hudson Taylor, founder of the China Inland Mission
and Maria Jane Dyer
. He served there for over 50 years – the last three as one of the prisoners of the Japanese at the Weifang
internment camp during World War II
along with Eric Liddell
and 1500 others.
Herbert Taylor was four when his father founded the China Inland Mission. He had been born in London
during his parents’ first furlough in England together. At the time of his birth, they were living with his aunt and uncle Amelia and Benjamin Broomhall
at 63 Westbourne Grove, in Bayswater
. In 1866 at the age of five Herbert and his parents, three siblings and sixteen other missionaries sailed to China aboard the Lammermuir (clipper)
as part of the famous Lammermuir Party
. During the four-month long voyage the ship was nearly wrecked by two typhoons.
On arrival in China, the family adopted Chinese clothing and food and set off to find a place to establish a mission cente in Zhejiang
. On the way, Herbert almost drowned when he fell overboard into the Grand Canal of China
during their travels. Another scare happened shortly afterward when he was bitten by a dog on the face. His sister, Grace Dyer Taylor
died of meningitis
near Hangzhou
within the first year. When he was six the family was nearly killed by a rioting mob during the Yangzhou riot
in 1868. Finally in 1870 he was sent home with his surviving siblings with Emily Blatchley
to live in London, separated from his parents. His mother died in China soon after they arrived home.
Like his father, he enrolled in the Royal London Hospital
medical college. After two years he decided to return to China to become one of the charter teachers at the newly founded China Inland Mission Chefoo School
at (Yantai
). After marrying a fellow missionary, Jeanie Gray, they endured tumultuous years in China, including the Boxer Rebellion
, the fall of the Qing dynasty
, the Warlord era, and the Second Sino-Japanese War
(1937).
In 1930 the China Inland Mission published “Ren Ch'eng-Yüan, A Tamarisk Garden Blessed with Rain. Or the Autobiography of Pastor Ren. Translated and edited by Herbert Hudson Taylor & Marshall Broomhall”.
At the age of 80 he was interned by the Japanese at the Weihsien or Weifang
concentration camp after Japan
had entered the war in 1941. Everyone at Weifang were liberated in 1945 by American paratroopers.
Descendants of Herbert Hudson Taylor continued his full-time ministry today in the communities in Hong Kong
and Taiwan
. Grandson, the late Rev. James Hudson Taylor III (1929–2009) and his son Rev. James Hudson Taylor IV in Taiwan.
Another of Herbert Taylor’s grandchildren is Mary Previte
who served in the New Jersey General Assembly
representing the 6th legislative district from 1998 to 2006.
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...
, author, speaker and eldest son of James Hudson Taylor, founder 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:...
and Maria Jane Dyer
Maria Jane Dyer
Maria Jane Dyer was a British Protestant Christian missionary to China, and "Mother" of the China Inland Mission with her husband, founder James Hudson Taylor. She was a pioneer missionary and educator there for 12 years . In 1858, she married Taylor and was an invaluable assistant and influence...
. He served there for over 50 years – the last three as one of the prisoners of the Japanese at the Weifang
Weifang
Weifang is a prefecture-level city in central Shandong province, People's Republic of China. It borders Dongying to the northwest, Zibo to the west, Linyi to the southwest, Rizhao to the south, Qingdao to the east, and looks out to the Laizhou Bay to the north.-History:Weifang is a historical city...
internment camp during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
along with Eric Liddell
Eric Liddell
Eric Henry Liddell was a Scottish athlete, rugby union international player, and missionary.Liddell was the winner of the men's 400 metres at the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris...
and 1500 others.
Herbert Taylor was four when his father founded the China Inland Mission. He had been born in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
during his parents’ first furlough in England together. At the time of his birth, they were living with his aunt and uncle Amelia and Benjamin Broomhall
Benjamin Broomhall
Benjamin Broomhall was a British advocate of foreign missions, administrator of the China Inland Mission, and author. Broomhall served as the General Secretary of the China Inland Mission ,...
at 63 Westbourne Grove, in Bayswater
Bayswater
Bayswater is an area of west London in the City of Westminster and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea to the west . It is a built-up district located 3 miles west-north-west of Charing Cross, bordering the north of Hyde Park over Kensington Gardens and having a population density of...
. In 1866 at the age of five Herbert and his parents, three siblings and sixteen other missionaries sailed to China aboard the Lammermuir (clipper)
Lammermuir (clipper)
The second ship to bear the name Lammermuir was an extreme composite clipper ship built in 1864 by W. Pile & Co of West Hartlepool for John "Jock" "White Hat" Willis & Son, London...
as part of the famous Lammermuir Party
Lammermuir Party
The Lammermuir Party of 1866 was a British Protestant Christian group of missionaries to China with the China Inland Mission led by James Hudson Taylor, who were identified with the tea clipper Lammermuir which brought them to China. Mission historians have indicated that this event was a turning...
. During the four-month long voyage the ship was nearly wrecked by two typhoons.
On arrival in China, the family adopted Chinese clothing and food and set off to find a place to establish a mission cente in Zhejiang
Zhejiang
Zhejiang is an eastern coastal province of the People's Republic of China. The word Zhejiang was the old name of the Qiantang River, which passes through Hangzhou, the provincial capital...
. On the way, Herbert almost drowned when he fell overboard into the Grand Canal of China
Grand Canal of China
The Grand Canal in China, also known as the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal is the longest canal or artificial river in the world. Starting at Beijing, it passes through Tianjin and the provinces of Hebei, Shandong, Jiangsu and Zhejiang to the city of Hangzhou...
during their travels. Another scare happened shortly afterward when he was bitten by a dog on the face. His sister, Grace Dyer Taylor
Grace Dyer Taylor
Grace Dyer Taylor was the eldest surviving daughter of James Hudson Taylor and Maria Jane Dyer, Christian missionaries to China...
died of meningitis
Meningitis
Meningitis is inflammation of the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord, known collectively as the meninges. The inflammation may be caused by infection with viruses, bacteria, or other microorganisms, and less commonly by certain drugs...
near Hangzhou
Hangzhou
Hangzhou , formerly transliterated as Hangchow, is the capital and largest city of Zhejiang Province in Eastern China. Governed as a sub-provincial city, and as of 2010, its entire administrative division or prefecture had a registered population of 8.7 million people...
within the first year. When he was six the family was nearly killed by a rioting mob during the Yangzhou riot
Yangzhou riot
The Yangzhou riot of August 22–23, 1868 was a brief crisis in Anglo-Chinese relations during the late Qing Dynasty. The crisis was fomented by the gentry of Yangzhou who opposed the presence of foreign Christian missionaries in the city, who claimed that they were legally residing under the...
in 1868. Finally in 1870 he was sent home with his surviving siblings with Emily Blatchley
Emily Blatchley
Emily Blatchley was a British Protestant Christian missionary to China with the China Inland Mission. She pioneered the work of single women missionaries in China and served as personal secretary to the founder of the mission, James Hudson Taylor.-Biographical sketch:Blatchley lost her mother and...
to live in London, separated from his parents. His mother died in China soon after they arrived home.
Like his father, he enrolled in the Royal London Hospital
Royal London Hospital
The Royal London Hospital was founded in September 1740 and was originally named The London Infirmary. The name changed to The London Hospital in 1748 and then to The Royal London Hospital on its 250th anniversary in 1990. The first patients were treated at a house in Featherstone Street,...
medical college. After two years he decided to return to China to become one of the charter teachers at the newly founded China Inland Mission Chefoo School
Chefoo School
The Chefoo School a.k.a. Protestant Collegiate School or China Inland Mission School was a Christian boarding school established by the China Inland Mission - under James Hudson Taylor- at Chefoo , in Shandong province in northern China, in 1880...
at (Yantai
Yantai
Yantai is a prefecture-level city in northeastern Shandong province, People's Republic of China. Located on the southern coast of the Bohai Sea and the eastern coast of the Laizhou Bay, Yantai borders the cities of Qingdao and Weihai to the southwest and east respectively.The largest fishing...
). After marrying a fellow missionary, Jeanie Gray, they endured tumultuous years in China, including 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...
, the fall of the Qing dynasty
Qing Dynasty
The Qing Dynasty was the last dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912 with a brief, abortive restoration in 1917. It was preceded by the Ming Dynasty and followed by the Republic of China....
, the Warlord era, and the Second Sino-Japanese War
Second Sino-Japanese War
The Second Sino-Japanese War was a military conflict fought primarily between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. From 1937 to 1941, China fought Japan with some economic help from Germany , the Soviet Union and the United States...
(1937).
In 1930 the China Inland Mission published “Ren Ch'eng-Yüan, A Tamarisk Garden Blessed with Rain. Or the Autobiography of Pastor Ren. Translated and edited by Herbert Hudson Taylor & Marshall Broomhall”.
At the age of 80 he was interned by the Japanese at the Weihsien or Weifang
Weifang
Weifang is a prefecture-level city in central Shandong province, People's Republic of China. It borders Dongying to the northwest, Zibo to the west, Linyi to the southwest, Rizhao to the south, Qingdao to the east, and looks out to the Laizhou Bay to the north.-History:Weifang is a historical city...
concentration camp after Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
had entered the war in 1941. Everyone at Weifang were liberated in 1945 by American paratroopers.
Descendants of Herbert Hudson Taylor continued his full-time ministry today in the communities in 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...
and Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
. Grandson, the late Rev. James Hudson Taylor III (1929–2009) and his son Rev. James Hudson Taylor IV in Taiwan.
Another of Herbert Taylor’s grandchildren is Mary Previte
Mary Previte
Mary Evelyn Previte is an American Democratic Party politician who served in the New Jersey General Assembly, where she represented the 6th legislative district from 1998 to 2006.-Life and career:...
who served in the New Jersey General Assembly
New Jersey General Assembly
The New Jersey General Assembly is the lower house of the New Jersey Legislature.Since the election of 1967 , the Assembly has consisted of 80 members. Two members are elected from each of New Jersey's 40 legislative districts for a term of two years, each representing districts with average...
representing the 6th legislative district from 1998 to 2006.