Lois Thorne hymn book and dairy
Hymn book (in Chinese), 1894. Diary for 1900 containing brief and infrequent entries (mainly for the months of April, May, August and September), with a few mentioning the Boxer rebellion and Thorne's subsequent departure for England. Brief notes and financial accounts at rear of volume.
| Order number: |
MMS Box 1204 |
|---|---|
| Date(s) of creation: |
1894-1900 |
| Level: |
Sub-Sub-Series |
| Format: | Archive |
| Main author: | Thorne; Lois Anne (1858-1904); née Malpas, evangalistic and medical missionary, missionary wife |
| collection |
SOAS Archive |
|---|---|
| id |
MMS.17.02.09.12 |
| recordtype |
archive |
| scb_item_location |
Archive & Special Collections |
| item_location |
Archive & Special Collections |
| scb_loan_type |
Reference only |
| scb_order_with |
MMS Box 1204 |
| callnumber |
MMS/17/02/09/12 |
| callnumber_txt |
MMS/17/02/09/12 |
| callnumber-sort |
MMS/17/02/09/12 |
| prefix_number |
12 |
| scb_previous_numbers |
MCH Acc No 4 |
| title |
Lois Thorne hymn book and dairy |
| scb_date_creation |
1894-1900 |
| scb_level |
Sub-Sub-Series |
| level_sort |
6/Collection/Sub-Collection/Sub-Sub-Collection/Sub-Sub-Sub-Collection/Series/Sub-Series/Sub-Sub-Series/ |
| scb_extent |
2 items |
| author |
Thorne; Lois Anne (1858-1904); née Malpas, evangalistic and medical missionary, missionary wife |
| author_facet |
Thorne; Lois Anne (1858-1904); née Malpas, evangalistic and medical missionary, missionary wife |
| authorStr |
Thorne; Lois Anne (1858-1904); née Malpas, evangalistic and medical missionary, missionary wife |
| author_letter |
Thorne; Lois Anne (1858-1904); née Malpas, evangalistic and medical missionary, missionary wife |
| format |
Archive |
| scb_admin_history |
Lois Anne Malpas was born to Wesleyan Methodist parents, James and Kezia (d.1877), at Pwllmeyric, near Chepstow, Monmouthshire, in 1858. In response to James Hudson Taylor's appeal for missionaries she applied to serve in China and was accepted by the China Inland Mission (CIM). She set sail on 10th October 1883, arriving in Shanghai on 14 December. She spent over a year in Che Fu [Chefoo] learning Chinese before (in February 1885) being sent to Yang Chou [Yangshou] on the banks of the Yangtze River. Here she was involved with evangelising to both men and women but by the summer had relocated to Yunnan Fu [Kunming]. Evangelising to women - both in the city and in surrounding villages - she worked in co-operation with the Bible Christian missionaries Samuel Thorne and Thomas Vanstone. In June 1887 she moved to Kweiyang [Guiyang] and then a few weeks later to Chungking [Chongqing].
In 1888 Malpas left the CIM in order to wed Samuel Thorne (1860-1891). They married on 24 April 1888 at Pao Ning and by June had moved to Chaotung. Mrs Thorne now assisted her husband with his evangelical work (including class meetings and visits to local villages) and the sale of Christian texts but also developed her own work specifically amongst women as well as providing a basic medical service. Throughout 1889 her health was poor and by June 1890 she required rest at the CIM sanatorium in Che Fu [Chefoo]. By March 1891 her health had improved enough for her to return to Chaotung and resume her duties. However, later that year her husband became ill whilst visiting a local village and was forced to return to Chaotung where he died of typhus on 23 September 1891. After a few weeks grieving in Tungchuan [Tangdan] Mrs Thorne returned to Chaotung but was encouraged by her colleagues to take a furlough in England.
Mrs Thorne was back in England by the summer of 1892 and was soon involved in giving talks to members of the Bible Christians. Her popular talks about her missionary experiences often included her appearing in Chinese dress and singing familiar hymns in Chinese. Her health having recovered she was asked by the Bible Christian foreign mission to represent them in Chaotung and she arrived there in June 1894 (having set sail from England aboard the ss Parmatta on 21 December 1893).
After three years in Chaotung developing on the previous work she and her husband had begun she relocated to Yunnan Fu [Kunming]. There had been no mission for over a year so during the summer of 1897 Mrs Thorne began to re-establish the mission by securing new property and developing a congregation and Methodist community. A riding accident meant she had to leave Yunnan Fu [Kunming] during the summer of 1899 with her relocating to the more established mission at Tungchuan [Tangdan] where her experience and language skills were much appreciated. The outbreak of the Boxer "Rebellion" brought difficulties throughout the province for missionaries and Mrs Thorne, along with some of her other European colleagues, decided to leave Tungchuan [Tangdan] in August 1900 for Hong Kong. By October 1900 Mrs Thorne was back on English soil and again she found herself in demand to give talks at missionary meetings, etc. However, by February 1901 her health had begun to deteriorate again and this lead to a long and difficult period of convalescence. By the autumn of 1903 her health had recovered sufficiently to enable her to return to lecture work and she applied to return to China. The latter was declined on medical grounds and as the year wore on her health suffered and worsened until she died from an internal haemorrhage on 26 November 1904 at Newport, Isle-of-Wight.
Further Reading:
Parsons, R. K., My moving tent : a biographical sketch of Lois Anna Thorne 1858-1904 (1985). |
| scb_custodial_history |
The Hymn book (and possibly the diary as well) was previously in the custody of C J Byworth, niece of Lois Malpas. |
| scb_acquisition |
Transferred to SOAS Archive from MCOD, 29 October 1984 |
| description |
Hymn book (in Chinese), 1894.
Diary for 1900 containing brief and infrequent entries (mainly for the months of April, May, August and September), with a few mentioning the Boxer rebellion and Thorne's subsequent departure for England. Brief notes and financial accounts at rear of volume. |
| scb_related_name_code |
GB/SOASNAF/P994 |
| scb_related_name_relationship |
Subject of |
| scb_place_code |
1814991 7729894 |
| scb_access_status |
Open |
| scb_copyright |
Copyright probably held by Methodist Missionary Society. |
| scb_use_restrictions |
For permission to publish, please contact Archives & Special Collections, SOAS Library in the first instance |
| language |
English Chinese |
| language_search |
English Chinese |
| scb_related_material |
Little primary material is extant for the Bible Christian Missionary Society, although minute books (MMS/Home/Minutes/Bible Christian/FBN 8) do exist for some of the period Lois Thorne was in China.
Copies of or extracts from Thorne's letters are reproduced in the Bible Christian Magazine. Material relating to her work whilst unmarried and a member of the China Inland Mission can be found within that collection, including amongst the pages of their publication 'China's Millions'. |
| hierarchy_top_id_raw |
MMS |
| hierarchy_sequence |
MMS.0017.0002.0009.0012 |