Gerald Edgcumbe Hadow (13 June 1911 – 27 February 1978

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

) was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

Christian missionary A Christian mission is an organized effort for the propagation of the Christian faith. Missions involve sending individuals and groups across boundaries, most commonly geographical boundaries, to carry on evangelism or other activities, such as ...

East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territories make up Eastern Africa: Due to the historical ...

Early life

He was the son of Canon Herbert Edgcumbe Hadow and Edith Rose Abell. He grew up at

Quedgeley Quedgeley is a suburban town of Gloucester, located 3.5 miles (5.6 km) southwest of the city centre, in the county of Gloucestershire, England. A thin strip of land between the Severn and the Gloucester Ship Canal occupies the west, and the ...

Vicarage,

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

. He attended

Haileybury College Haileybury may refer to: Australia * Haileybury (Melbourne), a school in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia ** Haileybury Rendall School, an offshoot in Berrimah, North Territory, Australia China * Haileybury International School, an internatio ...

, leaving in about 1930. From there he went to

Oriel College Oriel College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in Oxford, England. Located in Oriel Square, the college has the distinction of being the oldest royal foundation in Oxford (a title formerly claimed by University College, w ...

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

. His uncle was musician Sir

William Henry Hadow Sir William Henry Hadow (27 December 1859 – 8 April 1937) was a leading educational reformer in Great Britain, a musicologist and a composer. Life Born at Ebrington in Gloucestershire and baptised there on 29 January 1860 by his father, ...

and his aunt author

Grace Eleanor Hadow Grace Eleanor Hadow OBE (9 December 1875 in Cirencester, England – 19 January 1940, Marylebone, London) was an author, principal of what would become St Anne's College, Oxford and vice-chairman of the National Federation of Women's Institu ...

. He was a keen singer and was a

Tenor A tenor is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The lo ...

Solo at Haileybury College.

Later life

He was ordained a priest at

Bristol Cathedral Bristol Cathedral, the Cathedral Church of the Holy and Undivided Trinity, is the Church of England cathedral in the city of Bristol, England. Founded in 1140 and consecrated in 1148, it was originally St Augustine's Abbey but after the Dissolu ...

in 1936. He was a missionary for the

Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts A society is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction, or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Societi ...

in East Africa from 1939 to 1977. He served in Manda, Likoma and

Milo, Tanzania Milo is a village in south western Tanzania, East Africa, in the southern highlands of Tanzania, three hours drive from the nearest region of Njombe. It has a mission run by the United Society for the Propagation of the Gospel and a hospital, St. L ...

. During this time in South Western

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands and ...

he was a regular visitor to Uwemba Mission in the Livingstone Mountains. He was fluent in Swahili and also spoke

Kipanga Kipanga Football Club, or simply Kipanga is a football club from Africa based in Zanzibar. The team won the Zanzibar Premier League in 2000. Achievements *Zanzibar Premier League Zanzibar Premier League is the top division of the Zanzibar Foot ...

, the local tongue in Milo. He was interested in the different Swahili dialects. In 1961 he was awarded the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

, and in 1972 he was made Canon of the Diocese of South West Tanganyika He was taken ill at Milo in 1977 and travelled back to Cambridge, where he died ten weeks later.

References

Gloucestershire Record Office: Hadow Family Papers Personal papers of his sister Rachael (Ray) Hadow formerly of Girton,

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hadow, Gerald Officers of the Order of the British Empire People educated at Haileybury and Imperial Service College Alumni of Oriel College, Oxford 1911 births 1978 deaths English Anglican missionaries Anglican missionaries in Tanzania British expatriates in Tanzania People from Gloucester