Martha Julia Cartmell (December 14, 1845; March 20, 1945) was a Canadian Methodist/United Church missionary and educator in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. She founded the

Toyo Eiwa Jogakuin is a private girls academy founded on November 6, 1884, in Azabu, Minato, Tokyo by Martha J. Cartmell, a Methodist missionary from Canada.SeHistory of Tōyō Eiwa Jogakuin, page 1. Accessed June 15, 2006] Toyo Eiwa Women's University, establishe ...

school in 1884 which now includes

Toyo Eiwa University is a private Christian university in Midori-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. Established in 1989, it is part of the Toyo Eiwa Jogakuin founded in 1884 by Canadian missionary Martha J. Cartmell. Academics Toyo Eiwa has two faculties: Hum ...

Life

The daughter of James Cartmell, a stone cutter, and his wife Sarah, she was born in

Thorold Thorold is a city in Ontario, Canada, located on the Niagara Escarpment. It is also the seat of the Regional Municipality of Niagara. The Welland Canal passes through the city, featuring lock 7 and the Twin Flight Locks. History The first su ...

and was educated in

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...

and

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

. Her mother died when she was five. Cartmell became a missionary and left

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

for Japan in 1882 and established a Christian school for girls,

, two years later in

Roppongi is a district of Minato, Tokyo, Japan, famous for the affluent Roppongi Hills development area and popular night club scene. A few foreign embassies are located near Roppongi, and the night life is popular with locals and foreigners alike. It is ...

. Cartmell was forced to resign due to poor health in 1887. She recovered in Canada, working at the General Mission in

Victoria, British Columbia Victoria is the capital city of the Canadian province of British Columbia, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of 91,867, and the Greater Victoria area has a population of 397,237. Th ...

from 1890 to 1892, and returned to

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

. After four more years in Japan, she again returned to Canada in 1896 and worked with Japanese people at the General Mission in Victoria for two more years before retiring for good in 1898. The school grew to also include

. In 2013, the alumni association for the Toyo Eiwa school donated cherry trees in her honour to Hamilton and to Thorold.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cartmell, Martha 1846 births 1945 deaths Canadian Methodist missionaries Foreign educators in Japan Female Christian missionaries Canadian expatriates in Japan People from Thorold Heads of schools in Japan University and college founders Women founders Methodist missionaries in Japan Canadian founders