Marshall Broomhall
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Marshall B. Broomhall (Chinese: 海恩波; 17 July 1866 – 24 October 1937), was a British
Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...
Christian
missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Tho ...
to China with the
China Inland Mission OMF International (formerly Overseas Missionary Fellowship and before 1964 the China Inland Mission) is an international and interdenominational Evangelical Christian missionary society with an international centre in Singapore. It was founded i ...
. He also authored many books on the subject of Chinese missionary work. He was the most famous son (the fifth of ten children) of the anti-opium trade activist and General Secretary of the CIM
Benjamin Broomhall Benjamin Broomhall (15 August 1829 – 29 May 1911) 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 (CIM), (from 1878 to 1895 ...
and Amelia Hudson Taylor. Thus he was also the nephew of the founder of the mission,
James Hudson Taylor James Hudson Taylor (; 21 May 1832 – 3 June 1905) was a British Baptist Christian missionary to China and founder of the China Inland Mission (CIM, now OMF International). Taylor spent 51 years in China. The society that he began was respons ...
.


Youth in London

In 1875, the Broomhall family, including 9 year old Marshall, moved from
Bayswater Bayswater is an area within the City of Westminster in West London. It is a built-up district with a population density of 17,500 per square kilometre, and is located between Kensington Gardens to the south, Paddington to the north-east, and ...
to
Newington Green Newington Green is an open space in North London that straddles the border between Islington and Hackney. It gives its name to the surrounding area, roughly bounded by Ball's Pond Road to the south, Petherton Road to the west, Green Lanes and ...
, London. At Westbourne Grove, where he was born, the family had been members of the
Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compete ...
Westbourne Grove Church led by
William Garrett Lewis William Garrett Lewis (1821–1885) was a Baptist preacher and pastor of Westbourne Grove Church in Bayswater, London for 33 years. He was an apologist author of two books, ''Westbourne Grove Sermons'' and ''The Trades and Industrial Occupations ...
. Marshall's father, Benjamin, then began 20 years of service as the China Inland Mission's general secretary at the London headquarters. In 1887 Marshall went to classical studies at
Jesus College, Cambridge Jesus College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college's full name is The College of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Saint John the Evangelist and the glorious Virgin Saint Radegund, near Cambridge. Its common name comes fr ...
. After his graduation (BA) in 1890, he became engaged to Florence Corderoy, the daughter of his father's close friend, John Corderoy. In the same year Marshall was accepted as a missionary by the CIM London Council.


Missionary life

Marshall Broomhall sailed for China on 2 October 1890 on the S.S. Shannon. He attended a year at the CIM's Chinese Language School at
Anqing Anqing (, also Nganking, formerly Hwaining, now the name of Huaining County) is a prefecture-level city in the southwest of Anhui province, People's Republic of China. Its population was 4,165,284 as of the 2020 census, with 804,493 living in the ...
, Anhui, and then he was appointed to the work in
Taiyuan Taiyuan (; ; ; Mandarin pronunciation: ; also known as (), ()) is the capital and largest city of Shanxi Province, People's Republic of China. Taiyuan is the political, economic, cultural and international exchange center of Shanxi Province. ...
, Shanxi. Three of his siblings (Hudson, Marshall and Edith) had all contracted
typhus Typhus, also known as typhus fever, is a group of infectious diseases that include epidemic typhus, scrub typhus, and murine typhus. Common symptoms include fever, headache, and a rash. Typically these begin one to two weeks after exposure. ...
there, but all three recovered.


Marriage and family

Florence Corderoy followed him to China in 1894, but mission regulations required that they could not marry until both had served for two years on the field. Marshall and Florence were finally married on 17 March 1897. They had two children: Honor Irene and Dorothea Broomhall. Marshall had been transferred to
Hongdong Hongtong County () is a county in the southwest of Shanxi Province, China. It is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Linfen. The county spans an area of 1,494 square kilometers, and has a population of approximately 766,579 as ...
, Shanxi in 1896, to work with
Dixon Edward Hoste Dixon Edward Hoste (23 July 1861 – 11 May 1946) was a British Protestant Christian missionary to China and the longest lived of the Cambridge Seven. He became the successor to James Hudson Taylor as General Director of the China Inland Missi ...
, his brother-in-law, and with Gilbert Ritchie, who later married his sister, Edith. The famous Pastor Hsi (
Xi Shengmo Xi Shengmo ( zh, t=席勝魔, w=Hsi Shêng-mo; c. 1836–1896) also known as ''Pastor Hsi'', was a Chinese Christian leader. Life He was born ''Xi Zizhi'' in a village near Linfen, became a Confucian scholar, and, after his conversion to C ...
) had recently died. The area that Marshall worked in was 40 miles north and south, and 70 miles wide. In 1897 there was a church membership of 490 in 17 villages, with 14
opium Opium (or poppy tears, scientific name: ''Lachryma papaveris'') is dried latex obtained from the seed capsules of the opium poppy ''Papaver somniferum''. Approximately 12 percent of opium is made up of the analgesic alkaloid morphine, which i ...
refuges. The churches were largely self-supporting, led by an ordained native pastor, three elders, and 17 deacons. Broomhall worked here for three years.


Further work and the Boxer Crisis

Florence's poor health necessitated their leaving for Britain in 1899. In 1900, the
Boxer Rebellion The Boxer Rebellion, also known as the Boxer Uprising, the Boxer Insurrection, or the Yihetuan Movement, was an anti-foreign, anti-colonial, and anti-Christian uprising in China between 1899 and 1901, towards the end of the Qing dynasty, by ...
broke out in China. The China Inland Mission had the greatest loss of all of the mission agencies; seventy-nine people were massacred, including children. As the tragedy unfolded and news was cabled to London, Marshall spent days and nights diligently sorting out information gathered from various sources and verifying rumours that were quickly circulating. His hard work led to the compilation of two memorial books that documented the harrowing stories of both the martyrs and the survivors.


Writing and teaching career

That same year Marshall Broomhall had been appointed the Editorial Secretary for the mission in London. This career lasted for 27 years. He also gave preliminary Chinese language lessons to the missionary candidates preparing to go to China. Marshall became an expert in writing biographies. He wrote biographies of Hudson Taylor as well as several other members of the China Inland Mission, as well as several books that addressed overall issues and the history of the CIM. He accomplished much considering his eyesight was impaired at an early age. He did all of his research, writing and editorial work despite being able to see with only one eye. Marshall took part in the
Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
Missionary Conference of 1910. After the 1911/12 founding of the
Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northeast ...
he visited China again, and travelled extensively to obtain first-hand and up to date information. He was a member of the commission on "Carrying the
Gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...
to all the Non-Christian World". In this commission constant reference was made to his important work , and to the statistics in it. One of Broomhall's particular interests was the conversion of
Chinese Muslims Islam has been practiced in China since the 7th century CE.. Muslims are a minority group in China, representing 1.6-2 percent of the total population (21,667,000- 28,210,795) according to various estimates. Though Hui Muslims are the most numero ...
to Christianity. To this end, he authored a book (), which he believed to be the first book in English on Chinese Muslims. He called for sending Arabic-speaking missionaries to China, who in his views could work more effectively among the Muslim community. In 1927 he retired as Editorial Secretary. But he continued to do his literary work. In 1936, when the Rev. Frank Houghton returned to China to be Bishop of East China, Marshall took over briefly the editorship of China's Millions, but ill health forced his complete withdrawal from the work. He died on 24 October 1937, aged 71, at
Northchurch Northchurch is a village and civil parish in the Bulbourne valley in the county of Hertfordshire in the United Kingdom. It lies between the towns of Berkhamsted and Tring. Situated on the Roman road Akeman Street, a major Roman villa dating fr ...
, England and was buried on 28 October in
Abney Park Cemetery Abney Park cemetery is one of the "Magnificent Seven" cemeteries in London, England. Abney Park in Stoke Newington in the London Borough of Hackney is a historic parkland originally laid out in the early 18th century by Lady Mary Abney, D ...
, London. Florence Broomhall lived on until 1957.


Notes


Published works

* (see: List of the martyred missionaries of the
China Inland Mission OMF International (formerly Overseas Missionary Fellowship and before 1964 the China Inland Mission) is an international and interdenominational Evangelical Christian missionary society with an international centre in Singapore. It was founded i ...
in 1900). * . * . * * . * * . * . *

* . * . * . * . * . * . * . * , one of the
Cambridge Seven The Cambridge Seven were six students from Cambridge University and one from the Royal Military Academy, who in 1885, decided to become missionaries to China through the China Inland Mission. The seven were: * Charles Thomas Studd * Montagu H ...
. * . * . * . * . * of
Emil Fischbacher Emil Fischbacher ( zh, 巴富羲, 9 August 1903 – 27 May 1933) was a Scottish Protestant Christian missionary to Xinjiang. He served with the China Inland Mission. Fischbacher was born in Glasgow, Scotland, 9 August 1903. It was on the l ...
. * . * .


References

* * * * * *


Further reading

*
Historical Bibliography of the China Inland Mission OMF International (formerly Overseas Missionary Fellowship and before 1964 the China Inland Mission) is an international and interdenominational Evangelical Christianity, Christian missionary society with an international centre in Singapore. It ...


External links

* . * (formerly China Inland Mission and Overseas Missionary Fellowship). * . {{DEFAULTSORT:Broomhall, Marshall 1866 births 1937 deaths British expatriates in China British sinologists Burials at Abney Park Cemetery Protestant missionaries in China Christian writers English Protestant missionaries 20th-century English historians