12. Rev James Henry Sedgwick - Harold's father - His life in UK and China.

Rev James Henry Sedgwick

There is not a lot of detailed information to be found for Rev James Henry Sedgwick’s family due to the large number of families of the same name living in Yorkshire.  At one count there were 16 families of the same name in one town alone.

The name was often spelt Sidgwick.  A great many were involved in Linen manufacture.  There are some who were involved in different aspects of the church, and an enormous number who were in the clergy.

Certainly there were no members of the clergy with his direct ancestors.  His father was a painter, his brother Thomas was a house painter, and his brother Robert was a mining engineer.

His sister Elizabeth was a school teacher.

James Henry Sedgwick was born in 1849 and he was baptised on 1st June 1849 at St Thomas's Stockton on Tees, Durham.



His family:

The Sedgwick line commences with 2^nd great grandfather,  James Sedgwick b 1823 in Hilton Yorkshire.    James was a painter and in 1841 he was living in Guisborough, and apprenticed to John Bulmer.  

James married Ann Readman c 1844.   

They had several children:

Thomas R. Sedgwick                            b 1845       m   Jane Falconer  

Teresa Sedgweck                                  b 1846     d  1919        M Thomas Lodge

James Henry Sedgwick                          b  1849                  m  Ellen Durmergue Jennings 1881

 Elizabeth Sedgwick                               b  1853.  

 Robert Wrightson Sedgwick                  b  1854                  m  Elizabeth Dunn

Guisborough is a market town and civil parish within the unitary authority of Redcar and Cleveland and the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire, England.  Historically in the North Riding of Yorkshire, the civil parish of Guisborough has a population of 18,108 and includes the outlying villages of Upleatham, Dunsdale and Newton under Roseberry as well as Guisborough itself.

In 1851 they were living in Stockton on Tees in Durham (Bip St)

 Stockton-on-Tees is a market town in north east England. It is the major settlement in the unitary authority and borough of Stockton-on-Tees. For ceremonial purposes, the borough is split between County Durham and North Yorkshire as it also incorporates a number of smaller towns and villages including Billingham, Yarm, Thornaby and Norton. 

In 1861 the family were living at 7 Workhouse Street Stockton Durham     In 1871 James and Ann were living with Elizabeth and Robert at 27 Alfred St Gateshead  Their son James Henry was not living with them at that time.

In 1881 James was living with his daughter Elizabeth (unmarried) schoolmistress and his grandson Harry, at 13 Vyner Terrace Stockton on Tees, Durham.


1891 James and Elizabeth were living at 13 Vyner Terrace Stockton on Tees.  Harry was not residing with them at that time.

Ann Readman

Ann was born in 1824 in Upleatham, Yorkshire.  Her parents were Thomas Readman  1799 – 1874 born Skelton, Yorkshire died 1874 in Stokesley Yorkshire, and Mary Ward. B 1800 in Stainton in Cleveland, Yorkshire and died in 1850 in Nunthorpe Yorkshire.

Her parents married in 1821 in Great Ayton, Yorkshire.

In 1871 Ann was living with her father Thomas in 12 Nunthorpe St 

Upleatham is a village in the unitary authority of Redcar and Cleveland and the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire, England.
It has a small church, believed by some to be the smallest in the world. The village is located near New Marske, between Saltburn and Guisborough; there are a few rows of houses which are adjacent to Errington Woods.    

Mary Ward

Mary was born 1800 in Stainton in Cleveland Yorkshire and married Thomas Readman in 1821.  She died in 1850 in Nunthorpe, Yorkshire.  She was the daughter of Thomas Ward born 1780 and Ann Thompson born 1780.

Stainton is a village in Middlesbrough, in the borough of Middlesbrough and the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire, England. It is in the local ward and civil parish of Stainton and Thornton, and had a population of approximately 2,300 as of 2005.

Stainton is one of the few  areas within the boundaries of modern-day Middlesbrough to have been named in the Domesday Book of 1086. Indeed, it has been a settlement since pre-Saxon times, while its name reveals it to have been an area of Scandinavian residence.

Thomas Readman

Thomas was the son of Thomas Readman 1770 – 1839 and Mary Shemelds 1770 - 1836

Mary Shemelds

Mary was born in 1770 in Skelton Yorkshire, the daughter of Thomas Shemelds and Sarah Burton.

She married Thomas in 1798, and died in 1836 in Skelton Yorkshire.

Skelton is a village and civil parish in the unitary authority of the City of York, in North Yorkshire, England. It is 4 miles (6.4 km)north northwest of the city of York, west of Haxby, and on the east bank of the River Ouse. Skelton was in the ancient royal Forest of Galtres and covers 977.3 hectares 
(3.77 square miles). Skelton was made a conservation area in 1973.

The village name probably began as the Anglo-Saxon ‘Shelfton’ – ‘the settlement on high ground’– becoming the present ‘Skelton’ under the invading Danes. The village, along with nearby Overton, is mentioned in the Domesday Book.

We belive that the many spellings of Shemelds Shemels,Shimmelds,Shimmins,Schemylde etc etc.are Scandinavian It is thought that the Norse elements of ' hild 'means battle , war and the old Norse element of hjalm-r(Helm)et. I am not expert, but if anyone has anyother suggestions.

Thomas Shemelds

Thomas was born in 1737 in Marton, Yorkshire and married Sarah in 1758.  He died in 1798.  He was the son of William Shemelds born 1677.

An internet note:

I am decended from a Thomas Shemeld born 1738 in Skelton North Yorkshire, married Sarah Burton 30 April 1758. Thomas we believe was a Tailor by trade..

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Rev James Henry Sedgwick

In order to gain knowledge of James work and to understand the life of a man unknown to his descendants until 2013, extensive research was carried out.

As to the reasons that he chose the clergy? that is unknown.  Perhaps he had a mentor with one of his extended family.  

He was however, a clever man, to be able to learn Chinese language, and to live and work there in times of conflict.

The following information has been provided by the Cadbury Research Library: Special  Collections, University of Birmingham.

Dear Kris Herron,

Thank you for your email enquiry relating to the Church Missionary Society  missionary, Rev James Sedgwick and his wife, Ellen. The CMS archive is held here at the Cadbury Research Library: Special Collections at the University of Birmingham and this archive contains papers of and relating to Rev James Sedgwick when he worked in China 1874-1880. 

The printed CMS Register of Missionaries 1804-1904 gives brief details of his career and it appears that after his missionary training he first went to Fuh-chow in 1874, then to Hong Kong and in 1877 to Hang-chow before retiring in 1883 and returning to England. 

In 1893 he rejoined the CMS and was sent out to Palestine Mission. 

He returned to England in 1900 and retired in 1901. *He died at Tunbridge Wells 25 February 1927. 

 In 1881 he married Ellen Dumergue Jennings, sister of another CMS missionary, Harnett Ellison Jennings of Richmond Surrey. Ellen died in China in 1883.

Sedgwick married a second time sometime before 1909 and that lady died in 1944.

Clearly the records are for the period 1804 - 1904.



James Henry Sedgwick ordained at St Pauls Cathedral in 1874 Church Missionary College Islington

Church Missionary College Islington

James Henry Sedgweik was a missionary who arrived in China in 1874.    He is recorded in an interview regarding a Mr Manhood,

Fuh-Chow. Building up the Church. 55

Our missions in China. 

Another young labourer, the Rev. J. H. Sedgwick, who arrived at the end of 1874 (but who was afterwards transferred to Hang-Chow, in the Cheh-Kiang province), thus spoke respecting Mr. Mahood, on receiving the news of his death :

My teacher told me that Chinamen in the city greatly respected him, and every one had a good word for him, as he always had for every one. No one hears of his death without the manifestation of the deepest regret, and a kindly commiseration for Mrs. Mahood, and for her children, born in China and speaking the language as well as natives. The students at Mr. Wolfe s sang, on the evening they were told of Mr. Mahood s death, even during Mr. Wolfe s absence, the hymn, " For ever with the Lord," thus manifesting not only their realisation of what death was to him, but also their own faith. One of the merchants here, too, on hearing of his death, remarked, " Ah ! yes ; he was a good man ; he once spent about an hour in speaking to me on religious matters."

Thus, once more, the Fuh-Chow Mission was in the hands of a single missionary.

Referring back to the previous posts regarding his life in China, and his marriage to Ellen Jennings.


Their son was born in 1882, and Ellen died shortly afterwards.

He returned to England and retired in 1883.

However he undertook studies at Oxford in Chinese.

St Luke's Holton

In 1883 he was the vicar at Holton from 1885 to 1888

1888 to Emmanuel’s West Dulwich WMJ Mariners school Corpus Christi College

The church burnt down in 1966, it was a stunning building!

In 1890 appointed to St Martins in the Fields as cleric 

St Martins on the Field

In 1891 he was the Curate at St Martins on the Fields Church in London     

In the 1891 census James Henry Sedgwick was living at the Church premises in London, with his son Harold aged 8.

Katherine Bessie Jennings, his sister-in-law  was residing at the same address.

It would be presumed that Katherine was taking care of James and Harold.

However in 1895 he joined the mission and was posted to Jeruselum.

The next interesting piece of information came from a book,........

Macalister, R. A. Stewart, M.A. — 

Tile Rock-cuttings of Tell Zakariya 

Further Notes on the Rock-cuttings of Tell Zakariya . . . . 39 

On a Rock-cut Tomb North of Jerusalem . . . . . . 54

It seems that James was the first person to recognise the tomb for what it was, by its architecture, and in fact was the first to crawl into it and to remove debris.

The fine tomb which forms the subject of this notice lias, since its comparatively recent

discovery, attracted considerable interest and attention both inside and outside Jerusalem.

 It appears that a shepherd noticed the finial above the entrance doorway projecting from

 the surface of the accumulated debris, and that, through the proprietor of the land, word was brought to the Dominican Fathers of St. Iiltienne, Jerusalem, to whose zeal the 

archeology of the country owes so much. The credit of determining the interesting character of the excavation belongs partly to the Dominicans and partly to the Rev. J. H. 

Sedgwick, of Jerusalem, who was one of the first, if not the first, to enter the tomb, and identify the name of the tomb frequently called.

 Mr. Dickson, Her ^Majesty's Consul at Jerusalem, was also instrumental in removing some of the debris which blocked the entrance cleared away, and thus rendering the interior 

accessible. 

Here is the history of the Rock Caves of Azekah.

http://www.biblewalks.com/Sites/Azekah.html








Robert Alexander Stewart Macalister (8 July 1870 – 26 April 1950) was an Irish archaeologist.

Biographical notes

Macalister was born in Dublin, Ireland, the son of Alexander Macalister, then professor of Professor of Zoology, University of Dublin. His father was appointed professor of anatomy at Cambridge in 1883, and he was educated at The Perse School, and then studied at Cambridge University.

Although his earliest interest was in the archaeology of Ireland, he soon developed a strong interest in biblical archaeology. Along with Frederick J. Bliss, he excavated several towns in the Shephelah region of Palestine from 1898 to 1900. Using advances in stratigraphy building on the work of Flinders Petrie, they developed a chronology for the region using ceramic typology. Upon Bliss' retirement, Macalister became director of excavations for the Palestine Exploration Fund (PEF) in 1901.

Line painted in 1900 (at top of image, marked "PEF") by Robert A.S. Macalister showing the level of the Dead Sea.

From 1902 to 1909 he was responsible for the excavations at Gezer, Palestine – in the modern nation of Israel, just west of Jerusalem. This was one of the earliest large-scale scientific archaeological excavations in the region. The Gezer calendar found there is a very early paleo-Hebrew calendrical inscription. However, in most respects Macalister's work in Palestinian archaeology is considered to have been a failure, due to the poor quality of his excavation techniques and his shoddy record-keeping. Because Macalister was the only professional archaeologist involved in the excavation, managing a project of such complexity was essentially an impossible task.

So that might be the reason that it is extremely difficult to source any further information!

The CMS in Palestine.

The CMS made an important contribution to Protestant Christianity in Palestine as well. Former CMS missionary Samuel Gobat became the second bishop of the Diocese of Jerusalem, and in 1855 invited the CMS to make Palestine a mission field, which they did. Over the years many missionaries were sent, including John Zeller, who exercised a great influence on the development of Nazareth and Jerusalem and founded Christ Church, Nazareth, the first Protestant church in the Galilee, which was consecrated by Gobat in 1871.

Another missionary was Frederick Augustus Klein, who served in Nazareth and Egypt, discovered the Moabite Stone, and assisted with the translation of the Book of Common Prayer into Arabic


There were some brave ladies who also worked with the English mission.

Frances Emily Newton (November 4, 1871–June 11, 1955) was an English missionary who lived and worked in Palestine from 1889 until 1938, the last 18 years of which saw the country under British rule. She became Dame of Justice of the Venerable Order of Saint John in 1930, and was a member of the Palestine Women's Council, a consultative committee that advised the British, usually to no avail, on matters affecting women and children.

 The journalist Owen Tweedy described her as, "comely but podgy—tall & masterful and with the hell of a temper and always having rows."
She was a founding member and honorary secretary of the Palestine Information Centre, referred to by the British Arab News Bulletin as the "first office to put the Arab view before the British public.

Newton was born in Mickleover Manor, near Derby, to Charles Edmund Newton, a banker, and his second wife, Mary Henrietta Moore. She and her several sisters were educated at home by a governess.

Newton first visited Palestine in 1888 to see her stepsisters, Constance and Edith. Edith was a missionary with the Church Missionary Society (CMS), and within a year, Newton had signed up with the CMS as a volunteer, learning Arabic and travelling throughout Palestine and Jordan. Her mother died in 1893, leaving Newton sufficient funds to be able to volunteer indefinitely. She was trained in nursing and social work in Birmingham, and in missionary work at The Olives in Hampstead, the CMS training centre. She left for Jaffa on October 3, 1895

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James returned from Palestine, and in the census of 1901 was boarding at 37 Donaldson Road, Willesdene.

During our stay in London we lived at Queen's Park which was a few streets from Donaldson Road.  In fact our B&B was located in a very similar home.


However on 11th February 1902, he remarried.

His wife was names Sybil Gerard, the daughter of William Gerard, stockbroker.

They both listed their address as 6 Upper Bedford Place London.

It would seem that in order to be married at the Holborn Church, they had to reside in its parish, as per their banns.


The witnesses were Walter E. Vaughan and Julia Vaughan.  They were married in the Christ Church Woburn Square, St Giles London.

Bedford Place

After their marriage he was the curate of St Werburgh in Bristol , between 1902 and 1903.

This was the time that Harold was returned from Natal after being cashiered out of the British Army.


In 1903 James was appointed Acting Chaplin at Peking.

According to a Conference held in 1903, and their Resolutions, James must have been a suitably qualified member of the Clergy to take up his new role in Peking.

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CLERGY AND LAITY OF THE ANGLICAN COMMUNION
IN CHINA AND HONGKONG.
Greeting.
WE, Bishops of the Holy Catholic Church, in full communion with the Church of England, having jurisdiction in China and Hongkong, assembled at Shanghai under the presidency of the Right Reverend GEORGE EVANS MOULE, by Divine Providence Bishop of the Church of England in Mid-China, after receiving in Holy Trinity Church the Blessed Sacrament of the Lord's Body and Blood and meeting in prayer for the guidance of the Holy Spirit, have taken into consideration various questions affecting the welfare of God's people and the condition of the Church in these lands.

After a conference of two days in association with several of the most experienced Priests of our respective dioceses, we met on the third day for final consultation, and the Resolutions here appended were passed by us unanimously; it being, nevertheless, clearly understood, as on former occasions, that no resolution of the Conference would be held binding on the clergy and people of our respective dioceses merely in virtue of such resolution. [In the case of the North China diocese it was impossible to secure the attendance of a priest.]

Since the last Conference, held in Shanghai in October 1899, the number of Bishoprics in China has been increased by two, through the establishment of the Missionary diocese of Hankow (American Church) [1/2] in Central China, and that of Shantung (Church of England) in North China. The Bishop of Hankow, the Right Reverend JAMES ADDISON INGLE, was happily able to be present. The Bishop designate for Shantung, the Right Reverend GEOFFREY DURNFORD ILIFF is (D.V.) to be consecrated in England on S.S. Simon's and Jude's day.

The Conference deeply regretted the unavoidable absence of two of the Bishops: Bishop CASSELLS of Western China, who from the great distance of his sphere of work, and the consequent isolation, especially values these opportunities of conferring with his brother bishops and clergy; and Bishop CORFE of Corea, to whose initiation the Conference largely owes its existence; while his keen and practical interest in its work was a most valuable and stimulating element in its deliberations.

We feel it is impossible in a letter addressed to all the clergy and laity of our communion in China, to pass by, without some notice, however brief, the great upheaval of 1900, involving, as it did, the violent deaths of several of our own clergy and native brethren, severe and protracted sufferings on the part of many, fears and alarms over wide areas ultimately spared in the mercy of God, a great sifting of the Christians themselves, and much wanton destruction of property; and moreover bringing in its train many consequences of which we cannot at present predict the ultimate issue. That all who suffered may be comforted, that waste and desolate places may be restored, that interrupted work may be resumed, and that each of us may learn what God would teach us by that awful discipline, is our earnest prayer; while yet in humble self-abasement we dare to thank Him for brethren and sisters, Foreign and Native, of our own and other communions, who were "faithful unto death," [2/3] and gave evidence to all the world that the Christian Faith now as of old is still powerful to enable men and women, and even children, to brave danger, torture and death.

Our gathering has been solemnized, if deeply saddened, by the sudden removal of one loved and honoured by us all, whether Foreigners or Natives, for his Christian character and work--the Reverend H. C. HODGES, Chaplain of the Cathedral--one gratefully remembered too for kind and generous hospitality constantly extended to us, and to many of yourselves. You will, before this letter reaches you, have made your prayers to "the God of all comfort" for her upon whom this great sorrow has come: for him, who has thus been taken from our midst, we rest on those words of the refrain which we sang in the bright Autumn sunshine, by his grave:

"Father, in Thy gracious keeping,
Leave we now Thy servant sleeping."
Thanking God once more for the manifest presence of His Holy Spirit in our deliberations, and praying that the same Spirit may more and more join us and our clergy and their flocks in "the bond of peace,"

We are, with brotherly love,
Your servants for Christ's sake,
G. E. MOULE, Bishop in Mid-China,--President.
C. P. SCOTT, Bishop in North China.
F. R. GRAVES, Bishop of Shanghai.
J. C. VICTORIA, With missionary jurisdiction in South China.
J. A. INGLE, Bishop of Hankow.

SHANGHAI, October 23rd, 1903.





Resolutions.
That the fact that this Church, in the providence of God, possesses at the same time a pure faith and apostolic order is at once a call to her to hand on the same to the Chinese, and fits her to have a special part in the Christianisation of China. And we therefore earnestly urge the Church at home to use greater efforts to extend the work of the Church to all parts of this Empire.

In carrying out the above object, we consider that the Church should bear in mind the following points:
1. It should be made an aim to occupy strongly one or more stations in each Province, rather than to establish many weak stations;
2. The men sent out should be thoroughly well qualified men.
3. No men should be sent to establish new stations unless they have had adequate experience in existing stations or can be sent under the guidance of experienced missionaries;
4. Women workers should also be called for, but should only be sent to established stations in which they can be under proper protection.
That there be published yearly, in English and Chinese, a list of Chinese and foreign clergy and statistical tables of all the work of the Anglican Communion in China, the particular form to be determined by the Standing Committee.
[5] III. That at the next meeting of this Conference arrangements be made for a representation of the Presbyters of each Diocese, the details of the scheme to be left to the Standing Committee, special attention being paid to the following points:
1. Attendant Presbyters,--to be foreign only, or Chinese also?
2. Attendant Presbyters to be all elected, or partly nominated by the Bishop?
3. Electorate--confined to foreign Clergy or to embrace native Clergy also?
4. Proportion of representatives to the whole number of those eligible.
5. Powers and order of voting.
6. The arrangements for selection of subjects.
The report on the scheme to be submitted by the Standing Committee to the other Bishops for their consent.
IV. The Conference appointed a Standing Committee to which all matters of common interest might be referred in the intervals between meetings of Conferences, and as a means by which the opinions of the Bishops generally might be obtained on some important point without actually meeting. Bishop Moule and Bishop Graves were elected as the Committee, with a Presbyter to act as Secretary.

V. That the Conference meet again in Shanghai in October 1906.


It should be remembered that at this time, the Boxer Rebellion had taken place.




He returned to China and was mentioned in Sir Ernest Satow's Peking diary as having lunch with him.

1904 Rev. J. H. Sedgwick and his wife, he the new S.P.G. missionary to North China lunched.

He was formerly a C.M.S. missionary in South China, then went home, took the Chinese scholarship at Oxford, and for the past five years has been in Jerusalem.

Sir Ernest Satow’s Peking diary (Volume II, 1904-06)

The Revival.

1 China, by Rev. F. L. Norris (Mowbray).

Mr. Norris writes: “ First, there was a real revival of personal religion; secondly, a beginning at least was made in the direction of self-government by the establishment of a district council; and thirdly, an effort was made by the Christians themselves to take up the work at Ch‘i-Chou, which Mr. Norman had just begun before his death ”. 1 Ill-health unhappily compelled Mr. Allen to return home in the spring of 1903.

In that year the Church of All Saints’ in Tientsin was consecrated (the foundation-stone had been laid in June, 1900, on the very eve of the outbreak, and operations were most seriously delayed by that and ensuing events), and Mr. Iliff was able to answer the summons of the Archbishop of Canterbury to proceed to England for his consecration as the first Bishop of the newly formed diocese of Shantung. 

Mr. Brown took his place, until relieved by Mr. Sedgwick, who (with Mrs. Sedgwick) arrived at the end of 1903, and took over the Tientsin chaplaincy in the following spring, thus setting Mr. Brown free for his furlough. On Mr. Brown’s return from England he went to  Peking to take charge of the Chinese work there, with no distractions in the way of English or country work

He was next appointed as Chaplain at Tientsin 1904 – 1916

All Saints Church - Tientsin - 1903

Cnr Meadows Rd & Race Course Rd, British Concession.

Following the exodus of British expatriates from Tientsin after WWII and the Communists seizing power in China, the congregation of the church dwindled before disappearing. The church building would have presented a symbol of the hated foreign presence to the communist powers.

It is surprising to see that the church was not destroyed and it seems to have been empty for seven decades. I note, however, that the roof and the fleche have been recently repaired and the brick and stone work repointed. 

Tientsin was declared an open trading port in 1860. The British general Charles “Chinese” Gordon  who would later die in Khartoum laid out the plans for the British concession. The above is the seat of British Administration, or Gordon Hall, which is named after him, and a view of Victoria Park. Part of the Astor House Hotel is visible at right.

All together there were eventually eight foreign concessions in the city, those of France, Britain, Japan, Russia, Italy, Germany, Austria-Hungary and Belgium. Except for a short time during the Boxer Rebellion in 1900 and the period when Tientsin was occupied by the Japanese, from 1938 to 1945, it was under Western control for over eighty years.

The concessions presented a remarkable collection of architectural styles from those decades, many examples of which still exist today, if in somewhat altered form. A vibrant commecial street that traversed the various concessions was named according to the nationality of the concession, thus Victoria Street became the Rue de France, Kaiser Wilhelm Strasse or Woodrow Wilson Road, depending on which concession it was in.


Herbert Hoover, president of the U.S., and a onetime Tientsin resident during the Boxer Rebellion, wrote in his memoirs: "Tienstin is a universal city, like a world in miniature with all nationalities, all architectural styles, all kitchens."

Famous Westerners born in Tienstin include Eric Liddel, the runner and missionary, and John Hersey, the novelist, whose parents were missionaries there. 

The Chinese took the city back in 1949 and it is now spelled Tianjin. 
Greater Tientsin has a population of 10 million,

This is Gordon Park, named after General Charles Gordon a very well known General in Queen Victoria's Military Forces.  My own cousin fought in China during these wars, and Charles Gordon was a good friend of many members of my Durnford family.  

World events followed, and during World War 1, they left China and returned to England.

His next posting was as Vicar of Marsworth Church from 1915 to 1925.

 They lived in the Vicarage and 91 acres of glebe and other sources, 200 pounds, with residence, in the gift of the Master and Fellows of Trinity College, Cambridge, and held since 1918 by the Rev. James Henry Sedgwick M.A. of Pembroke College, Oxford.   ...according to UK City and Country Directory.


After Marlsworth they moved to Kent.

They lived in Tunbridge Wells before his death in 1927.    

From the Kent & Sussex Courier of Friday 4th March 1927:

The funeral took place at the Tunbridge Wells Borough Cemetery on Monday of the Rev. James Henry Sedgwick who passed away in a local Nursing Home on Friday.  Mr. Sedgwick who had resided in Tunbridge Wells for a year, had had a long experience as a Missionary in China.
He was ordained in 1874 for service at Fu-chan and Hong-kong, and in 1877 removed to Hangchan and Shao-hing, and worked there till 1883.  He then matriculated as a non-collegiate student at Oxford, being at the same time Curate at Holton, Oxon, but later became a member of Pembroke College, taking his degree in 1997.  In 1885 he was awarded a scholarship for Chinese by the Delegates of the Common University Fund.  Mr. Sedgwick was afterwards Curate of Emmanuel, West Dulwich and then of St. Martin-in-the Fields, and in 1893 went out to Jerusalem as CMS missionary remaining there for nine years.  After a short period as Curate of St Werbugth's Bristol, he returned to China in 1903 being Acting Chaplain at Peking and Chaplain at Tien-tsin from 1904 to 1916.  From 1918 to 1925 he was Vicar of Marsworth, Bucks.  Mrs Sedgwick has been in a local Nursing Home for some time suffering from a fractured ankle.

He was buried at the Royal Tunbridge Wells Borough Cemetery.

 Section A9 Consecrated, grave no 278  2^nd row up, 5 graves in from the RHS if viewing from the position of the office.

Sybil died on 20^th September 1944 and is buried at Royal Tunbridge Cemetery in the same plot.

Her address at the time was The Myrtles High Street Cranbrook, Kent.  When she died he left  £700 to the State.  Her property is now one of three heritage listed properties

Sybil's house

Cranbrook

From the Kent & Sussex Courier  Friday 29th September 1944

Late Mrs Sedgwick

Mrs Sybil Sedgwick, who died in Bircholme Nursing Home, Hawkhurst, in her 81st year, had resided in Cranbrook for some years.  She was the widow of the Rev Sedgwick, who had been Chaplain at the Treaty Port, Teintsin China.  The funeral took place at Tunbridge Wells on Saturday.  Among those present were Mr. A H Hyland, Mrs. Symons and Mrs. E. Levett.  - Mr C. B Sillis (Cranbrook) was the undertaker.

At this point it would be expected to provide details of Sybil Gerard.

But there are none.  Absolutely nothing can be sourced for her under that name despite countless hours and numerous searches, in so many different countries, and with so many different variants to her name.

Was Sybil Gerard also trying to re-invent herself?  From the timeframes, it would make more sense to consider that she was in Palestine and that was where they met.

Where was she born?  She listed her father as a Stockbroker, but even trying to source him from around the world is very difficult.

Research indicates that women were in the mission in Palestine, and it makes sense that a lady of 38 who may have been well traveled, would have no hesitation in then marrying someone who was going to take her to China.


But the rest is just a mystery, as it was in 1944, when the Government solicitor was trying to find her.

What an interesting life that James Henry Sedgwick had. what a clever man, learning Chinese, and given that he was having trouble with his eyesight in 1881, studying at Oxford could not have been easy.

How sad that James never knew his grandchildren.  I can only imagine that Dale would have been absolutely fascinated at his life's adventures in remote places in the world, and his obvious interest in the archeological elements of the Christianity in Jerusalem.

From Crockfords Clerical Directory the following outlines where Rev James Sedgwick was stationed during his Church life.

SEDGWICK, James Henry, 

Marsworth Vicarage, Tring – C.M. Coll Isl 1874 Pembroke . College. Oxford. University Chinese School 1885,  Bachelor of Arts 1887, Master of Arts 1891.   

1874 London for Col. 1877 Vic. Vicar of Marsworth Diocese Oxford

1918 (Trinity Collegy Cambridge G1.91 a val. 120l Eccles. Comm. 60l; Fees 2l. ox. 1il Gross Inc 21ol, Net 21ol and Ho; Pop 336)

 Church Mission Society Missionary at Fuh-Chow and Hong Kong 1874 – 1877; Hangchow and Shao-hing 1877 – 1883;

Church of Holton, Oxon 1885 – 1888. Emmanuel Churhc. West Dulwich 1888 – 89;

St Martin in the Fields 1889 – 93;    CMS Mission at Jerusuelm 1893 – 1902;

Curate of St Werburgh, Bristol, 1902 – 1903;   Acting Chaplin at Peking 1903 – 04; 

Chaplain at Tientsin 1904 – 1916

Vicar at Marsworth Church 1915 – 1925

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What would he have thought of the disgrace that Harold had brought on the family? 

Especially a family so entrenched with religious values.

Was it those religious values that caused Harold to rebel? 

Was it the result of never having a mother and not having his father in his early life.

Who raised him?

Those questions could best be answered by physcologists!!!

This is outside the Hospital run by the missionaries in Hangchow circa 1873.

One of the most active missionary organisations in China, the China Inland Mission (CIM) was an interdenominational Protestant missionary society founded in the UK by James Hudson Taylor in 1865. The first Mission was established at Hangchow, Chekiang in 1866.

The CIM was unconventional in its approach to missionary work compared with other missionary organisations of the period. This included the adoption of local dress by all its missionaries, and actively recruiting female missionaries to serve in their own right rather than simply as married companions to their husbands. The CIM established a school at Chefoo [Yantai], China, in 1880. Its aim was to provide an education for the children of missionaries and the business and diplomatic communities. 

Despite suffering heavy casualties during the Boxer Uprising (1898-1901), the CIM continued to grow and develop, reaching the peak of its activity in 1934 with 1,368 workers based at 364 stations throughout China. Thereafter war and revolution led to a decline in missionary numbers. During the Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945), missionaries remained at their station where they could, caring for refugees and organising welfare camps. Many were sent to Japanese internment camps in Shanghai and Yangchow.

The CIM began to withdraw its missionaries following the establishment of the People’s Republic of China in 1949. It was decided that the Mission should continue its work in the East and missionaries were sent to new fields in Thailand, Malaysia, Japan, the Philippines, Indonesia and Taiwan (and later to Korea, Singapore and Hong Kong). Renamed the Overseas Missionary Fellowship in 1964, the organisation’s work retained a strong emphasis on evangelism, with support for literature programmes, medical services, linguistic work, student work and outreach. 

     

                                                    Staff and pupils at Chefoo School, 1908. CIMPA

 One of the most active missionary organisations in China, the China Inland Mission (CIM) was an interdenominational Protestant missionary society founded in the UK by James Hudson Taylor in 1865. The first Mission was established at Hangchow, Chekiang in 1866.

The CIM was unconventional in its approach to missionary work compared with other missionary organisations of the period. This included the adoption of local dress by all its missionaries, and actively recruiting female missionaries to serve in their own right rather than simply as married companions to their husbands. The CIM established a school at Chefoo [Yantai], China, in 1880. Its aim was to provide an education for the children of missionaries and the business and diplomatic communities. 

Despite suffering heavy casualties during the Boxer Uprising (1898-1901), the CIM continued to grow and develop, reaching the peak of its activity in 1934 with 1,368 workers based at 364 stations throughout China. Thereafter war and revolution led to a decline in missionary numbers.

 During the Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945), missionaries remained at their station where they could, caring for refugees and organising welfare camps. Many were sent to Japanese internment camps in Shanghai and Yangchow.

The CIM began to withdraw its missionaries following the establishment of the People’s Republic of China in 1949. It was decided that the Mission should continue its work in the East and missionaries were sent to new fields in Thailand, Malaysia, Japan, the Philippines, Indonesia and Taiwan (and later to Korea, Singapore and Hong Kong). 

Renamed the Overseas Missionary Fellowship in 1964, the organisation’s work retained a strong emphasis on evangelism, with support for literature programmes, medical services, linguistic work, student work and outreach. 

This photo shows a group of missionaries with the Bishop in Hamg Chow around 1906.

James was in China at that time, and could be one of the people in the photograph.

The hospital at Hangchow was the pivot for medical work in Chekiang and the other hospitals at Ningpo and Taichow depended on it for staff and expertise. James Galt started medical work in Hangchow in 1871 but the outstanding name connected with the hospital is that of Dr Duncan Main who developed it from the time of his arrival in 1882. When he retired in 1926 it was dealing with 3,000 inpatients and 60,000 outpatients a year with over 1,000 major operations annually. It also included a fine medical school, whose development had been Main's chief interest from 1908 when CMS had first discussed the idea of medical training. The school was given provisional registration by the China Medical Association in 1926. The hospital was commandeered by the Japanese in 1937. 

The English Cemetery which is no more.