1866  — 1937

Marshall Broomhall

Flora Corderoy

English missionary writer and editor.

Broomhall, a nephew of Hudson Taylor, was one of ten children born to Benjamin Broomhall and his wife, Amelia Hudson (Taylor). From the age of nine he lived at the London headquarters of the China Inland Mission (CIM). In 1890, after completing a degree at Cambridge, he followed an older brother and sister to China under the auspices of the CIM. He spent the next four years studying Chinese and was married to Flora Corderoy in 1894. In 1899 his wife’s health necessitated a permanent return to England, and in 1900 he became the editorial secretary of the CIM, a post he was to hold until 1927. He edited the CIM magazine, China’s Millions, and wrote numerous books and the CIM annual reports. He made return visits to China and kept in close touch with current writings on China and on political developments. After his retirement he continued to write, and in 1936, despite poor health (he had early lost the sight of one eye), he returned to edit China’s Millions. He served well the mission with which so many of his family had been associated, both by his writings and by his personal life and witness.

Attribution

This article is from Biographical Dictionary of Christian Missions, Macmillan Reference USA, copyright (c) 1998 Gerald H. Anderson, by permission of The Gale Group; Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., Grand Rapids, Michigan. All rights reserved.

Image supplied by OMF. Used with permission.

Sources

  • A. J. Broomhall, Hudson Taylor and China’s Open Century, vol. 7 (1989).
  • M. Broomhall, Heirs Together of the Grace of Life (1918).
  • Obituaries in China’s Millions, July 1911, pp. 99, 100, and National Righteousness, June 1911, pp. 2-6.

About the Author

Norman H. Cliff

Retired Minister, United Reformed Church, Essex, England