Typescript epistolary journal by [Alice] Maud Hitchcock
- Reference:GB 237 Coll-2000
- Dates of Creation:1901-1908
- Name of Creator:
- Language of Material:English
- Physical Description:c. 26 x 20 cm 34 letters 1 folder
Scope and Content
Extensive archive of letters, together forming a journal of seven years' work for the Church Missionary Society in China. Addressed to 'dear Friends' of her church in Bermondsey, Hitchcock's letters provide a detailed account of her journey to China and her mission there. Though evidently travelling frequently throughout south-east China, Hitchcock was stationed primarily on Haitan (Pingtan) island with Eleanor Jane Harrison, recording efforts to teach the Gospel to the local population and her medical work at the Church Missionary Society's dispensary, the reports offering considerable insight to social conditions in China in the early twentieth century as well as showing a British view of events from coronations and stonings to a typhoon.
The early letters form an account of Hitchcock's journey to China with "six other lady missionaries", travelling first through France (stopping to see Notre Dame and the Eiffel Tower) and then by sea on the SS. Ballarat, via Port Said, Singapore, and Hong Kong. Later journeys by junk, steam launch, and chair are described, noting that "travelling in China is a very slow business, but not so unpleasant as I thought it would be".
Administrative / Biographical History
Born in Stratford in 1882, Alice Maud Hitchcock (née Sinclair) left school aged fourteen and was only nineteen when she departed for China; after five years she returned to England for a brief furlough, resuming her service in Haitan in 1908.
Access Information
Open. Please contact the repository in advance.
Acquisition Information
Purchased in June 2019. Accession no. SC-Ac-2020-0064.
Archivist's Note
Catalogued by Aline Brodin in October 2020 using information from the seller.
Related Material
Cadbury Research Library Special Collections, University of Birmingham holds the Papers of Eleanor Harrison (CMS/ACC019).
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