Priscilla "Scilla" Studd (''née'' Livingstone Stewart; 28 August 1864 – 15 January 1929) was a British

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group who 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.Thoma ...

and wife of

Charles Studd Charles Thomas Studd, often known as C. T. Studd (2 December 1860 – 16 July 1931), was a British missionary, a contributor to '' The Fundamentals'', and a cricketer. As a British Anglican Christian missionary to China he was part of the Ca ...

Life and career

Born in

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

, Ireland (modern-day

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

), Priscilla Stewart arrived in

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

in 1887 as part of The Hundred 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 Christianity, Christian missionary society with an international centre in Singapore. It ...

and was one of a large party to arrive together. She served as a Salvation Army officer. She was reported as being both Irish in her looks and in her spirit, with blue eyes and golden hair. After a while in Shanghai she moved with three other women to work inland at the city of Ta-Ku-Tang. Of her new-found calling she said, In China, after praying whilst kneeling in the snow, she became seriously ill with

pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...

, so much so that she sent for her then fiancé

, who was himself recovering from an attack of

pleurisy Pleurisy, also known as pleuritis, is inflammation of the membranes that surround the lungs and line the chest cavity (Pulmonary pleurae, pleurae). This can result in a sharp chest pain while breathing. Occasionally the pain may be a constant d ...

. After a while she started to recover but the local people said that having sent for Charles from so far, they must marry – and Charles agreed. He was a fellow missionary who had arrived in China in 1885 as 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 ...

. In 1888, they went through a wedding ceremony with Pastor

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 Ch ...

– who was unlicensed – but it pleased the locals. After their wedding the Studds moved to another inland city, Lungang-Fu. They had four daughters – Grace, Dorothy, Edith and Pauline; two sons died in infancy.Christian Medical Fellowship website, ''Hereos and Heretics: CT Studd'', article by Alex Bunn
/ref> In 1894, the couple returned to England and then between 1900 and 1906 they worked in India. After another return to England, Charles' missionary work took him alone to Africa and the last sixteen years of their married life were spent apart, Charles remaining in Africa and Priscilla in England, where she laboured with the newly formed Worldwide Evangelization Crusade. She died in 1929Boston University website, ''Studd, C(harles) T(homas) (1860-1931)''
/ref> and was buried in the English Cemetery in

Málaga Málaga (; ) is a Municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 591,637 in 2024, it is the second-most populo ...

References

External sources

*''C.T. Studd: Cricketer and Pioneer'' by

Norman Grubb Norman Percy Grubb Military Cross, MC (2 August 1895 – 15 December 1993) was a British Christian missionary and Evangelist, writer, and theological teacher. Biography Early life Grubb was born in Hampstead, England, the son of an An ...

,
Christian Biography Resources
{{DEFAULTSORT:Studd, Priscilla 1864 births 1929 deaths Protestant missionaries in China Irish Protestant missionaries Christian clergy from Belfast Female Christian missionaries British Protestant missionaries British missionaries in China Burials at the English Cemetery, Málaga

Priscilla Priscilla is an English female given name adopted from Latin '' Prisca'', derived from ''priscus''. There is a theory that this biblical character was the author of the Letter to the Hebrews. The name first appears in the New Testament either ...

Life and career

See also

References

External sources