Rev. Robert Warren Stewart (9 March 1850 – 1 August 1895) was an Irish missionary of the Church Missionary Society, London, stationed at different times in Australia, India. and

Fuzhou Fuzhou is the capital of Fujian, China. The city lies between the Min River (Fujian), Min River estuary to the south and the city of Ningde to the north. Together, Fuzhou and Ningde make up the Eastern Min, Mindong linguistic and cultural regi ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

, where he was martyred.

Life

Robert Warren Stewart was born in March 1850 at Gortleitragh House,

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

, son of James Robert Stewart, a wealthy land agent, and Martha Elinor Warren, daughter of the leading

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdiction (area), jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include arguing cases in courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, jurisprud ...

Richard Benson Warren, and granddaughter of Sir Robert Warren, 1st Baronet, the head of a prominent landowning family from

County Cork County Cork () is the largest and the southernmost Counties of Ireland, county of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, named after the city of Cork (city), Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster ...

. George Francis Stewart, Governor of the

Bank of Ireland Bank of Ireland Group plc () is a commercial bank operation in Ireland and one of the traditional Big Four Irish banks. Historically the premier banking organisation in Ireland, the bank occupies a unique position in Irish banking history. At ...

, was his younger brother.Antony Maitland's Genealogy; Stewarts
/ref> He was educated at

Marlborough College Marlborough College is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English private boarding school) for pupils aged 13 to 18 in Marlborough, Wiltshire, England. It was founded as Marlborough School in 1843 by the Dean of Manchester, George ...

(in England) and at

Trinity College, Dublin Trinity College Dublin (), officially titled The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, and legally incorporated as Trinity College, the University of Dublin (TCD), is the sole constituent college of the Univ ...

. After graduation, he studied law in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, but the spiritual crisis of his conversion occurred at Richmond, Surrey when he was just about to become a lawyer. He became a member of the Church Missionary Society in 1875, and after a year's training at

Islington Islington ( ) is an inner-city area of north London, England, within the wider London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's #Islington High Street, High Street to Highbury Fields ...

he was ordained at St. Paul's Cathedral on

Trinity Sunday Trinity Sunday is the first Sunday after Pentecost in the Western Christianity, Western Christian liturgical year, liturgical calendar, and the Sunday of Pentecost in Eastern Christianity. Trinity Sunday celebrates the Christian doctrine of the ...

1876, together with Rev. Llewellyn Lloyd. Shortly afterwards Robert Stewart married Louisa Katherine Smyly and the couple set out for China with Rev. Ll. Lloyd in September and arrived in

on 14 November.Church Missionary Society (1904) ''For Christ in Fuh-Kien'' Mr. Stewart's first years in China were spent in training the native schoolmasters and catechists, and his wife was put in charge of a school to train native Biblewomen. Their educational work, however, was interrupted by the Wu-shih-shan Case of 1878, which resulted in the burning down of the Theological College and the expulsion of the English Mission from the city proper.Carlson, Ellsworth C. (1974) ''The Foochow Missionaries 1847-1880''. Cambridge, Massachusetts: East Asian Research Center, Harvard University; distributed by Harvard University Press Stewart suffered severely from

dysentery Dysentery ( , ), historically known as the bloody flux, is a type of gastroenteritis that results in bloody diarrhea. Other symptoms may include fever, abdominal pain, and a feeling of incomplete defecation. Complications may include dehyd ...

in China.Watson, Mary E. (1895):
Robert and Louisa Stewart: In Life and in Death
' In 1891 he went home for a furlough and was redeployed by the C.M.S. Committee to accompany Eugene Stock on his

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

n tour, after which he visited

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

and returned to China via

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

fully restored in the autumn of 1893. Kucheng massacre cemetery1

On 1 August 1895, he was brutally murdered in Kucheng Hwasang by a sect known as the Vegetarians during the Kucheng Massacre, together with his wife and two children and seven other missionaries connected with the Church Missionary Society or the

Church of England Zenana Missionary Society Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stewart, Robert Warren Anglican missionaries in China Christian missionaries in Fujian 19th-century Protestant martyrs 1850 births 1895 deaths Alumni of Trinity College Dublin Alumni of the Church Missionary Society College, Islington Irish Anglican missionaries British Anglican missionaries British missionaries in China Irish expatriates in China Church Mission Society missionaries People educated at Marlborough College

Life

See Also

References