A Liverpool graduate teacher, born on 1June 1905, she was active in the Girls' League (the junior branch of the Women's Auxiliary) before offering for missionary service in West Africa. Having completed her MA, she expected to teach French in an established High School, but was sent to the new girls' elementary school at Dabou in the French colony of Cote d'Ivoire. Just as she arrived the government changed the regulations and she had to return to Europe for a French teaching qualification before she took up her post. Through the 1930s she divided her time between the school and village evangelistic work, which thrived. Later church leaders owed much to her influence and encouragement. On two furloughs she was called to stand in, in 1939 as the Women's Work Candidates' Secretary and in 1943-4 as a tutor at Kingsmead College. After further service in Dahomey (Benin) and Togo, she became one of the WW Secretaries and worked at the Mission House for 18 years, where she was valued for her administrative ability, clear insight and firmness of purpose. Her relationship with the missionaries under her care was always personal rather than formal. She helped to bring about the integration of Women's Work in the organization of the Missionary Society. She died on 4 February 1987.

Entry written by: JRP
Category: Person
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