John Burdon (bishop)

John Shaw Burdon
Missionary to China
Born	12 December 1826 Glasgow, Scotland
Died	5 January 1907 Royston, Hertfordshire, England

John Shaw Burdon^[1] (simplified Chinese: 包尔腾; traditional Chinese: 包爾騰; 1826 – 5 January 1907) was a British Christian missionary to China with the Church Mission Society who in time became a bishop.^[2]

Life

Burdon was ordained to the priesthood by the Bishop of London in December 1852;

Burdon was a friend and fellow travelling evangelist of the young Hudson Taylor. He married Harriet Ann, whom he lost to illness in 1854 in Shanghai.^[8] His second marriage in 1857 was to Burella Hunter Dyer, the daughter of missionary Rev.Samuel Dyer.^[9] She died the following year of cholera, also in Shanghai. His third wife also predeceased him. Burdon is fluent in Shanghainese. In April 1855, Burdon and Hudson Taylor stationed in Chongming Island, adjacent to Shanghai. When they preached, Hudson Taylor spoke first in Mandarin, then Burton interpreted into Shanghainese, which is native to the island.^[10]

The school, named

He died at Bedford on 5 January 1907, and was buried at Royston. [12]

Family

Burdon was married three times: first, to Harriet Anne Forshaw on 30 March 1853, who died at Shanghai on 26 September 1854 ; second, to Burella Hunter Dyer, on 11 November 1857, who died on 16 Aug. 1858; third, to Phoebe Esther, daughter of E. T. Alder, vicar of Bungay on 14 June 1865. She died on 14 June 1898; they had three sons.^[12]

Bibliography

• Old Testament Manual
• Christian Joy: A Sermon, Preached in the London Mission Chapel, Shanghai, 25 November 1858, the Last Thursday in the Month, Usually Observed in the United States of America as Thanksgiving Day (1858)
• The Chinese Term for God: A Letter to the Protestant Missionaries of China (1877)
• Colloquial Versions of the Chinese Scriptures: A Paper to be read at the Shanghai Missionary Conference (1890)

Notes