Page 118 - Three Score Years & Ten
P. 118
“THREE SCORE YEARS AND TEN” MISSIONARY WORK IN CHINA
Amy Moore
BUSINESS AND MARRIAGE
He returned to Tianjin as a business man employed by the export-import firm of Wilson & Co. At that
time, white Russians were streaming into China across Siberia, many of them gifted and cultured
people who could see no future under the Communists. My mother-in-law, Esther Moore, told me
once that she had met many up in Lanzhou and she remembered one in particular, a woman with a
small child, both of them ragged and dirty, but obviously from a nice home, to whom she gave
hospitality for one or two nights before they continued their journey to the coast. She had few
possessions but, when they were going to bed, Esther noticed her silverbacked hairbrush with a
monogram on the back. She felt certain they came from one of the upper class families of Russia,
many of whom had already been killed by the Communists.
Among the families who came to Tianjin was a family called Levitsky from Chita, a city near Lake
Baikal on the Trans Siberian Railway. There were several daughters, the eldest being Mary, who
attracted attention in Tianjin by her initiative in getting the younger ones re-established in the new
world they had been thrown into. The Levistsky sisters were very attractive looking and made quite a
hit with the young men of Tianjin.
On 30 September1922 Arthur John Andrew married Mary Levitsky in Tianjin. He was 32 and she was
33. For seven years they had no children, and then Jessie Mary was born on 14 November 1929,
followed by John Mark five years later on 6 August 1934. So Percy’s cousin John Mark was only five
months older than Percy’s eldest son Raymond.
In the meantime Arthur gained more confidence in business and decided to launch his own company
which became known as The Hai Ho Trading Co. However, the Japanese invasion was not far off
and when it did take place they would have been better off in the larger company.
As it was, as soon as Japan and England were at war, Arthur lost everything and spent the rest of the
war years in the Weixian Concentration Camp in NE China. Alien civilians from all over north eastern
China were interned in this camp, and as that included the Chefoo School where Raymond was by
this time a scholar in the Prep. School, he and these almost unknown members of his father’s family
met once again. Mary Andrew, who was not eligible for internment, had gone in voluntarily with her
British husband and children. They functioned as a family unit under camp conditions.
When the War ended in 1945 Arthur returned to Tianjin, but never really got established in business
again. A letter from Esther Moore written in 1947 speaks of a letter from Arthur with pictures of Jessie
and Johnnie who, she remarks, “are very Andrew-ish in looks”. She continues that “Arthur is in the
Consulate and seems to be kept busy trying to save something out of the wreck after the liquidation of
the British Concession. He says his car was lost during the Japanese occupation, so he has to go on
foot. He seems to be in the Consulate to stay”. His position, according to a letter from him to Esther
later, was a Pro-Consul ‘at very low pay’, but he obviously hoped it would lead to something better.
Jessie Mary was sixteen now and Isobel Taylor of Chefoo staff, who was also in Weixian, mentioned
that during the internment, a CSSM meeting had been held which Jessie Mary attended and where
she had appeared to be ‘very keen’, but they felt that later her mother had influenced her against it.
ENGLAND AND AUSTRALIA
In 1948, some 25 years after Arthur had first settled there, they left Tianjin for good. The whole family
was given a free trip to England in recognition of the help he had given in arranging the affairs of the
British Consulate after the War. The Bentley-Taylors met them briefly after they arrived in London,
where Jessie Mary got a job with the Rank Pinewood Studios. It was here she met her first husband,
118
Amy Moore
BUSINESS AND MARRIAGE
He returned to Tianjin as a business man employed by the export-import firm of Wilson & Co. At that
time, white Russians were streaming into China across Siberia, many of them gifted and cultured
people who could see no future under the Communists. My mother-in-law, Esther Moore, told me
once that she had met many up in Lanzhou and she remembered one in particular, a woman with a
small child, both of them ragged and dirty, but obviously from a nice home, to whom she gave
hospitality for one or two nights before they continued their journey to the coast. She had few
possessions but, when they were going to bed, Esther noticed her silverbacked hairbrush with a
monogram on the back. She felt certain they came from one of the upper class families of Russia,
many of whom had already been killed by the Communists.
Among the families who came to Tianjin was a family called Levitsky from Chita, a city near Lake
Baikal on the Trans Siberian Railway. There were several daughters, the eldest being Mary, who
attracted attention in Tianjin by her initiative in getting the younger ones re-established in the new
world they had been thrown into. The Levistsky sisters were very attractive looking and made quite a
hit with the young men of Tianjin.
On 30 September1922 Arthur John Andrew married Mary Levitsky in Tianjin. He was 32 and she was
33. For seven years they had no children, and then Jessie Mary was born on 14 November 1929,
followed by John Mark five years later on 6 August 1934. So Percy’s cousin John Mark was only five
months older than Percy’s eldest son Raymond.
In the meantime Arthur gained more confidence in business and decided to launch his own company
which became known as The Hai Ho Trading Co. However, the Japanese invasion was not far off
and when it did take place they would have been better off in the larger company.
As it was, as soon as Japan and England were at war, Arthur lost everything and spent the rest of the
war years in the Weixian Concentration Camp in NE China. Alien civilians from all over north eastern
China were interned in this camp, and as that included the Chefoo School where Raymond was by
this time a scholar in the Prep. School, he and these almost unknown members of his father’s family
met once again. Mary Andrew, who was not eligible for internment, had gone in voluntarily with her
British husband and children. They functioned as a family unit under camp conditions.
When the War ended in 1945 Arthur returned to Tianjin, but never really got established in business
again. A letter from Esther Moore written in 1947 speaks of a letter from Arthur with pictures of Jessie
and Johnnie who, she remarks, “are very Andrew-ish in looks”. She continues that “Arthur is in the
Consulate and seems to be kept busy trying to save something out of the wreck after the liquidation of
the British Concession. He says his car was lost during the Japanese occupation, so he has to go on
foot. He seems to be in the Consulate to stay”. His position, according to a letter from him to Esther
later, was a Pro-Consul ‘at very low pay’, but he obviously hoped it would lead to something better.
Jessie Mary was sixteen now and Isobel Taylor of Chefoo staff, who was also in Weixian, mentioned
that during the internment, a CSSM meeting had been held which Jessie Mary attended and where
she had appeared to be ‘very keen’, but they felt that later her mother had influenced her against it.
ENGLAND AND AUSTRALIA
In 1948, some 25 years after Arthur had first settled there, they left Tianjin for good. The whole family
was given a free trip to England in recognition of the help he had given in arranging the affairs of the
British Consulate after the War. The Bentley-Taylors met them briefly after they arrived in London,
where Jessie Mary got a job with the Rank Pinewood Studios. It was here she met her first husband,
118
