Page 68 - Three Score Years & Ten
P. 68
“THREE SCORE YEARS AND TEN” MISSIONARY WORK IN CHINA
Amy Moore
The family owned the Speedwell Mine in Castleton, known as "the bottomless pit". I don't know if they
still own it, but it is famous for the blue stone known as "Blue John" out of which are made jewellery
and other things which tourists buy.
During my time in England, I spent some time trying to trace the connection between the Andrews and
the Eyres. The Eyres have a fascinating background which can be traced right back to William the
Conqueror. I found there is no blood connection, but one of Abraham Andrew's younger sisters
married two Eyre brothers, first Joseph and then, after he died, his younger brother Vincent Henry.
The cousins with whom Esther and Arthur stayed in 1919 were grandchildren of Sarah and Joseph
Eyre. Mrs. Bradbury had a little daughter called Pollie at that time.
A link with John Wesley seems to run through the Eyre/Andrew family history. Esther's brother Arthur
told me that his grandfather Abraham must have been one of John Wesley's first lay preachers.
When Esther stayed with Pollie Eyre in 1949, she found that her name had not changed because she
had married her cousin Tom Eyre. Tom owned a sheep farm at Hope, and Esther wrote that "there is
a barn on the Alport farm where long ago John Wesley himself preached at the Alport Love Feast.
One of the Eyre girls who is now a district nurse, has written a beautiful poem about the barn."
GANSU AGAIN
Back in China they spent a happy holiday with the other three children in Chefoo before returning to
Gansu with Doug. They were appointed neither to Lanzhou nor to Ganzhou as they might have
expected, but to Liangzhou, the farthest flung of the CIM stations except for Dihua where Mr. Hunter
and Percy Mather were happily at work together. Arthur and Esther returned to Lanzhou only to
collect their personal things which had been stored there since 1916.
With both Andrew families at home on furlough, Mr. and Mrs. Mann were in charge at that time, with
Dr. and Mrs. Parry and Miss Knox at the hospital and young Mark Botham in charge of the provincial
High School. Dr. and Mrs. Howard Taylor who were visiting stations in the north west were also at
Lanzhou when the Moores arrived.
They were all there on the December night when the devastating earthquake of 16 December struck
that part of Gansu. In her book `The Call of China's Great North- West ' Mrs. Taylor described the
experience.
"It was a cold dark December night and Mrs. Mann's guests were gathered around the
fire in her sitting room. Her three year old daughter was asleep in a room near by,
and Mrs. Moore's little Douglas in a room across the courtyard. We had just been
talking over the Bible passage and were kneeling in prayer, when a strange
disturbance began. It seemed to be outside and overhead like the rumbling of heavy
carts, or the thundering towards us and then above us of a railway train. It was
bewildering, but for a moment we went on praying. Then the floor began to move
and we knew! The parents rushed for their children while the building rocked and the
floor swayed, making it difficult to reach the door. By the time we got out, the
courtyard was rolling as if in a rough sea. As we stood silent and amazed in the
middle of the courtyard, there were sounds of creaking timbers, falling walls and an
indescribable groaning of great roofs. It all went on for minutes that seemed
interminable, then gradually the earth under our feet steadied, the deafening roar
passed away, and we knew the worst was over."
68
Amy Moore
The family owned the Speedwell Mine in Castleton, known as "the bottomless pit". I don't know if they
still own it, but it is famous for the blue stone known as "Blue John" out of which are made jewellery
and other things which tourists buy.
During my time in England, I spent some time trying to trace the connection between the Andrews and
the Eyres. The Eyres have a fascinating background which can be traced right back to William the
Conqueror. I found there is no blood connection, but one of Abraham Andrew's younger sisters
married two Eyre brothers, first Joseph and then, after he died, his younger brother Vincent Henry.
The cousins with whom Esther and Arthur stayed in 1919 were grandchildren of Sarah and Joseph
Eyre. Mrs. Bradbury had a little daughter called Pollie at that time.
A link with John Wesley seems to run through the Eyre/Andrew family history. Esther's brother Arthur
told me that his grandfather Abraham must have been one of John Wesley's first lay preachers.
When Esther stayed with Pollie Eyre in 1949, she found that her name had not changed because she
had married her cousin Tom Eyre. Tom owned a sheep farm at Hope, and Esther wrote that "there is
a barn on the Alport farm where long ago John Wesley himself preached at the Alport Love Feast.
One of the Eyre girls who is now a district nurse, has written a beautiful poem about the barn."
GANSU AGAIN
Back in China they spent a happy holiday with the other three children in Chefoo before returning to
Gansu with Doug. They were appointed neither to Lanzhou nor to Ganzhou as they might have
expected, but to Liangzhou, the farthest flung of the CIM stations except for Dihua where Mr. Hunter
and Percy Mather were happily at work together. Arthur and Esther returned to Lanzhou only to
collect their personal things which had been stored there since 1916.
With both Andrew families at home on furlough, Mr. and Mrs. Mann were in charge at that time, with
Dr. and Mrs. Parry and Miss Knox at the hospital and young Mark Botham in charge of the provincial
High School. Dr. and Mrs. Howard Taylor who were visiting stations in the north west were also at
Lanzhou when the Moores arrived.
They were all there on the December night when the devastating earthquake of 16 December struck
that part of Gansu. In her book `The Call of China's Great North- West ' Mrs. Taylor described the
experience.
"It was a cold dark December night and Mrs. Mann's guests were gathered around the
fire in her sitting room. Her three year old daughter was asleep in a room near by,
and Mrs. Moore's little Douglas in a room across the courtyard. We had just been
talking over the Bible passage and were kneeling in prayer, when a strange
disturbance began. It seemed to be outside and overhead like the rumbling of heavy
carts, or the thundering towards us and then above us of a railway train. It was
bewildering, but for a moment we went on praying. Then the floor began to move
and we knew! The parents rushed for their children while the building rocked and the
floor swayed, making it difficult to reach the door. By the time we got out, the
courtyard was rolling as if in a rough sea. As we stood silent and amazed in the
middle of the courtyard, there were sounds of creaking timbers, falling walls and an
indescribable groaning of great roofs. It all went on for minutes that seemed
interminable, then gradually the earth under our feet steadied, the deafening roar
passed away, and we knew the worst was over."
68
