Page 6 - GFA – A Different Drumbeat
P. 6
GFA – A Different Drumbeat 6
PREFACE
My uncle, David Bentley-Taylor has written an unpublished memoir of George Findlay
Andrew’s life. He wrote it in particular for his family with a view to giving them some insight
into this outstanding relative of theirs. In that memoir he writes:
In spite of my researches spread over several years, "many other exciting and
dangerous missions" remain hidden from us. He once referred to having been five
times captured by bandits but only two of these occasions are known to me. An
American colleague once said to him, "It would really be tragic if you don’t write the
major stories of your life's experiences. There is such a vast amount of history,
drama and humour which none but you can record.” Yet he never did it, and I
include here every scrap I can salvage.
David Bentley-Taylor sent a copy of his untitled manuscript to my mother, Amy Moore with
permission for us to make use of it as we wished. Recently I was encouraged to continue
with the writing of this story by David’s son, Michael Bentley-Taylor. So Bentley-Taylor’s
story has been the substructure for this book. In some cases, especially when I have
quoted directly from his manuscript, I have acknowledged the source. However, if I was to
try and acknowledge every part of the book which his writing has directly inspired, his name
would have to appear on every page, often more than once. In this sense, although he was
not aware of it as he had died before I started this project, he is in a sense a co-author of
this book.
I also want to acknowledge my indebtedness to my mother. She took Bentley-Taylor’s
manuscript and included it in her family history of the Andrew family, “Three Score Years &
Ten – Missionary Work in China” by Amy Moore. Published by Kyema Publishing 2011, and
added her own memories of GFA and of people who knew him. She was a writer, and I
have long term memories of hearing her typewriter tap-tap-tapping away in her room when
she was staying with us. She was a “peck and hunt” two finger typist, but this put no
restrictions on her output. I certainly have picked up that love of writing.
I met Uncle George (he was actually my great-uncle, but that’s how I knew him at that age)
in 1947 when I was twelve years old, in Shanghai. More about this in the chapter, “Sophie”.
As you can see from the above comments, he was called ‘George’ at that time, at least by
our family. However, in all his time from when he joined the China Inland Mission until the
end of World War II, he signed his correspondence as ‘G. Findlay Andrew’. Adding to my
confusion is this letter from Abbot Low Moffat (see box) written in 1962, just after he (Moffat)
had retired, and was using his retirement to write.
GFA probably met Moffat duing World War II when he was involved with Force 136. This
indicates that to his colleagues during the War, he was called ‘George’, but later was called
‘Findlay’.
PREFACE
My uncle, David Bentley-Taylor has written an unpublished memoir of George Findlay
Andrew’s life. He wrote it in particular for his family with a view to giving them some insight
into this outstanding relative of theirs. In that memoir he writes:
In spite of my researches spread over several years, "many other exciting and
dangerous missions" remain hidden from us. He once referred to having been five
times captured by bandits but only two of these occasions are known to me. An
American colleague once said to him, "It would really be tragic if you don’t write the
major stories of your life's experiences. There is such a vast amount of history,
drama and humour which none but you can record.” Yet he never did it, and I
include here every scrap I can salvage.
David Bentley-Taylor sent a copy of his untitled manuscript to my mother, Amy Moore with
permission for us to make use of it as we wished. Recently I was encouraged to continue
with the writing of this story by David’s son, Michael Bentley-Taylor. So Bentley-Taylor’s
story has been the substructure for this book. In some cases, especially when I have
quoted directly from his manuscript, I have acknowledged the source. However, if I was to
try and acknowledge every part of the book which his writing has directly inspired, his name
would have to appear on every page, often more than once. In this sense, although he was
not aware of it as he had died before I started this project, he is in a sense a co-author of
this book.
I also want to acknowledge my indebtedness to my mother. She took Bentley-Taylor’s
manuscript and included it in her family history of the Andrew family, “Three Score Years &
Ten – Missionary Work in China” by Amy Moore. Published by Kyema Publishing 2011, and
added her own memories of GFA and of people who knew him. She was a writer, and I
have long term memories of hearing her typewriter tap-tap-tapping away in her room when
she was staying with us. She was a “peck and hunt” two finger typist, but this put no
restrictions on her output. I certainly have picked up that love of writing.
I met Uncle George (he was actually my great-uncle, but that’s how I knew him at that age)
in 1947 when I was twelve years old, in Shanghai. More about this in the chapter, “Sophie”.
As you can see from the above comments, he was called ‘George’ at that time, at least by
our family. However, in all his time from when he joined the China Inland Mission until the
end of World War II, he signed his correspondence as ‘G. Findlay Andrew’. Adding to my
confusion is this letter from Abbot Low Moffat (see box) written in 1962, just after he (Moffat)
had retired, and was using his retirement to write.
GFA probably met Moffat duing World War II when he was involved with Force 136. This
indicates that to his colleagues during the War, he was called ‘George’, but later was called
‘Findlay’.
