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Messages - kealexander

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The Common Room / Re: Any information on "Miss C. M. Nicholson" a missionary to Palestine?
« on: Friday 21 September 18 03:42 BST (UK)  »
I'm going to keep looking. These deaconesses were almost like nuns in that they sort of gave themselves to the life of the church and a kind of anonymity. They did keep their surnames, but were always just identified as "Miss _____." As I was searching all those CMS records, I was just sort of taken aback by how many of these women are probably forgotten.

Alice, her sister was living at the vicarage where Pennefather served! This may mean that Margaret was one of the early deaconesses. And if they were living at 1 Boltons in 1861, it is probably an indication that they were of some means (her father was a barrister and under-sheriff--though I have no idea about how those posts paid in 1861). Anyway, it was often the spinster-type from a family of means who made these kind of commitments. So, these little tid-bits do add up.

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The Common Room / Re: Any information on "Miss C. M. Nicholson" a missionary to Palestine?
« on: Friday 21 September 18 02:52 BST (UK)  »
I  think I wasn't looking far enough into the 20th c. I was so frustrated that I couldn't find travel info.

The reason I've been researching her is that I am writing a book on a 20th c. American missionary, Margaret Gaines, who served first in Tunisia, then in Jerusalem, then in Aboud, Palestine. She worked for over 40 years in that village of Aboud. When she arrived in 1964, there had been no Protestant work there since that of an English missionary, "Miss Nicholson" in the early 20th c. "Miss Nicholson" was well-respected by all. So, I started searching for any mentions of her. I found numerous ones in missionary periodicals, mostly published by the CMS, that described her work, first with the Jaffa Medical Mission. I went to the Church Mission Society archive in Birmingham, but she was not registered as a CMS missionary. I went through reels of microfilm of letters sent to the Palestinian offices during that time period and finally found one with her initials. But even with that, I wasn't able to find her full identity. Then I found some references to the Palestine Village Mission and the Yale Divinity School archive had some records of PVM. The archivist there sent me copies and found that she was listed as "foundress," but still no full name. So, your hard work has filled out the picture for me. I have looked for records of Mildmay Deaconesses, but the earliest ones don't seem to exist; some later ones are housed in the archives of The London Hospital. When I finally get this published, I'll be sure to give RootsChat full credit!

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The Common Room / Re: Any information on "Miss C. M. Nicholson" a missionary to Palestine?
« on: Thursday 20 September 18 14:07 BST (UK)  »
I cannot thank all of you enough! Finding her name has just opened everything up. You guys are amazing!

May I ask how you do it? What tools do you use? I've used Ancestry.com, with the upgrade for international archival sources and have had good success locating other people in the past but just turned up nothing for this search. And I've been really diligent at it! I have lots of professional historian friends who would be interested in your method.

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The Common Room / Any information on "Miss C. M. Nicholson" a missionary to Palestine?
« on: Wednesday 19 September 18 01:18 BST (UK)  »
I'm a historian trying to find out about an amazing woman who was a missionary to the Jaffa Medical Mission and then founded the Palestine Village Mission. I know that she was a Mildmay Deaconess who first went to Jaffa in the 1880s and I know that she stayed in Palestine till well into the 1900s. I've searched Church Missions Society archives in Birmingham, UK but the only record they have is a letter signed "Miss C. M. Nicholson." Everywhere else she is just "Miss Nicholson." Any help on further identifying her would be so very appreciated!

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