Includes bibliographical references (p. 251-280) and index.

Under the influence of wise and devoted and spiritually minded colleagues -- She is a lady of much ability and intelligence : the selection and training of candidates -- LMS work in North India : the feeblest work in all of India -- Good temper and common sense are invaluable : the Church of Scotland Eastern Himalayan Mission -- The work of the CIM at Chefoo : faith-filled generations -- Gender and the professionalization of Victorian society : the mission example -- Conclusion: fools for Christ.

1. 'Under the influence of wise and devoted and spiritually minded colleagues' -- 2. 'She is a lady of much ability and intelligence': the selection and training of candidates -- 3. LMS work in north India: 'the feeblest work in all of India' -- 4. 'Good temper and common sense are invaluable': the Church of Scotland Eastern Himalayan Mission -- 5. The work of the CIM at Chefoo: faith-filled generations -- 6. Gender and the professionalization of Victorian society: the mission example -- 7. Conclusion: fools for Christ's sake.

"This is the first comprehensive study of the role of gender in British Protestant missionary expansion into China and India during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Focusing on the experiences of wives and daughters, female missionaries, educators and medical staff associated with the London Missionary Society, the China Inland Mission and the various Scottish Presbyterian Mission Societies, this work compares and contrasts gender relations within different British Protestant missions in cross-cultural settings. Drawing on extensive published and archival materials, it examines how gender, race, class, nationality and theology shaped the polity of Protestant missions and Christian interaction with native peoples. Rather than providing a romantic portrayal of fulfilled professional freedom, this study argues that women's labour in Christian missions, as in the secular British Empire and domestic society, remained undervalued in terms of both remuneration and administrative advancement, until well into the twentieth century. Rich in detail and full of insights, this work not only presents the first comparative treatment of gender relations in British Christian missionary movements, but also contributes to an understanding of the importance of gender more broadly in the high imperial age."--BOOK JACKET.