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Hubert Gordon Thompson

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Hubert Gordon Thompson
M.B. Ch.B. M.D. FRCS; FRGS
Born(1878-02-24)February 24, 1878
Liverpool
💀DiedFebruary 13, 1953(1953-02-13) (aged 74)
Appledore, KentFebruary 13, 1953(1953-02-13) (aged 74)
🏳️ NationalityBritish
🏫 EducationUniversity College Liverpool
💼 Occupation
Surgeon and Missionary Doctor

Dr Hubert Gordon Thompson M.B., Ch.B., M.D., F.R.C.S. (Eng), F.R.G.S. was a surgeon, missionary doctor, author, keen photographer, and explorer of the China Borders of Tibet and Inner Mongolia. He was awarded The Order of Brilliant Jade by the President of the Republic of China in 1941.

Early life and family[edit]

Hubert Gordon Thompson was the second of four children born in Tranmere, Cheshire to John Albert Thompson (b. 17 Apr 1852); and Emma Stubley (b. 2 Nov 1858). His Great Uncle was Jacob Thompson a Lakeland painter

Hubert Gordon Thompson (b. 24 Feb 1878), who would refer to himself as H. Gordon Thompson or HGT, was one of the first "new paperboys" for the Liverpool Echo in the late 19th century. He later went on to study medicine at University College Liverpool (part of the Victoria University Manchester) which later, in 1904, became Liverpool University where he qualified as a surgeon and went on to have a successful practice in Liverpool .

Whilst at Victoria University, H. Gordon Thompson wrote a prize-winning essay called “The Canal System of England” for which he received a medal and prize of £100 from the Cobden Club[1]. The essay was later published by the Cobden Club in 1902 [2].

Medical qualifications[edit]

  • Liverpool College, Victoria University Manchester M.B., Ch.B., 1903[3]
  • Liverpool College, Victoria University Manchester Holt Fellow of Physiology, 1903–04[3]
  • Gee Fellow in Anatomy, 1904–05, in the University of London Scholarship 26 July 1904[3]
  • Assistant Lecturer in Anatomy in the University of Liverpool, 1905[3]
  • House Surgeon, General Hospital, Birmingham, 1905[3]
  • Liverpool University: M.D. 1906[3]

After qualifying, H. Gordon Thompson had a surgical practice at 35 Sydenham Avenue, Sefton Park, Liverpool [4]. On 9 December 1909[5] he qualified with the Royal College of Surgeons as both MRCS and FRCS, as detailed in the Royal College's publication Plarr's Lives of the Fellows [4].

Missionary doctor in China[edit]

Picture of the P&O passenger steamship the SS India
S.S India

In 1906 H. Gordon Thompson worked his passage as the ship’s doctor on the SS India (P&O line) from Tilbury in London to Hong Kong. On board ship he met Charles M Alexander a well-known evangelist, and the brother-in-law of H. Gordon Thompson's friend and colleague, Dr. Neville Bradley with whom he had trained at Liverpool University. Dr. Bradley, a physician, was looking for a surgeon to work with him in Southern China at the Church Missionary Society (CMS) Po Yan hospital and settlement village for people with Leprosy in Pakhoi (now the Beihai’s People’s hospital), in Guangxi Province[6]. This chance encounter was written up in a book, by his wife, outlining Charles Alexander's travels called "A Romance Of Song And Soul-Winning"[7]

On 1 Jul 1912 H. Gordon Thompson married Amy Constance Bradley at St. Luke's Church in Pakhoi (Beihai) and 100 leprosy patients attended the wedding. In 1913 their first son, John Frederick was born at Pakhoi.

H. Gordon Thompson’s work as a surgeon at the Po Yan hospital was described at the time in some detail in a number of published reports to the Church Missionary Society[8][9]. In January 1912 H. Gordon Thompson presented a paper entitled "Surgical Work In South China" to the Second Biennial Congress of the Far Eastern Association of Tropical Medicine that was held in Hong Kong [10].

In 1915 H. Gordon Thompson was asked to start a CMS Western medicine hospital at Yunnan-fu (now Kunming). He travelled there first to investigate and later he was joined by his wife Amy and son John. To get there they travelled by boat around the coast from Pakhoi to Haiphong and then by train on the railway built by the French from Haiphong to YunnanFu.

Their second son Arthur Gordon was born in YunnanFu (Kunming) in 1915. This was followed by a daughter Greta Constance who was born in 1917 in the new hospital known as the Hui Tien hospital. In 1921 their youngest son Peter Hubert was born.

Initially H. Gordon Thompson rented an old Chinese house in the city. They put up a notice saying that Western medicine was practiced there and immediately started receiving patients. The house was built around two courtyards.  They lived in the inner courtyard and made the outer courtyard into a surgery where he saw patients.

This is a picture of Governor Tang Jiyao arriving at opening of Hui Tien hospital. H. Gordon Thompson's daughter, Greta, aged 4, presenting the key to the hospital
Governor Tang Jiyao arriving at opening of Hui Tien hospital. H. Gordon Thompson's daughter, Greta, aged 4, presenting the key to the hospital.

They bought some land on which to build the hospital, on the outskirts of the city, just outside the Western Gate. The new hospital was called the Hui Tien hospital was founded in1920 and formally opened in 1921 by the Military Governor of Yunnan Tang Jiyao. (The hospital is now known as the Children's Hospital Kunming).

In March 1922 H. Gordon Thompson, acting on behalf of the French, British and Japanese Consuls in Yunnan-fu sought to protect the people in Yunnanfu and negotiate a ceasefire between the armies of two rival provincial warlords: Marshall Ting Jiyao and General Gu Pinzhen. Both men were competing for the control of the city of Yunnanfu and the surrounding Province. The events are documented in a book called “With P’u and his brigands”[11] which details the capture of two missionaries, Howard and Geraldine Taylor. It was subsequently evidenced in a book called “Anglicans In China”[12].

Explorer[edit]

In 1923 H. Gordon Thompson joined Brig. Gen. George Pereira on a mapping expedition along the borders of Tibet and Inner Mongolia. The journey was full of incident as they traversed the River Mekong and the River Yangtze and crossed the high Qinghai-Tibetan plateau in the west of Sichuan province. During the journey the General tragically died of Peritonitis from a perforated duodenal ulcer. He was buried on the East side of Kanze (Ganze) under the shadow of the great Lamasery on the hill. The General's account of the journey is told in a book called "Peking to Lhasa"[13], collated from his journals by Sir Francis Younghusband. Despite this setback, H. Gordon Thompson decided to carry on with the journey, continuing the mapping and taking many photographs. He reached the Labrang Monastery, one of the six great monasteries of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism in Gansu Province. From there he travelled to Lanchow (Lanzhou), the largest city in Gansu Province. The last stage of his journey took him to the ancient city of Ningxia. From there he travelled across the Ordos plateau, one of the twelve major areas of Inner Mongolia, to Pao T'ao (Baotao). This was the terminus of the Peking–Suiyuan railway, from where he would planned to take the train to Peking (Beijing). and then alongside the Yellow River (Huang Ho).

As H. Gordon Thompson neared his final destination, he was captured by mercenary bandits and held for ransom. His captors kept moving, travelling at night to avoid detection. The ransom demanded was $10.000, 150 rifles, 50 automatic pistols, 4 machine-guns, and a whole district to control. By feigning a hunger strike, saying he could only eat western food, he managed to get word of his whereabouts to the local military Governor of Ningxia, General Ma Fuxiang and his chief of staff Colonel Chao. They managed to aid his escape and after two days, travelling at night across the frozen Yellow River he eventually reached safety. From Pao T'ao he took the train to Peking (Beijing) where he gave a report of his capture and observations to Sir Ronald Macleay G.C.M.G., the British Ambassador. Later he travelled via Shanghai to Hong Kong where he was reunited with his wife and family. From there he returned to work again in the hospital in Kunming.

In total the journey of about 2,500 miles had lasted 196 days.

In 1925, following his return to the UK on furlough, H. Gordon Thompson was invited to give a lecture about his journey to the Royal Geographical Society. The lecture was published, in full, the following year in The Geographical Journal[14]. The story of his journey and many of the pictures he took were also published in The Illustrated London News[15][16]. On 31st March 1926, H. Gordon Thompson was subsequently awarded the Gill Memorial Award by King George V on behalf of the Royal Geographical Society[17].

Life continues amid warring factions in China[edit]

In 1925 H. Gordon Thompson was asked by CMS to go to Hangchow (now known as Hangzhou) in Zhejiang Province to take over the Kwang Chi hospital and medical school. It was one of the earliest hospitals and medical schools in China having been started by Dr David Duncan Main in 1885. (The hospital was renamed the 2nd Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine in 1979). In 1926 it was dealing with 3,000 inpatients and 60,000 outpatients a year with over 1,000 major operations annually[18].

1925 & 1926, were difficult years for the hospital. There was no unified government and there was fighting between armies from the North of China and those from the South. Eventually the hospital was ransacked and all the staff and the children had to take refuge in Shanghai. After a year in Shanghai when the troubles had settled, they returned to Hangzhou. H. Gordon Thompson helped to organise Red Cross work, including a Red Cross ship that served casualties from both sides. "Dr. H. Gordon Thompson, the former Medical Superintendent of the hospital, deserves a large measure of praise for his patient and tactful dealing with this serious situation, and it is largely owing to his quiet efforts that the hospital was ultimately restored".[19].

In 1926 H. Gordon Thompson joined the Henry Lester Institute of Clinical Research in Shanghai under the leadership of Dr Earle and an independent Board of Governors. He was appointed as Director of Surgical Research and Head of Surgery. He led the surgical team and did a lot of investigative work on the appendix, its development and its treatment.

As refugees in Shanghai, H. Gordon Thompson and his family first rented a house in Rue Massenet in the French Concession, which they shared with a few other missionaries. They later moved to their own house in the Avenue du Roi Albert, also in the French Concession. The children attended the St' John's Anglican Cathedral school.

In 1927 H. Gordon Thompson’s wife, Amy, was taken ill and had to undergo an operation. She returned to England to recuperate, where she was able to live with their two eldest children, John and Arthur, and other members of her family. Meanwhile the two youngest children, Greta and Peter, remained in Shanghai in their father’s care.

In 1929 H. Gordon Thompson and the two younger children returned by ship to the UK. He later returned to Shanghai, whilst his wife and the children remained in the UK for their secondary schooling.

On his return to Shanghai, H. Gordon Thompson lived in a flat at the YMCA in Shanghai. Throughout the time he was in Shanghai, he would travel back to England once a year on The Trans-Siberian Railway. This involved two weeks on the train, two weeks in England and then two weeks back on the train to Shanghai. Whenever he was in the UK he would give talks and seek to raise funds for medical aid to China[20].

H. Gordon continued his clinical research work at The Henry Lister Institute in Shanghai. In 1934 he jointly presented a paper on “Some Surgical Complications of Parasitic Diseases” with J. Gray[21] at the 9th Congress of the Far Eastern Association of Tropical Medicine in Nanking (Nanjing). He also published a paper in the British Medical Journal entitled "The Lymphoid Tissue Of The Alimentary Canal"[22]. As an experienced physician with a lot of experience in inland China, he was asked by the China Inland Mission (C.I.M.) to edit a “Health Manual for Missionaries in China”[23]. This manual was sent to every Member and Associate of the C.I.M. and to every missionary of the Church Missionary Society (CMS) and the Church of England Zenana Missionary Society (C.E.Z.M.S.)

H. Gordon Thompson remained in Shanghai till the outbreak of all-out war with Japan in 1937. Once again, in response to the fighting, H. Gordon Thompson helped to organise Red Cross work in Shanghai. His last journey on the train back to the UK was completed just before the outbreak of war between the UK and Germany.

In December 1937, whilst in the UK, H. Gordon Thompson helped to establish the Lord Mayor’s Mansion House Fund for the Relief of Hardship in China, to raise funds and aid for China[24][25]. He became the Hon. Secretary and Treasurer of the fund and travelled widely across England[26][27] and Wales[28], Scotland[29][30] and Northern Ireland[31] speaking at public meetings to raise awareness and funds. He submitted letters[32], articles[33] and appeals[34] in many national and local newspapers[35] and spoke on two broadcasts on the BBC Home Service in 1941[36] and 1942[37]. On the former of these he spoke in support of an appeal by Mme Chiang Kai-Shek[38] whom he had met when she was a nurse in China. The fund raised over £150,000[39] in addition to donations of ambulances, medical equipment, blankets, and food[40]. The shipping of these items was provided free of charge[41].

Picture of the Order of The Brilliant Jade Medal on red, white and blue ribbon with and Lapel Pin
Order of The Brilliant Jade Medal and Lapel Pin

In 1939 with the outbreak of war in Europe, the Lord Mayor’s Fund for aid to China was renamed as The British Fund for the Relief of Distress in China with the Lord Mayor remaining as its Patron. H. Gordon Thompson continued his role of Hon. Secretary to the fund[32].

In February 1940 H. Gordon Thompson spoke at a meeting in support of the British Fund for the Relief of Distress in China that was chaired by the Chinese Ambassador Dr. H.E. Quo Tai-Chi, and attended by the Vice-Chancellor of Cambridge University, E.A. Benians, and the Mayor of Cambridge, Councillor W. J. Wing[42].

In 1941 H. Gordon Thompson was awarded the Order of Brilliant Jade by the President of the National Government of the Republic of China, for the work he undertook with the Red Cross, and the Lord Mayor's Fund for the Relief of Hardship in China[43].

In 1948, after the wars with Germany and Japan were over, H. Gordon Thompson was asked by CMS to return once again to China, to work at a hospital in Mienchu (now Mianyang), the second largest city in Sichuan Province, as they were in need of an experienced doctor. He and his wife Amy travelled out to Hong Kong. This enabled them to attend the wedding of their daughter, Greta, and Rev Eric Hague at St John's Anglican Cathedral in Hong Kong. From there they travelled overland to the hospital in Mienchu. Their time in Mienchu was sadly cut short when H. Gordon Thompson realised, he was developing Parkinson's Disease. He returned to the UK in 1950 where in 1953 he died at Appledore, near Ashford in Kent.

Postscript[edit]

In 2011 the work undertaken by H. Gordon Thompson at the Po Yan hospital in Pakhoi was acknowledged at a ceremony in Beihai to celebrate the 125th anniversary of the Beihai People’s Hospital. His daughter Dr. Greta Hague was invited as a guest of honour at the ceremony when a museum was opened to recognise the history of the hospital. The history of the hospital has been recorded in detail in two books by Liu Xisong.

  • The First Domestic Leper Hospital: Rediscovering the History of Pakhoi Po Yan Leper Hospital[44]
  • The Smile of the Goddess of Lanterns: A brief history of nursing care in Beihai Puren Hospital.[45]

References[edit]

  1. Thompson, H. Gordon (28 March 1901). "HONOUR FOR A MANCHESTER STUDENT". Manchester Courier and Lancashire General Advertiser (Manchester, England). p. 8. Unknown parameter |url-status= ignored (help)
  2. Thompson, H. Gordon (1902). The Canal System of England. The Cobden Club by Request: T. Fisher Unwin, Paternoster Square London. pp. passim. Search this book on
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 Thompson, H. Gordon (1908). The Victoria University of Manchester: Register of Graduates Up to July 1st, 1908. Manchester University Press. p. 355. Search this book on
  4. 4.0 4.1 Thompson, H. Gordon (1908). Plarr's Lives of the Fellows. Royal College of Surgeons by John Wright and sons. Bristol. Search this book on
  5. Thompson, H. Gordon (10 December 1909). "Royal College of Surgeons". Sheffield Daily Telegraph. p. 3. Unknown parameter |url-status= ignored (help)
  6. Russell, Rev. G.L. Russell (1936). 50 Years at Pakhoi 1886-1936: The History of the Po Yan Hospital. Hong Kong: Pakhoi Po Yan Hospital, Kelly & Walsh Ltd. 1936. p. 7. Search this book on
  7. Alexander, Helen Cadbury; Maclean, J Kennedy (1931). A Romance Of Song And Soul-Winning. London, New York: Marshall Bros. pp. 139–141. ISBN 1409796361. Search this book on
  8. Thompson, H. Gordon; Bradley, Neville (1906). "A Report of Medical Mission Work for the Church Missionary Society 1906". The Pakhoi Mission Hospital: Heal the Sick and Cleanse the Leper. Hong Kong by Kelly & Walsh Ltd 1907. XX: passim.
  9. Thompson, H. Gordon; Bradley, Neville (1907–1908). "A Report of Medical Mission Work for the Church Missionary Society (1907-1908)". The Pakhoi Mission Hospital: Heal the Sick and Cleanse the Leper. Hong Kong by Kelly & Walsh Ltd. XXI 1908: Passim.CS1 maint: Date format (link)
  10. Clark, Francis; Thompson, H. Gordon (1912). "Surgical Work in South China". Transactions of the 2nd Biennial Congress of the Far Eastern Association of Tropical Medicine. Hong Kong: Noronha & Co., 1914. OCLC 7384049. Search this book on
  11. Taylor, Mrs. Howard (Geraldine) (1924). With P'u and his Brigands. The China Inland Mission: London, Philadelphia. pp. 54–58. ISBN 1331578809. Search this book on
  12. Gray, G. F. S. (1996). Anglicans in China. The Episcopal China Mission History Project. pp. 27, 56. Search this book on
  13. Younghusband, Sir Francis (1925). "CH XVIII: The Last Trek". Peking to Lhasa; The narrative of Journeys in the Chinese Empire made by the late Brigadier General George Pereira. CONSTABLE AND COMPANY LTD. pp. 207–261. Search this book on
  14. Thompson, H Gordon (January 1926). "From Yunnan-fu to Peking along the Tibetan and Mongolian Borders, including the last journey of Brig. Gen. George E. Pereira". The Geographical Journal. The Royal Geographical Society: Edward Stanford Ltd 12 Long Acre London W.C.2. LXVII: 2–27. doi:10.2307/1783385. JSTOR 1783385.
  15. Thompson, H. Gordon (30 January 1926). "A Pioneer Journey through China's Far-West on the Tibetan Border: Wonders of a famous monastery". The Illustrated London News. Number 4528 Volume 168. pp. 180–184. Unknown parameter |url-status= ignored (help)
  16. Thompson, H. Gordon (6 February 1926). "A Pioneer Journey through China's Far West on the Tibetan Border: Adventures among Tibetan Bandits". The Illustrated London News. No 4529: Volume 168. pp. 220–223. Unknown parameter |url-status= ignored (help)
  17. Thompson, H. Gordon (31 March 1926). "Awards to Distinguished Explorers". Newcastle Evening Chronicle. p. 7. Unknown parameter |url-status= ignored (help)
  18. Thompson, H. Gordon (1926). "History of CMS Missions in China". CMS Periodicals for South, Central and West China, 1899-1970. Part 21.
  19. Rawlinson, D.D., Rev. Frank (1930). China Christian Yearbook 1929 (Sixteenth issue of the China "Mission" Year Book). Shanghai: Christian Literature Society. p. 521. Search this book on
  20. Thompson, H. Gordon (3 November 1933). "Personal items". The Coventry Herald. p. 6. Unknown parameter |url-status= ignored (help)
  21. Gray M.A., M.B., M. CHIR, F.R.C.S. (ENG.), J; Thompson M.D., F.R.C.S. (ENG.), H. Gordon (1934). Transactions of the ninth congress, held in Nanking, China, October 2-8, 1934. Far Eastern Association of Tropical Medicine. pp. 941–949.CS1 maint: Multiple names: authors list (link) Search this book on
  22. Thompson, H. Gordon (1 January 1938). "The Lymphoid Tissue Of The Alimentary Canal". British Medical Journal. 1 (4017): 7–11. doi:10.1136/bmj.1.4017.7. PMC 2085457. PMID 20781157 – via JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/25368369.
  23. Health Manual for Missionaries in China. China Inland Mission. 1937. pp. 1–2. Search this book on
  24. Thompson, H. Gordon (4 December 1937). "Relief of Distress in China". The Scotsman. p. 15. Unknown parameter |url-status= ignored (help)
  25. Thompson, H. Gordon (26 October 1937). "China and Japan: A Doctor looks backwards and forewards". The Yorkshire Post. Unknown parameter |url-status= ignored (help)
  26. Thompson, H. Gordon (22 March 1938). "Destitution in China". The Daily Herald. p. 9. Unknown parameter |url-status= ignored (help)
  27. Thompson, H. Gordon (12 September 1938). "Notes of the Day: Distress in China". Western Daily Press. Admiral Sir Hugh Tweedie. p. 9. Unknown parameter |url-status= ignored (help)
  28. Thompson, H. Gordon (3 May 1938). "Suffering in China". The Western Mail and South Wales News. Unknown parameter |url-status= ignored (help)
  29. Thompson, H. Gordon (24 June 1938). "Distress in China - Edinburgh Relief efforts". The Scotsman. p. 12. Unknown parameter |url-status= ignored (help)
  30. Thompson, H. Gordon (20 July 1938). "Eday: Distress in China - Lord Mayor's Fund". Orkney Herald, and Weekly Advertiser and Gazette for the Orkney & Zetland Islands. p. 4. Unknown parameter |url-status= ignored (help)
  31. Wu, K.C. (23 April 1938). "British Relief in Hankow". Londonderry Sentinel. Unknown parameter |url-status= ignored (help)
  32. 32.0 32.1 Thompson, H. Gordon (4 November 1938). "Correspondence: Distress in China". The Essex (Chelmsford) Chronicle. p. 7. Unknown parameter |url-status= ignored (help)
  33. Thompson, H. Gordon (17 February 1939). "Three months reign of terror in Hangchow". Derby Evening Telegraph. Unknown parameter |url-status= ignored (help)
  34. Thompson, H. Gordon (10 January 1939). "China's Home less Millions". Liverpool Daily Post. Unknown parameter |url-status= ignored (help)
  35. Thompson, H. Gordon (19 July 1941). "Public Notices: CMS Annual Meeting". Liverpool Evening Post. Unknown parameter |url-status= ignored (help)
  36. Kai Shek, Mme Chiang (27 April 1941). "The Week's Good Cause: Home Service". The Radio Times. H. Gordon Thompson. Unknown parameter |url-status= ignored (help)
  37. Thompson, H. Gordon (22 February 1942). "The Weeks Good Cause: Home Service". The Radio Times. Unknown parameter |url-status= ignored (help)
  38. Thompson, Mme ChiangH. Gordon (2 November 1938). "Relief of Distress in China: Letter of thanks from Mme Chian Kai Shek". The Scotsman. Unknown parameter |url-status= ignored (help)
  39. Thompson, H. Gordon Thompson (27 October 1938). "Thank you from Mme Chiang Kai Shek". Nottingham Journal. Unknown parameter |url-status= ignored (help)
  40. Stewart, James W (19 June 1939). "League and China". Sunderland Daily Echo and Shipping gazette. Unknown parameter |url-status= ignored (help)
  41. Thompson, H. Gordon (28 January 1939). "China Relief Fund: Shipping Companies Help". The Scotsman. Unknown parameter |url-status= ignored (help)
  42. Thompson, H. Gordon (16 February 1940). "Civilisation's Cause: Chinese Ambassador at Cambridge. Town and University support". Cambridge Daily News. pp. 1, 3. Unknown parameter |url-status= ignored (help)
  43. Thompson, H. Gordon (18 July 1941). "A Chinese Award". Liverpool Echo. Unknown parameter |url-status= ignored (help)
  44. 刘喜松 (Liu Xisong) (2015). 中国首家麻风医院: 北海普仁医院医史再发现 [The First Domestic Leper Hospital: Rediscovering the History of Pakhoi Po Yan Leper Hospital]. 刘喜松 /著. Guangxi Publishing house. pp. passim. ISBN 978-7-219-08958-3. Search this book on
  45. 刘喜松 (Liu Xisong) (2015). 提灯女神的笑靥:北海普仁医院百年护理史略 [The Smile of the Goddess of Lanterns: A brief history of nursing care in Beihai Puren Hospital]. the Guangxi Publishing house. pp. passim. ISBN 978-7-219-09437-2. Search this book on


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