Lambe, Catharine Cadbury

William Warder Cadbury (嘉惠霖 Jiā Huìlín) was born on 1877 Oct 15 in Philadelphia, PA. He was the son of Joel and Anna Kaighn Cadbury and he was a birthright member of the Philadelphia Monthly Meeting for the Western District (now called the Central Philadelphia Monthly Meeting). In 1911 he married Sarah Imbree Manatt; she died shortly after in 1912. Then, in 1917 he married Catharine Balderston Jones and had three daughters, Jane B. Cadbury, Emma Cadbury, and Catharine C. Cadbury.

He graduated from the William Penn Charter School in 1894, and got a B.A. and M.A. from Haverford College in 1898 and 1899 respectively. He received an M.D. from the University of Pennsylvania in 1902. He spent time studying abroad in Vienna in 1905. In the years 1906-07, he taught pathology and pharmacology at the University of Pennsylvania, and in the period 1906-09, he worked as a pathologist at St. Mary’s Hospital.

Between 1909 and 1949, WWC was a medical missionary in Canton, China. In 1909 he traveled to China and became a professor at the Canton Christian College (later Lingnan University). In 1914, he joined the specialized medical staff of Canton Hospital. He was appointed superintendent of Canton Hospital in 1930. He served as Vice-President of the Chinese Medical Association from 1935-37, and as Canton Chairman of the International Red Cross from 1938-41.

He lived in China during an extremely tumultuous time in history, and in 1943, after the United States and Japan declared war, WWC and his wife Catharine were interned by the Japanese. They remained in the internment camp for eight months, until they were released and returned to the United States. Soon after the end of the war, WWC once again returned to China and reassumed his position at Canton. He remained there until 1949 when he retired.

For the rest of his life, from 1949-59, William lived at his home in Moorestown, NJ. On 1959 Oct 15, he died in Philadelphia, PA.

(Information taken from “Dictionary of Quaker Biography”)

Catharine Balderston Jones was born 1884 in Pennsylvania. She was the daughter of Jane C.B. Jones. She married William Warder Cadbury in 1917 and became Catharine Jones Cadbury. They had three daughters named Jane B. Cadbury, Emma Cadbury, and Catharine C. Cadbury. CJC accompanied and assisted her husband in his medical missionary work in Canton, China. They were both interned by the Japanese in 1943, and were subsequently released and lived in the United States for the remainder of the war. They returned to China after the war, and remained there until 1949. She lived at her home in Moorestown, NJ the death of WWC in 1959. She lived in Concord, Massachusetts at the time of her death in 1970 Jun 28.

(Information take from Quaker Journal, 8/1-15, 1970, Volume 16, Number 14, pg. 477)

From the guide to the William W. Cadbury and Catharine J. Cadbury collection, 1893-1967, (Haverford College Quaker & Special Collections)