Torrance, T. (Thomas)

The Rev. Thomas Torrance, F.R.G.S. was a missionary from Scotland to China. He worked with Chinese natives in the Ch'iang Min Valley. He worked under the auspices of the China Inland Mission and the American Bible Society from 1896-1934.

From the description of Thomas Torrance papers, 1896-1934 (inclusive). (Yale University). WorldCat record id: 702148501

• 1871: Born in Shotts, Lanarkshire, Scotland
• 1892 - 1894 : Attended Hulme Cliff College in Derbyshire
• 1894 - 1895 : Studied at Livingstone College, London
• 1896 Jan Rev. Thomas Torrance arrived in Shanghai. 1896-1910: Stationed in Western Szechuan, working as a missionary with the China Inland Mission, with headquarters in Chengdu.
• 1909: Serious disagreement with members of the China Inland Mission. Finally settled after ten years.
• 1910: Withdrew from China Inland Mission due to disagreement. Returned to Scotland. Later persuaded by Dr. John Hykes, Head of the American Bible Society in Shanghai, to return to China to take over the agency of the ABS in Szechuan, centered in Chengdu.
• ?: Married Annie Elizabeth Sharp, a missionary with the China Inland Mission, stationed in Kuanshien.
• 1912 - 1924 : Births of Torrance children: Mary, Thomas F., Grace, Margaret, James, David.
• 1927: Torrance family left China due to the early communist troubles under Chiang Kai-shek and returned to Scotland. Later, returned to China to continue missionary work, leaving wife and children in Scotland. Remained for seven years.
• 1934: Returned to Scotland due to Civil War in China. During the revolution, the Ch'iang villages and Christian churches established by Torrance in the upper Min valley were destroyed. Later, Torrance received a New Testament which had been buried to preserve it from the Communists as a symbol of the reestablishment of the Christian Church among the Ch'iang.
• 1959: Died in Edinburgh

From the guide to the Thomas T. Torrance Papers, 1883-1996, (Yale University Divinity School Library)