1900 - Charles & Florence I'Anson and Children

July 12, 1900

Datong, Shanxi

The I’Anson Family.

Charles S. I’Anson, his wife Florence, and three children Dora, Arthur, and Eva were butchered together at Datong on July 12, 1900.

Charles I’Anson grew up in the city of London, and came to faith in Christ when a friend took him to an evangelistic meeting at Mildmay. From the outset he desired to be a true disciple, preaching the gospel and teaching Sunday school with great enthusiasm. While working with the ‘Ragged School Mission,’ I’Anson offered himself for service in China. On November 3, 1887—after completing a missionary training course at Harley College—I’Anson and eight other young male recruits sailed to the Orient.

Florence Doggett arrived in China two years later. Born in the English county of Hertfordshire in 1867, Florence grew up in a family where practical godliness was stressed. Despite this environment, she did not personally experience God’s grace and forgiveness of sins until the age of 17. In 1885 the ‘Cambridge Seven’ departed for China. This group of men from wealthy and influential families gave up prosperity and fame in order to serve Christ in obscurity on the other side of the world. Their decision caused a stir in Britain at the time. Christians saw it as a marvellous act of faith and courage, while many non-Christians considered it a waste of good lives.

The commitment of the Cambridge Seven caused Florence to ponder the direction of her own life. While she was thinking about what to do, her family was visited by Hudson Taylor and his wife. All of these influences resulted in Florence firmly dedicating herself to missionary service in China. She arrived in 1889. The following year she met Charles I’Anson at a missionary conference, and they were married in 1892. Their union also produced three healthy children. A daughter, Dora, was born first, followed a few years later by Arthur.

For eight blessed years the I’Ansons worked in Shanxi Province, at first assisting Stewart and Kate McKee at Datong. Several single women also arrived to lend a hand. Together they had the joy of seeing a small church of faithful converts emerge in the town. A colleague said of Charles I’Anson:

“He is a splendid worker; a real, quiet plodder, sticking to the work in hand till it has finished; a man of few words, but of peaceful and blameless life; truly, a man without guile, his one aim being the Glory of God, and salvation of souls. His whole heart was in his work in China, and nothing pleased him better than the thought that he would die in harness.”[1]

Several years after they arrived in China the I’Ansons were put in charge of an opium refuge in the town of Xiaoyi. In 1898 another baby daughter, Eva, joined the I’Anson household. On July 12, 1900, the Boxers at Datong horribly massacred Charles and Florence I’Anson and their three children.