*Update: 28 Oct 2022…
Well, I did it again. I went down the wrong rabbit hole. I have two children of the same name in a family and I mistakenly thought the first had died. There was a Jessie born 1867, a Jessie died 1891, and a Jessie born 1891. It was actually the Jessie born 1891 that also died 1891. The Jessie born in 1867 became a well-traveled and married woman, the reason why I couldn't find either Jessie in England after 1891. I discovered this was the Jessie through another member tree at Ancestry. Doing my own research, her death record had the names of both her parents, so I knew it was my Jessie.
Jessie Tait was the sister of my great grandfather. Jessie became a missionary student at Doric College (aka Doric Lodge) in Bromley-by-Bow, London, situated behind Harley College (for men). On the 1891 census these women attended the college with her:
Eliza Tebutt, 27,
Rothwell
Mary Millard, 26,
Clay Cross
Prudence
Wellwood, 23, Ireland
Maggie Waugh, 31,
Coatbridge, Scotland
Emma Whelpdale,
23, Charlton, Kent
Ada Walson, 26,
Hornsey, London
Gertie Van
DeMolen, 29, Holland
Sarah Ann Cheam,
25, Colchester
Amy Pike, 23,
Kensington, London
Mary Smith, 20,
Clapton, London
Jesse Tait, 24,
Liverpool
Maggie Emslie,
22, Scotland
Epiline Arrestad,
32, Norway
Carrie Bishop,
24, London
Florence Wacker,
26, Leeds
Madame Brogniez,
28 France
In 1892 Jessie Tait was one of five women accepted as a member of the North Africa Mission
Then later it was noted that Jessie's mission trip was delayed due to lack of funds.
These are some of the women that had been accepted in Feb 1892, two of them from Doric Lodge (aka Doric college)
The book also tells how much money was needed to outfit and pay passage for the missionaries going to Africa.
Jessie was soon sent to Algiers where she was in service to the Mohammedan women.
In 1893 Jessie married William George Pope, a missionary in Algiers since Feb 1891. Their marriage was registered in the British Consular marriages. William had attended Harley College in Bromley-by-Bow where he was a missionary and linguistics student. William became proficient in French, Arabic and Italian.
This is a photo of the Missionaries in Algiers at the time.
Names of those in the photo:
Dr C.S. Leach, Mr Cuendet, Mr E.H. Glenny, Mr W.G. Pope, Mr A.S. Lamb
Miss Thomas, Miss Read, Miss Stewart, Miss Freeman, Miss Trotter, Miss Gray
Mrs Leach, Miss Day, Miss Young, Mrs Lambert, Miss K. Smith, Miss Cox, Mrs Cuendet
Miss Shelbourne, Miss E. Smith
It is too bad there does not seem to be any more issues of North Africa: The Monthly Record of the North Africa Mission, as Jessie would surely be mentioned in the next few issues, as would perhaps their marriage and birth of children.
*UPDATE: The monthly Record of the North African Mission have now been all uploaded online for free. See link below, 1890-1969.
The couple had a child born in Algiers, Algeria, the next child born in Scotland, the third child born in Susa, Tunisia, then the last two born in Liverpool. The Pope family arrived back in Liverpool in 1901 when William took a post as secretary for the Regions Beyond Missionary Union, and gave many talks about his time in Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco.
In 1906 William was called to be the pastor for the Toxteth Tabernacle in Liverpool. They stayed here until 1914, when the family immigrated to Australia, where they lived in Melbourne, Brisbane, then back to Melbourne.
Jessie died at the age of 60 in 1927 at Ivanhoe, Melbourne, Australia. William retired from the pastorate at the age of 69 in 1936.
Relevant Links
Thanks for this resource. I learned something about the work of my Great Aunt who was a 'Bible Woman' in the poor areas of London in the late 1800's.
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