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James Laidlaw Maxwell Wikipedia

Dr James Laidlaw Maxwell Snr (Taiwanese (linguistics)|Taiwanese: Má Ngá-kok; 馬雅各; born Scotland, 18 March 1836; died March 1921) was the first (modern) missionary to Taiwan (then Formosa). He studied medicine and took his degree in Scotland. He worked in London at Brompton Hospital and at the Birmingham General Hospital. He was an elder in the Broad Street Presbyterian Church before being sent to Formosa by the Presbyterian Church of England (now within the United Reformed Church) in 1864.

On 16 June 1865, he established the first church in Formosa. This is now celebrated by the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan as its anniversary. In early 1872 he advised Canada|Canadian Presbyterian Church in Canada|Presbyterian missionary pioneer George Leslie Mackay to start his work in northern Formosa, near Tamsui.

He retired in London in 1885 where he formed and became the first secretary of the Medical Missionary Association. He married Mary Anne Goodall (died January 1918) of Handsworth on 7 April 1868 in Hong Kong.

They had two sons, James Preston Maxwell|James Preston and James Laidlaw Maxwell, Jnr|James Laidlaw Jnr, both of whom also became medical missionaries; the younger J.L. Maxwell served in the Tainan hospital from 1900 to 1923.

Last Modified:   2005-11-04