Dr Walter Henry Anderson (1870-1937) and the mission hospital at Safed, Palestine

Walter Henry Anderson, a brewer's clerk in Burton-upon-Trent, became a missionary doctor, supported by a society promoting welfare and evangelism in Jewish communities abroad. His family background was rich in pastoral ministry at home and adventure abroad. Arguably, this background played a part in his decision to serve the Jews of Safed. His life in Palestine entailed much enterprise and hardship as he raised a family, fought disease and set up a mission hospital serving not only the Jewish community but persons of all faiths. His years in Palestine, from 1894 to 1915, were times of peace in the Middle East before the turmoil unleashed by the Great War. Jews from the Diaspora were gaining an increasing foothold in Palestine, their 'Promised Land'. Themes of that era - the rise of Zionism, confrontation between Judaism and evangelical Christianity, conflict between immigrant Jew and Palestinian Arab and the remarkable travels of Lawrence of Arabia were interwoven with the lives of Dr Anderson and his family.