Effects of Ill Health on the Service of Scottish Presbyterian Missionaries 1867-1929

The experience of Scottish Presbyterian missionaries serving overseas between 1867 and 1929 was analyzed. Data were compiled during a 4-year postgraduate research program from such sources as the General Assembly Reports of the Foreign Mission Committees of the Church of Scotland, numerous missionary magazines, school records, medical directories, and newspaper and medical journal obituaries. Data show that the year of appointment, the mission station and continent location, and medical knowledge were all influencing factors on the length of missionary service, early retirement on account of ill health, death in service, and age at death. This method of comparative, historical study may have further useful applications in looking at the health experience of other groups who lived and worked abroad at the turn of the century, such as civil servants, the military, or other comparable missionary groups.