Maria Dyer Taylor (1837-1870): Daughter of one of the first missionaries to China, she was orphaned at the age of 10. She was a missionary to China when she married Hudson Taylor, January 20, 1858. They had seven children: Grace, Herbert Hudson, Frederick Howard (who would later co-author Hudson’s biography), Samuel, Maria, Charles Edward, and Noel. Being fluent in the Ningpo dialect, she helped Hudson with translation work. They had been married for 12 1/2 years when at 33 yrs. of age, Maria died of cholera in 1870. She was a “tower of strength” and a comfort to her husband. In her own words, she was “more intimately acquainted than anyone else can be with his trials, his temptations, his conflicts, his failures and failings, and his conquests.”

Jennie Faulding Taylor (1843-1904): Another CIM missionary, she became the second wife of Hudson Taylor in 1871. They had two children (a son, Ernest, born in 1875 and a daughter, Amy, born in 1876), plus the four from his previous marriage and an adopted daughter. Jennie cared for her husband through injury and illness, edited the periodical China’s Millions for the China Inland Mission, had a special ministry among the women. In her later years she traveled with Hudson Taylor, speaking, writing, and organizing the work of the Mission. She died in 1904, preceding Hudson Taylor who died in 1905.

Jennie Taylor in 1866