Marjorie / Margery Hook was a pioneering missionary who served with her husband with the BCMS in China from 1933 to 1940.
She was born Marjorie Victoria Bennett in Norwich in 1909. The Census of 1911 finds her aged 1, living at 12 St Clements Hill, New Catton, with parents Alex and Laura. Father was a paper hanger and mother a shopkeeper. She had two brothers and two sisters.
In the Census of 1921, we find her father had died and she (aged 11) was living with her aunt, Elizabeth Bennett, a dressmaker, another aunt and her grandmother in 32 Caernarvon Road, Norwich, a double-fronted Victorian terrace.
At some point Marjorie felt the call to the mission field and trained with the BCMS (possibly 1930-32), sailing out to Hong Kong in January 1933 on the Corfu.
The year 1933 seems to have been eventful year because by the end of the year she was married to another BCMS missionary, the Rev Gilbert A Hook, and they had opened a mission station together at Ham-Chow in Guangxi Province.
Gilbert Hook had gone out to China in Dec 1931 (training 1929-31) with the BCMS, having grown up in Norwich himself, the son of a tailor. The swift marriage to Marjorie in 1933 raises a few questions. Whether the Bennetts and the Hooks, both in the clothing trade, knew each other in Norwich, or whether Marjorie and Gilbert met in Bristol while doing their missionary training are both possibilities.
In 1934 Rev Hook opened an outstation at Fong-Shing, some 30 miles to the west. A small church developed at Ham-Chow, and a dispensary opened, which was put in the charge of BCMS colleague Barbara Lomas, recently come from the Children’s Home at Taipo NT.
The Hooks left Ham-Chow on furlough in 1937, arriving at Southampton on the Gneisenau in March; Gilbert Hook 29, missionary, Margery(sic) Hook, 29 (sic), housewife, and a son, John David Hook, 2, heading for the Hook family home at 32 Wellington Rd, Norwich.
After 9 months furlough, they returned to China in January 1938 and served at a newly opened station in Tung Hing, which suited them well.
In 1939 the Hooks had their second child, another boy named Graham. Rev Hook made a final tour of his area and sent in a report. He had some difficulty reaching Ham Chow because it was being bombed frequently due to the civil war, but the church was standing firm. He visited Fong Shing and Siu-Tung. In 1940 the Hooks finished their service with the BCMS.
The Hooks then spent time in Australia, possibly avoiding the War, as we have them returning to England in October 1946 from Sydney, Gilbert 39 (clergyman), Marjorie (sic) 36, (missionary), David 11, and Graham 7, headed for 43 Pembroke Road, Norwich.
They liked Australia enough to return there in 1950 as their intended country of residence. The boys were still of school age. Rev Hook was a vicar at this time, and at some point he was made a canon.
The Hooks lived in Sydney, Australia until their deaths, Rev Canon Gilbert in 1992, aged 85, and Marjorie in 1997, aged 87.
Sources:
The First 25 Years of the BCMS
Ancestry
Photos that show this Person
Comments
Ancestry etc
1907 8th Feb, Gilbert Alexander Hook, born to Ernest and Jessie Hook, Tailor, Heigham St Thomas, Norfolk.
1909 Margery Victoria Bennett, Norwich, Norfolk, October?
1911 census, Alex Richard Bennett 34, Paper hanger, Laura Bennett 32, shopkeeper. 5 children, (2 sons 3 daughters), Marjorie (1) was 4th, 12 St Clements Hill, New Catton, Norwich.
" " Ernest Hook 44, Tailor Clothing Factory, Jessie 29, Bertha, Ernest and Gilbert Hook 4, (1 other died) 32 Wellington Rd, Norwich.
1921 census, Head Eliz Bennett 59, single, dressmaker, w mother Ann Bennett 90, widow, and sister Alice 49, dressmaker, with Margery Bennett 11yrs 8mths, Father dead, 32 Caernarvon Road, Norwich. Victorian double-fronted terrace.
" " Ernest Hook 55, Tailor coats, Jessie 39, Bertha 19, Shorthand typist, Ernest 16, Law Clerk, Gilbert 14, scholar, 32 Wellington Rd, Norwich.
1931 10th December, dep London for Hong Kong, Kashmir, Gilbert 24, from 32 Wellington Rd, Clerk H O, China intended res.
1933 6th Jan dep London for Hong Kong, the Corfu, Margery Bennett 23, missionary, from Bethung, 86 Park Hill, SW4.
1937 Mar 28th arr Soton from HK, Gneisenau, Gilbert A Hook 29, missionary, Margery V Hook, 29 (sic), housewife, John David Hook, 2, dest 32 Wellington Rd, Norwich.
1938 15th Jan, dep Soton for HK, SS Gneisenau, Gilbert 30, Margery 28, David 2,
1946 30th Oct, arr Soton, from Sydney Aus, on Dominion Monarch, Gilbert Hook 39, clergyman, Marjorie 36, missionary, David 11, Graham 7, students, dest 43 Pembroke Rd, Norwich, Country of res Australia,
1950 15th Aug, dep Soton for Australia, New Australia, Rev Gilbert Hook 43, Mrs Matgery(sic) V Hook 40, David J 15, Graham C 11, from Lamas Rectory, Norwich, last res England, intended res Australia.
1992 13th June, born c1907, death of Rev Canon Gilbert Alexander Hook 85, Sydney NSW, Aust. Wife Margery Hook, Australian Newspapers.
1997 6th Jan, Death of Margery V Hook 87, NSW, Australia. Wife of Gilbert A Hook. Find a Grave.