[Updated 25/May/2026]
Margery Bennett was a pioneering British missionary of the Bible Churchmen’s Missionary Society who served in South China up to 1940.
She was born in Norwich in 1909 into a skilled working‑class family. The 1911 Census records her at age one living at 12 St Clements Hill, New Catton, with her parents Alex Bennett, a paper hanger, and Laura Bennett, a shopkeeper, along with two brothers and two sisters. Her father’s death before the 1921 Census reshaped her upbringing: at age eleven she was living with her aunt Elizabeth Bennett, a dressmaker, another aunt, and her grandmother at 32 Caernarvon Road, a double‑fronted Victorian terrace in Norwich. This all‑female household of working women may have fostered her independence and vocational seriousness.
At some point in her late teens or early twenties, Margery discerned a call to missionary service. She trained with the BCMS, probably between 1930 and 1932, and sailed for Hong Kong in January 1933 aboard the Corfu. Her arrival marked the beginning of a period of service in South China during a period of political fragmentation and civil conflict.
The year 1933 proved decisive. By the end of it she was engaged to fellow BCMS missionary Rev Gilbert A Hook, also from Norwich and also from a clothing‑trade family. Whether they knew each other in Norwich or met during training in Bristol remains uncertain, but their partnership was swift. They opened a mission station together at Ham‑Chow in Guangxi Province, and married in St Andrew’s Church, Hong Kong, in January 1934.
From 1934 the Hooks oversaw the development of the Ham‑Chow station, including a small church and a dispensary staffed by BCMS colleague Barbara Lomas, newly transferred from Taipo in the New Territories. Gilbert opened an outstation at Fong‑Shing, 30 miles west.
The Hooks left China on furlough in 1937, returning to Southampton with their first child, John David, and spending time with family in Norwich. After nine months they sailed back to China in January 1938, this time to a newly opened station at Tung Hing, which suited them well and allowed their work to stabilise despite the worsening wartime situation.
Their second son, Graham, was born in 1939. The Hooks’ final years in China were marked by increasing danger: Ham‑Chow was frequently bombed, and travel between stations was hazardous. The Hooks concluded their BCMS service in 1940.
The Hooks then spent time in Australia, avoiding the War, as we have them returning to England in October 1946 from Sydney before emigrating permanently in 1950. Their sons completed their education in Australia.
Margery continued to support her husband’s ministry as he served as a parish priest and later as a canon in the Anglican Church in Sydney.
Gilbert Hook died in 1992. Margery Hook lived in Sydney until her death in 1997, aged 87.
Sources:
The First 25 Years of the BCMS
Ancestry
Photos that show this Person
Comments
Bennetts on Ancestry etc
[Updated 25/May/2026]
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.
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.
1933 6th Jan dep London for Hong Kong, the Corfu, Margery Bennett 23, missionary, from Bethung, 86 Park Hill, SW4. She went to the BCMS Children's Home in 24 Broadwood Road before they all moved to the White House, Taipo. (see next post by moddsey, newspaper announcements).
1934 15th January, Marriage of Gilbert Hook and Margery Bennett at St Andrew's Church, Hong Kong. (see next post by moddsey, newspaper announcements).
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.
1934 Wedding
Timeline
a) 20 December 1933 - Wedding Announcement: The forthcoming marriage between Gilbert Alexander Hook, Clerk in Holy Orders, of the Emmanuel Hospital, Nanning, Kwangsi and Margery Victoria Bennett, of White House, Taipo is announced. See China Mail here
b) 15 January 1934 - Married the Rev. Hook at St. Andrew's Church. The bride was given away by Dr. Lechmere Clift. See Hong Kong Telegraph 16 January 1934 here. Wedding photo here