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Stephen Douglas Sturton, C.B.E., O.St.J., M.A., M.D. (1896 - 1970) was an English medical missionary. He worked in Hangzhou, China, formally referred to as Hangchow, and was the last of the Church Missionary Society’s English missionaries to leave the country. Sturton was a missionary during China’s war times, when he worked to protect his hospital, set up refugee camps, and worked on the front line to save the lives of thousands of badly wounded soldiers. He received medals for his work and at one point even treated General Chiang Kai-Shek. Eventually, Sturton was captured by the Japanese and taken to two concentration camps. After being freed he returned as president of the C.M.S. Hospital, now known as the Second Affiliated Hospital Zhejiang University School of Medicine. He details his experiences up to being freed from Fengtai Camp in his book From Mission Hospital to Concentration Camp.

Personal Life

Childhood

Stephen Douglas Sturton was born on September 12, 1896, in Cambridge, England. His parents, Richard Sturton, J.P., M.P.S. and Mary Emma raised the family of 8 in a Calvinistic Baptist household, although he later joined the Church of England in 1920. He had a relatively happy childhood and spent his time playing cricket matches, traveling to Sidney College Farm, and sailing.

Interest in Missions

Sturton’s family has a history of missionary work, as 11 members of his family, mostly from his mother’s side, were missionaries. 8 of these family members worked in China and 4 of these were with the C.M.S., which Sturton later joined. His youngest brother, Clement, also became a medical missionary before dying in 1936 in a riding accident.

Sturton first became interested in China and overseas missions at age 8 when members of the China Inland Mission came to stay with the Sturton family and he witnessed regular prayer meetings for the mission.

Education

Sturton first studied at Lyndewode House School, Cambridge, then at Perse School. Here, his science teacher encouraged him to become a medical missionary, so he enrolled in Emmanuel College in 1912 to study medicine. He later studied special missionaries at Oxford.

First Marriage

Sturton met his first wife, Rose Emily Sturton, maiden name Jelley while working at the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton. The two got married on July 26, 1921, and later that year left for Hangchow, where Mrs. Sturton also did missionary work as a nurse. On January 7, 1923, Mrs. Sturton gave birth to their first child, Rose Mary Stephanie Sturton, and on October 14, 1925, she gave birth to their second daughter, Edwina Ruth Sturton.

Rose Emily Sturton passed away on June 5, 1960, at the Hong Kong Sanatorium and Hospital.

Second Marriage

Sturton met his second wife, Dr. Olive Gwendolin Clouston, maiden name Fisk while he was still a college student. The two attended constituent colleges of the University of Cambridge, Sturton at Emmanuel College and Clouston at Girton College. Here, the two “fell in love in the dissecting room.” It is unclear what happened after, but the two ended up marrying different people. They later reconnected after the death of their spouses and got married on June 23, 1962. They were married until Clouston's passing in 1966.

Career

Early Work

After graduating from college in 1918, Sturton became a dresser at the First Eastern General Hospital in England. Then, he moved on to become a Surgeon Sub-Lieut., R.N.V.R., in WWI and served in the destroyer H.M.S. Paladin. He was demobilized in January 1919 and then worked at St. Bartholomew’s Hospital. He qualified as M.R.C.S. and L.R.C.P. in January 1920, then joined the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton as an Assistant House Surgeon and later became a House Physician.

Mission

Call to mission

Sturton got his first experience with missionary work when his hospital sent him to Jamaica and South America to be a medical attendant. After he came back, he went to his hospital’s chapel where he realized that “God had definitely called to the mission-field.” Then, after talking with a missionary from the C.M.S. hospital in Hangchow who had returned home, Sturton decided that he would journey to Hangchow. He got married, spent his vacation studying special missionaries at Oxford, then promptly left for China on November 11th, 1921, and arrived in Hangchow on Christmas Eve to work at the C.M.S. Hospital.

Religion and prayer were very important parts of his life, which not only contributed to his desire to serve but also guided him during his missionary journey.

Hangchow

After arriving in Hangchow, Sturton’s first task was to learn Chinese from an assigned teacher. While studying the language, Sturton worked in the C.M.S. Hospital’s pathological laboratory, X-ray department, and outpatient department. Around the end of 1922, he was assigned a medical ward in the men’s hospital, where his wife was also a part-time nurse. During this time, he also spoke in the hospital's chapel and eventually gave lectures at the Hangchow Medical Training College, which he later became Dean of in October 1923 until the college’s closure in 1927.

Civil War

In 1924, Sturton had his first experience with the Chinese Civil War, where he worked in the hospital’s Red Cross unit, going into fighting zones to treat badly wounded soldiers.

Also in 1924, Sturton became in charge of and worked to improve the hospital's leprosy ward by creating new rooms, clinics, and a Christian-based treatment system. During this time, the C.M.S. hospital had one of China's best-equipped leprosy treatment centers.

On February 1, 1927, Sturton and his family took a leave of absence. They returned to England, and Sturton spent his time researching tropical diseases at the University of Liverpool. Soon after Sturton's return to England, Hangchow fell to the Nationalists, and in March 1927, the C.M.S. Hospital was taken by the Chekiang Provincial Government.

In March 1928, Sturton returned from his leave of absence. He spent his time working with other C.M.S. members to get the hospital back. During this time of negotiations, Sturton was a medical attendant to Hangchow’s Anglo-American community.

Hsuchow

Sturton then joined a Red Cross unit of 72 people that was sent to Hsuchow. Here, he worked in a field hospital for the badly wounded, and he led the hospital’s second branch. While in Hsuchow, General Chiang Kai-Shek of the National Party moved to Hsuchow, and Sturton became the General’s and the General’s wife’s medical attendant when they fell ill. After mentioning how the C.M.S. no longer had control of their Hangchow hospital, the General ensured that the society got their hospital back.

Return to Hangchow

Sturton returned to Hangchow and the C.M.S. got their Leper Hospital back on June 23 and their main hospital on July 1. On October 1, 1928, Sturton became the hospital’s Medical Superintendent. The hospital returned to its normal conditions, minus the medical school.

At the end of 1932, Sturton took his second leave of absence and returned to England. Here, he spent his time working in the Biochemistry lab at Cambridge and doing work on behalf of the C.M.S.

At the beginning of 1934, Sturton and his wife returned to Hangchow. Here, Sturton participated in "medical raids", where he and his unit frequently traveled to different locations, up to 60 miles away from Hangchow, to treat patients.

WWII

At the beginning of WWII, it became obvious that Hangchow would fall to the Japanese. A Red Cross Committee was formed and Sturton was elected Secretary of the Red Cross. The unit opened refugee camps for civilians and treated soldiers in the C.M.S. Hospital. After the Chinese army retreated and Japan entered the village, the Red Cross camps had an estimated 17,000 people.

Sturton also spent his time visiting nearby towns where fighting took place, treating people, and rescuing refugees. Additionally, he went twice a week to a Japanese camp to treat its Chinese patients.

In May 1939, Sturton and his wife went back to England, and Sturton went back to Hangchow in May 1940 without his wife and kids. During this time, he got an infected mosquito bite that resulted in permanent heart damage.

Soon, Japan declared war on Britain and the United States, but the Japanese military allowed Sturton to stay and treat patients at the C.M.S. hospital. They treated 200 patients a day until the Japanese had a failed campaign and took the hospital. Sturton was forced to leave the hospital and spent his time doing quiet medical work around the city.

Concentration Camp

On November 11, 1942, Sturton and his friend were arrested by Japanese soldiers and were taken to the Haiphong Road Camp, where they became “non-working prisoners of war, with rank of sergeants.” Sturton was given medical duties as his job in the camp.

Sturton was later moved to the Fengtai Camp, and in 1945, he was released when American Flying Fortresses found the prisoners. After being released, Sturton rejoined the Hangchow Hospital as Director after it was reclaimed by the C.M.S.

After the Mission

Sturton stayed in Hangchow until 1952 when the C.M.S. hospital was given to Zhejiang Hospital to become a teaching hospital. It is unclear what happened in the next decade, but in June 1963, he got his Fellowship in Radiology at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland.

Soon after, he traveled to the Hong Kong Sanitorium in Happy Valley where he worked as a medical practitioner. Here, he was the head of the Department of Radiology. In Hong Kong, he was also a member of the Anticancer Society and Leprosy Mission.

In 1965, he was ordained to the priesthood and assisted at St John’s Cathedral.

Retirement and Death

Sturton returned ill to England in 1969 and spent his time writing his second book. On September 28, 1970, Sturton died in a hospital at age 74.

Legacy

While Sturton left Hangchow over 70 years ago, his legacy lives on. In December 2019, during the 150th-anniversary celebration of the hospital Sturton was once president of, Sturton’s great-grandsons were given a Letter of Gratitude from the Foreign Affairs Office of Hangzhou Municipal People’s Government. The letter, written to Sturton, says “You are so great a man who has done your part in the battlegrounds with a humanitarian spirit, and you are in our eyes a “just and righteous man” to the city of Hangzhou.”

The National Government of China also rewarded Sturton with a Medal of Honor in the 1930s for saving the lives of more than 1,000 Chinese soldiers during the war with Japan, including the lives of soldiers from the 88th Division from Hangchow.

Dr. Stephen Douglas Sturton, or “蘇達立醫師” (Dr. Sudali), as the Hangzhou people call him, is still remembered as a hero. In fact, he is referred to as “杭州的拉貝” (Rabe of Hangchow). Rabe is a reference to John Rabe, who saved 250,000 Chinese citizens during the Japanese invasion.

It seems that Sturton equally loved the people he served, as he ends his book, From Mission Hospital to Concentration Camp, with the statement, “I can also imagine scarcely any race more lovable than the Chinese, among whom it is my privilege to serve.”

References

1. ^ MISSIONARY DOCTOR DIES. (1970, Sep 30). South China Morning Post (1946-) Retrieved from https://www.proquest.com/historical-newspapers/missionary-doctor-dies/docview/1549006669/se-2
2. "England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1837-1915". Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc. 2006. Retrieved 2024-12-16.
3. ^ Sturton, Stephen Douglas (1948). From Mission Hospital to Concentration Camp. London and Edinburgh: Marshall, Morgan & Scott.
4. ^ "Su Dali". English. Retrieved 2024-12-17.
5. "England & Wales, Marriage Index, 1916-2005". Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc. 2010. Retrieved 2024-10-20.
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7. UNIVERSITY ROMANCE: 'FELL IN LOVE IN DISSECTING ROOM' DR OLIVE CLOUSTON MARRIES DR S. D. STURTON. (1962, Jun 24). South China Sunday Post - Herald (1950-1972) Retrieved from https://www.proquest.com/historical-newspapers/university-romance/docview/1533457905/se-2
8. COMING WEDDINGS. (1962, Jun 03). South China Sunday Post - Herald (1950-1972) Retrieved from https://www.proquest.com/historical-newspapers/coming-weddings/docview/1533458167/se-2
9. "UK & Ireland, Medical Directories, 1845-1942". Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc. 2016. Retrieved 2024-10-20.
10. ^ Maurice (2024-10-14). "Dr. Stephen Douglas Sturton (Hangchow) 蘇達立醫師(杭州)". Rotary Clubs History in China. Retrieved 2024-12-17.
11. "'Schindlers' in Chinese city saved 25,000 people in WWII- China.org.cn". www.china.org.cn. Retrieved 2024-12-17.
12. FOREIGNERS WELL IN HANGCHOW: JAPANESE LOOKING AFTER OCCIDENTAL RESIDENTS. (1938, Jan 26). The North - China Herald and Supreme Court & Consular Gazette (1870-1941) Retrieved from https://www.proquest.com/historical-newspapers/foreigners-well-hangchow/docview/1371342974/se-2
13. FOREIGNERS TORTURED: SHANGHAI'S BRIDGE HOUSE HORRORS TOLD TO WAR CRIMES COURT JAPS ACCUSED OF ATROCITIES. (1948, Oct 28). South China Morning Post (1946-) Retrieved from https://www.proquest.com/historical-newspapers/foreigners-tortured/docview/1766467508/se-2
14. ORDINATION OF THREE DEACONS. (1964, Jan 26). South China Sunday Post - Herald (1950-1972) Retrieved from https://www.proquest.com/historical-newspapers/ordination-three-deacons/docview/1507220119/se-2
15. R.C.S.I. CONFERRING OF FELLOWSHIPS. (1963, Jun 22). The Irish Times (1921-) Retrieved from https://www.proquest.com/historical-newspapers/r-c-s-i-conferring-fellowships/docview/524083609/se-2
16. "England & Wales, Death Index, 1916-2007". Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc. 2007. Retrieved 2024-10-20.
17. ANNOUNCEMENTS. (1970, Sep 30). South China Morning Post (1946-) Retrieved from https://www.proquest.com/historical-newspapers/announcements/docview/1549005518/se-2
18. ^ The Second Affiliated Hospital Zhejiang University School of Medicine. "Letter of Gratitude". Facebook. Retrieved 2024-12-16.
19. "Feature: Rabe family carries on friendship with China - China.org.cn". www.china.org.cn. Retrieved 2024-12-17.