Marcella Sherwood
Marcella Sherwood | |
|---|---|
| Born | Frances Marcella Sherwood c. 1878 |
| Died | 14 May 1966 (aged 87–88) |
| Occupation | Missionary |
Frances Marcella Sherwood, commonly known as Marcella Sherwood (c.1878 – 14 May 1966), was an English missionary with the Church of England Zenana Missionary Society, remembered for her connection to Reginald Dyer’s Crawling Order following her assault in Amritsar on 10 April 1919 during the Punjab disturbances.
Early life
Frances Marcella Sherwood, commonly known as Marcella,[1] was born in early 1878 in Kimberworth, Rotherham, South Yorkshire.[2] She was one of four daughters and two sons of Edward Purvis Sherwood, sometime rector of Baginton, Warwick.[3][4]
Sherwood joined the Church of England Zenana Missionary Society in 1904, and was first posted to work at Batala, Punjab, where she remained until being furloughed back to England in 1915.[5] When she returned to India, she joined the mission at Amritsar.[5] For a short while she taught at a school for girls in Singapore.[6]
Amritsar 1919
On 10 April 1919, Sherwood, then aged about 40 years, and superintendent of the city mission schools, cycled alone into the Ahluwia neighbourhood of Amritsar to close Bagian di Katra School, one of five schools she was responsible for.[1] Although warned by locals not to go further, she continued until she had to abandon her bike and run, until she was caught and beaten by kicks, sticks and shoes by a group of Indian men who left her once they believed her to be dead.[1][7]
On 18 April, Deputy Superintendent of police, Reginald C. A. Plomer, was sent with military troops to the street where Sherwood was attacked, with the task to identify the attackers, by interrogatibg its residents .[8] Dyer visited Sherwood at Ram Bagh on 19 April, and in response, created the Crawling Order.[8][9]
Sherwood declined the full compensation offered from the British Government in India.[6][10] When asked by the Coventry Standard as to why she declined it she replied "I hear not the cries of 'kill kill' in that street but the shouts of leave her alone, she is a woman, raised in another street. It was Indians who rescued me, an Indian house that gave me shelter, Indian hands that first dressed my wounds, that is full compensation. I would not have it otherwise".[5] She accepted ₹1,500 in compensation for medical expenses and for her damaged bicycle and watch.[11]
Later life
Once recovered, Sherwood returned to India to work in Lahore, and retired from her missionary to assist refugees of partition.[6] In her later years she lived in England with her sisters Grace and Amy.[12]
Popular culture
Sherwood is mentioned in a A Passage to India.[13][14]
Death
Sherwood outlived her sisters and died on 14 May 1966.[15] Her funeral took place at Church of St Nicholas, Staffordshire.[6]
References
- ^ a b c Wagner, pp. 95-97
- ^ Sheffield Archives; Sheffield, England; Parish Registers; Reference: PR116/1/3
- ^ "Lady doctor for Pakistan". Staffordshire Sentinel. 9 January 1948. p. 1. Retrieved 11 September 2025 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ "Deaths". Rugeley Times. 15 January 1966. p. 7. Retrieved 11 September 2025 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ a b c "Baginton lady in an Indian riot". Kenilworth Advertiser. 13 March 1920. p. 3. Retrieved 11 September 2025 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ a b c d "Funeral of missionary worker". Rugely Times. 28 May 1966. p. 9.
- ^ Wagner, p. 249.
- ^ a b Wagner, pp. 192-199
- ^ "Warwickshire villages: no.16 Baginton". Coventry Herald. 15 July 1921. p. 9. Retrieved 11 September 2025 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ "English woman assaulted by natives wants no compensation". London Daily Chronicle. 26 February 1920. p. 6. Retrieved 11 September 2025 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ Dhillon, Hardeep (June 2024). "Imperial Violence, Law, and Compensation in the Age of Empire, 1919–1922". The Historical Journal. 67 (3): 512–537. doi:10.1017/S0018246X23000560. ISSN 0018-246X.
- ^ "Lifetime devotion to the healing sick". Staffordshire Newsletter. 2 December 1961. p. 14. Retrieved 14 September 2025 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ Das, G. K. (1985). "1. A Passage to India: A socio-historical study". In Beer, J. (ed.). A Passage to India: Essays in Interpretation. Basingstoke: Palgeave MacMillan. pp. 1–15. ISBN 978-0-333-40457-7.
- ^ Rawa, Julia (2013). "4. A Passage to India: Double turnes in Mosque, Cave, and Temple". The Imperial Quest and Modern Memory from Conrad to Greene. New York: Routledge. pp. 61–84. ISBN 978-1-135-49432-2.
- ^ "Deaths". Rugeley Times. 27 August 1966. p. 5. Retrieved 11 September 2025 – via British Newspaper Archive.
Bibliography
- Wagner, Kim A. (2019). Amritsar 1919: An Empire of Fear & the Making of a Massacre. Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-24546-2.