Gwyneth Horobin's Family Tree

Charles Horobin, b. 1850 in Fenton, Staffordshire, d. March 1896 in K'ien-chau (Kang Xian?), Gansu

Father: Samuel Horobin , b. 31 March 1808 in Under Whitle, Sheen, Staffs., d. 3 January 1874 in Combridge, Staffordshire
Mother: Hannah Miller, b. 17 December 1817 in Wolstanton, Staffordshire, d. December 1895 in Coventry, England

Lived in Ninxia Huizhu Autonomous Region, bordering Inner Mongolia. Returning from a trip to England, he set out for the far-distant outpost of Liang-chau, possibly now called "Lintao". Wrote from Si Gan about the heat. (Possibly now called Shiquan) Less than 12 days later, he died.

Spouse: Isabella Sutherland, b. 13 January 1860 in St. Nicholas, Aberdeen, Scotland, d. 18 July 1922 in Aberdeen, Scotland

Father: Peter Sutherland
Mother: Margaret Sutherland, d. 1862 in Aberdeen, Scotland

Info from Kenny Gillies at [email protected]:
Isabella was born 13 Jan 1860 in Aberdeen. Her father, Peter, came from Aberdeenshire and her mother, Margaret, was from Aberdeen. She in turn was the illegitimate daughter of a farmer, John Goldsman, and his housekeeper, Jane Petrie. Isabella had an older sister, Jessie, who was two years older than her.

Isabella's mother died from tuberculosis in early 1862 (2 weeks after giving birth to a son, Peter?? - although I don't have definite info as yet on him) with Isabella not yet 2 years old. Her father remarried in 1864 and my great-grandmother, Margaret, was born in 1865. A son, John, was born two years later. Their father, however, was killed in 1868 when a boiler exploded in the bonemill where he worked as a stoker. Isabella's step-mother then remarried in 1871. The three sisters, Isabella, Jessie and Margaret, are all buried in the same lair as their father in St Nicholas Churchyard, Aberdeen (Jessie died 1911 in a Poorhouse; Margaret died 1924)

Married 8 September 1891 in Pao-ning, China.

Children and grandchildren:

1. John Horobin (6), b. 1892
2. Elizabeth Horobin (6), b. 17 August 1893, m. Robert W. Middleton, 17 January 1928 in Tientsin, China, d. 19 October 1963 in Canada; 2 grandchildren

   Elizabeth joined CIM in 1916, and was stationed first at CIM HQ in Shanghai. In1921 she moved to Kaifeng in Honan Province. The next year she was in Taikang, (Honan) and remained there until leaving for furlough in North America in 1924. She returned to Taikang in 1925 and continued there until late 1927.
   On 17 January 1928 she was married in Tientsin to Robert W. Middleton, who had joined CIM in 1894 from Australia.
   

   They had two children: Violet Elizabeth and Ian Bruce:
   

   113. Violet Elizabeth Middleton, b. 13 May 1930

   114. Ian Bruce Middleton, b. 25 December 1932

After their marriage they worked in Shensi Province, where he had worked with his first wife, Mary (nee Jose). [He had had four children by that marriage: Willis b. 1900, Grace b. 1903, Ethel b. 1905 d. before 1920 and Melville b.1909] Mary died in 1924 in Australia. Robert was stationed in Kansu Province when he returned to China until his marriage to Lizzie. Robert & Lizzie were stationed at Chowchih, Shensi until 1933 when they left for furlough in Australia. In 1939 they were temporarily in Chefoo, Shantung Province. That is where the CIM school for missionaries' children was situated, and also the hospital and rest home for sick and tired workers. Robert died in 1939. Lizzie retired to Canada, where she died in 1963.

Family group report created by Gene 4.3, Fri, Aug 9, 2002