author
Thomas Cochrane
1866–1953
A Scottish doctor and missionary, he helped build modern medical training in China and later became a major organizer and writer for global mission work. His life joined practical medicine, institution-building, and an urge to make large projects work better.
1 Audiobook
Missionary Survey As An Aid To Intelligent Co-Operation In Foreign Missions
by Roland Allen, Thomas Cochrane
About the author
Born in Greenock, Scotland, Thomas Cochrane trained in medicine at the University of Glasgow and went to China with the London Missionary Society in 1897. Early hardship shaped him: biographical sources note that he left school young to help support his family, and his Christian commitment deepened after hearing Dwight L. Moody preach.
In northern China and then Beijing, Cochrane worked as a medical missionary during a difficult period that included the Boxer Rebellion. He played an important part in rebuilding medical work in Beijing and is remembered as one of the key figures behind the Peking Union Medical College, an early center for training Chinese doctors in Western medicine. He also translated medical texts into Mandarin to support that work.
After returning to England in 1915, he turned increasingly toward research, publishing, and organization. He wrote and promoted mission surveys, helped found the Survey Application Trust, and encouraged better planning and cooperation in international missionary work. He died in 1953.