Description:The comments about the domestic circumstances were very personal, going beyond dry reportage, and it is clear he often found his work an emotional strain. Here he describes visiting a family living in a house on Stour Street in early September 1886, in which he recounted ‘a ragged little girl of some seven summers came to the door.’ The Missionary goes on to describe the filth and squalor of the house, the mud on the floor, and the raggedly-clothed mother ‘with a face shockingly disfigured, probably the result of a drunken brawl. I think that I never saw a worse case of illtreatment. I often ask myself as I leave these dreadful places of abode, “What can I do here, that will be of a permanent character?”’, and I confess I turn away, sick and sad at heart.
Source:
Missionary's report book 1884 – 1888 [1 volume] Ref: UC 2/11/2/3/3