Cecil Polhill

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Cecil Henry Polhill, formerly Cecil Henry Polhill-Turner (23 February 1860[1] in Bedfordshire – 9 March 1938 in Hampstead, London[2]) was a British Pentecostal leader and missionary.

Early life[]

Cecil Henry Polhill was born on 23 February 1860. He was educated at Eton College and Jesus College, Cambridge, before taking a commission as a Second Lieutenant in the Bedfordshire Yeomanry.[3] In 1885 he and his brother, Arthur Twistleton Polhill, became affiliated with the China Inland Mission as part of the Cambridge Seven missionary band.[4] In 1897, Polhill along with other four CIM missionaries established a missionary station in Tatsienlu, west of Szechwan, which paved the way for the future construction of the Gospel Church.[5][6] He returned from China in 1900 in the wake of the Boxer Uprising.[7]

Christian evangelism[]

Upon his return from China, Polhill inherited a fortune, and spent much of his life donating to missionary causes.[8] In 1908 Polhill visited Azusa Street, Los Angeles, where he had a Pentecostal experience.[9] Before returning to England Polhill wrote a cheque for £1500 to pay off the mortgage on the Azusa Street building.[10] After returning to England Polhill attended Alexander Boddy's first Sunderland Convention,[11] and helped Boddy fund his Pentecostal periodical Confidence.[12] Polhill became the first President of the Pentecostal Missionary Union (PMU),[13] and administered it along China Inland Mission lines.[14] In 1925 the Executive Council of the PMU voted to merge with the British Assemblies of God, and so Polhill, an Anglican, resigned aged 65.[15] He maintained friendly relationships with the PMU, and missionaries in the field.

Personal life[]

In 1888, he married Eleanor Agnes Marston,[16] and their marriage produced six children, three daughters and three sons.[17]

Death[]

He died on 9 March 1938 Hampstead, London.

References[]

  1. ^ P. Hocken, "Cecil H. Polhill - Pentecostal Layman", PNEUMA Vol.10/No2 (Fall 1988), 116-140.
  2. ^ "The Will of Cecil Henry Polhill", London Probate Department.
  3. ^ J.A. Venn, Alumni Cantabrigienses (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1973), 146.
  4. ^ J. Pollock, The Cambridge Seven (Fearn:Christian Focus Publications, 2006).
  5. ^ Zi, Yu (2017). "A Description of CIM Missionary Workers to the Tibetan Highlands Prior to 1950". omf.org. Retrieved 15 May 2021.
  6. ^ Zhu, Yaling (2015). "传教士顾福安及其康藏研究" [The Missionary Robert Cunningham and His Tibetan Studies of the Khams Area] (PDF). 藏学学刊 [Journal of Tibetology] (in Chinese). Chengdu: Center for Tibetan Studies of Sichuan University (1): 192. Retrieved 15 May 2021.
  7. ^ J. Usher, "Cecil Henry Polhill: The Patron of the Pentecostals", PNEUMA 34 (2012), 40.
  8. ^ Usher, 50.
  9. ^ C.M.Robeck, The Azusa Street Mission and Revival (Nashville:Thomas Nelson, 2006, 69).
  10. ^ Robeck, 69.
  11. ^ Confidence Vol.3/No.8 (August 1910), 197
  12. ^ Usher, 51.
  13. ^ Hocken, 125–126.
  14. ^ Hocken, 125–126.
  15. ^ Usher, 56.
  16. ^ C. Polhill, Two Etonians in China (Unpublished: c. 1925), 119.
  17. ^ A.W. Marston, With the King: Pages from the Life of Mrs Cecil Polhill (London: Marshall Brothers, c.1905), 120, 141, 154, 178, 184 and 200 for each child respectively.

External links[]

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