Fred C. Roberts

Frederick Charles Roberts (9 September 1862 – 6 June 1894) was an English physician and medical missionary who served with the London Missionary Society in Mongolia and China. Roberts spent his entire career as a practicing physician in East Asia, dying in China after seven years of mission work. He is best known for his contributions as the sole medical provider and second director at the Tientsin Mission Hospital and Dispensary in China, where he treated an estimated 120-150 patients a day, and for his famine relief efforts in the rural districts outside Tientsin. He also taught at the first Western medical school in China and is the namesake of Roberts Memorial Hospital, which was established in T'sangchou, China in 1903.

Early life and education

Fred Roberts was born in Manchester, England in 1862 to parents of distinguished Welsh lineage. He was the youngest of 12 children, although 3 of his siblings passed away before he was born. His parents were devout Christians, and Roberts was exposed to prayer and Bible lessons from a young age. Roberts claimed on his application to the London Missionary Society to have formally become a Christian at the age of 10.

Roberts' early education occurred at a local school run by Christian women. It was there that he began pursuing the idea of becoming a missionary in China after he received a letter from his older sister, Mary Roberts, that stated her intentions to go to China as a missionary. He began studying medicine at the University of Edinburgh in 1880 and graduated with his M.B., C.M. in 1886. He also taught in the medical school established by Dr. Mackenzie, which was the first medical school in China to teach Western medicine. When Dr. Mackenzie left the mission to treat patients in the countryside for several weeks, Roberts was put in charge of teaching surgery to the Chinese medical students. In March 1888, Mackenzie decided that Roberts was ready to help Gilmour in Mongolia. His arrival was highly anticipated by Gilmour, who had no formal medical training. Roberts and Gilmour traveled between the London Missionary Society's three missions in the Mongolian countryside, remaining at each one for a few days. Roberts was involved with both medical work and sharing Christianity among the people. He also set aside time each morning to study Chinese.

Dr. G.P. Smith, who Roberts had met at Edinburgh, was appointed to assist him in 1892. Roberts' writing lives on through his contributions to the memoirs of his former colleagues, John Kenneth Mackenzie, Medical Missionary to China and The Story of James Gilmour.