The Gomersall connection continued….

I decided to look a little further and I found a “William Charles Gomersall” who had just started China Engineers Ltd in Shanghai. He became a leading industrialist and was instrumental in the local cotton and woolen mill trade. Like Tobias, and George Hunter, he also believed in the future of Shanghai and stayed after the Japanese occupation. I think it’s likely the families knew each. He was also a devoted Christian Scientist, joining in 1915 and becoming an associate member, then full member. Rising within the church hierarchy he was appointed to the position of chairman in 1941.  During the war William Gomersall was interned with his wife and three daughters but stayed on to rebuild China Engineers after the liberation. He was one of the last to leave Shanghai following the communist takeover, wrongly believing he could still make a contribution. As a follow-up I checked my copy of Greg Leck’s “Captives of Empire” and found that Elizabeth Gomersall, was interned at Lincoln Road Camp with my maternal grandfather Tobias Hunter. She was William Gomersall’s mother and was seventy three at the time ( 1901 Census she was 29 and Charles was 5 ) William and his family were interned at Lunghwa Camp, along with my grandfather’s Geddes Trading accountant, Fred Artindale and his family. There’s no doubt that the families knew one another, both before and after the war.

William Charles Gomersall, though born in England, was Eurasian. His father was Wong, Fung How and his mother, Elizabeth Gomersall. He was adopted by his mother’s parents, Richard and Amelia ( nee Read ) Gomersall and raised and educated in the UK.

So how does any of this make any difference to me? I suppose in the grand scheme of things, not very much, but because Christian Science has played a rather major role in my life, knowing when and why my family became involved seems important to me. The time-frame is becoming narrower the more I learn. It seems clear that in 1928 we were not CS. A question remains; did we know the Gomersalls before that homeward passage, or did a friendship begin aboard the SS Saarbrucken and continue once everyone was home in Shanghai. Its obvious that the friendship had grown to the point that instead of going home after six weeks aboard ship, everyone went to the Gomersall’s residence, and the party continued.

Clearly, William Charles Gomersall was a CS at his point and had risen in their ranks. I would assume his mother was also CS. His father had passed away by then.