Parker, peter

the first regularly appointed medical mi ionary to China, was born in 1804 in the United States, and died there in 1888. He reached Canton in 1834, and opened an Ophthalmic Hospital there the next year. This led to the formation of a 'Medical Mi ionary Society in China,' and other such Societies were founded elsewhere during Dr. Parker's visit to America and Great Britain in 1840. Returning, he continued his medical work in Canton, but in 1844 he took an official position in the American Legation, and later became charge d'affaires and then Commi ioner and Minister Plenipotentiary. He left China finally in 1857, but from 1379 was President in America of the Medical Mi ionary Society in China.