Lydia Mary Fay (1804 – 5 October 1878) was a 19th‑century American Protestant Episcopal missionary, educator, writer, and translator who worked primarily in Shanghai, China. She is noted for establishing and supervising a boarding school for boys that later developed into Doane Hall and the Episcopal Theological School, and for her contributions to Chinese–English linguistic scholarship.
Early life and education
Born in Bennington, Vermont, Fay was the daughter of Ethan Allen Fay and Catharine (Street) Fay. She spent much of her youth near Albany, New York, and received a broad liberal education that included European literature. Originally a Presbyterian, she joined the Episcopal Church in 1840. Prior to her missionary career, Fay worked as a governess in Virginia and later served as principal of the Midway Female Academy in Miller’s Tavern, Virginia, after periods in New York state.
Missionary work in China
In November 1850, at the age of 46, Fay was appointed a missionary teacher under Bishop William Jones Boone of the Protestant Episcopal Church Mission (PECM). She sailed for China aboard the ship Horatio and arrived in Shanghai in early 1851. There she founded a boarding school for boys in her own residence, providing instruction, domestic care, and financial oversight. The school aimed to train Chinese teachers and preachers to continue missionary work.
Fay’s efforts expanded over the years: she supervised boys’ day schools, taught student teachers, and, with support from donors in the United States, increased enrollment to about twenty pupils. She also assisted a girls’ school in Kong Wan and attended to the sick in local hospitals. Her translation work included revising a Syllabic Dictionary manuscript and contributing articles to missionary periodicals.
During the American Civil War, the PECM faced financial difficulties, prompting Fay to temporarily align the school with the Church Missionary Society before returning it to the PECM in 1867. By the end of her twenty‑five‑year tenure, the institution she founded had evolved into Doane Hall and the Theological School, staffed by Chinese teachers and serving as a training ground for future Christian clergy.
Later life and death
Fay remained in Shanghai until her death on 5 October 1878 in Chefoo (present‑day Yantai), Shandong Province, China. She was interred in the foreigners’ cemetery at Chefoo.
Legacy
Lydia Mary Fay is recognized as one of the early single‑woman missionaries to China and for her role in establishing lasting educational structures within the Episcopal mission. Her work contributed to the development of Christian education and Sino‑English linguistic resources in mid‑19th‑century China.