This is a photograph of Frs. Cairns [back, left] and McShane [back, right], Sisters of the French convent and orphans with abandoned babies that Fr. McShane brought from Loting [now Luoding ] to the Hong Kong orphanage. Each person holds a baby except for the Fathers. Fr. Cairns was born in Glasgow, Scotland and became a Maryknoll Missionary in 1918 at the age of thirty-four. He spent many years in China in Yeung Kong [now Yang-Chiang], Fachow [now Fahsien] and eventually Sancian Island. During WWII he was captured by the Japanese on Sancian Island and killed. His presumed date of death is December 14, 1941. -- Rev. McShane was born in Indiana. He joined Maryknoll in 1912 as a deacon, and was ordained to the priesthood in 1914, the first ordained for Maryknoll. He was assigned to Tungchen in 1919 and to Loting the following year. There he set up an orphanage for abandoned children. In 1927 he contracted smallpox from a dying infant, which brought about his own death. He was buried in front of the Loting parish rectory.
If you're wondering about permissions and what you can do with this item, a good starting point is the "rights information" on this page. See our terms of use for more tips.
Share your story
Has Calisphere helped you advance your research, complete a project, or find something meaningful? We'd love to hear about it; please send us a message.