Ernest Tipson

Who was Ernest Tipson?

Ernest Tipson was a Brethren missionary and linguist who compiled a dictionary of Cantonese.

Born into a large Brethren family in Enfield, England, Tipson began his working life, at the age of 14, as an architect's clerk and typist, but was called to missionary service in the early 1900s. His first posting was to Penang and he sailed there from the UK in November 1908. In October 1909, he traveled to Canton in China where he spent just over a year mastering the Cantonese dialect. This was to be a vital tool in his missionary work and he went on to acquire the Hokkien dialect, and perhaps others too.

His linguistic prowess, and later his acknowledged status as a gifted Chinese scholar, was extraordinary in the light of his humble education at a Board School back in England.

His Pocket Dictionary of the Amoy Vernacular is still referenced during the compilation of modern Chinese/English dictionaries. Ernest, true to his faith and calling, ensured that every word in the Bible found its way into his dictionary. Another of his publications, a Complete Chinese Character Course, was based on lectures he gave in Changi Prison during the World War II.

On his return from Canton, he married Agnes Millar in Penang and they settled in Kuala Lumpur. His missionary work involved preaching the Gospel, evangelism, and visiting lepers and prisoners. As with most missionaries, in those times, there was the ever-present danger of ill-health and death due to the heat and humidity of British Malaya. In August 1914, his youngest child, Teddie, fell ill with gastro-enteritis and died. Teddie was just one. This event resonated tragically with the death of Ernest's beloved 15 year old brother some 20 years previously, who had also been called Teddie, and this was probably the point at which Ernest began to experience difficulties which would eventually lead to a breakdown. His mother's death and his intense, single-minded work habits were probably also contributory issues.