Ernest Tipson

Ernest Tipson (1883–1958) was a Brethren missionary and linguist who compiled a dictionary of Cantonese.

Early life

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.

Malaysia and Canton

His first posting was to Penang and he sailed there from the UK in November 1908. In October 1909, he traveled to Canton (now Guangzhou) 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.

On his return from Canton (March 1911), 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.

By 1917, Ernest became seriously ill, and suffered a nervous breakdown, leaving immediately for Sydney, Australia, despite Agnes his wife being eight months' pregnant. He could not return home to England due to the conflict with Germany; the First World War was consuming Europe at that time. Finally, he arrived back in England in December 1918.

After a few years on furlough, he returned to Kuala Lumpur in 1920 and resumed his missionary work. It was in 1928 that he moved to Singapore to take up the post of Secretary to the British & Foreign Bible Society for Malaya.

Nearing retirement, at the age of 58, Ernest was incarcerated in Changi Prison during the occupation of Singapore by the Japanese during much of the Second World War. To begin with, he occupied Cell 24, along with Shenton Thomas, the then Governor of Singapore. His ministry in Changi was remarkable in terms of his strength of character and his support for fellow prisoners. Ernest's obituary in the publication, British Association of Malaysia, 1958, said: "There were some gifted preachers in the internment camp (Changi), but no one appealed to the men more than Ernest Tipson."

His survival, said his son, also Ernest, was probably due to his tremendous sense of humour and the good company and support of son-in-law David. Liberated in 1945, Ernest Senior traveled to India to be reunited with his wife and son. "He was as thin as a stick!" remembered Ernest Junior. "We fell into each other's arms."

After the war, Ernest Tipson resumed his work in Singapore briefly, but soon returned to England. He died in Cornwall during a preaching visit to a local Gospel hall.

Publications

Tipson's 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. True to his faith and calling, Tipson is said to have 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.

• A Pocket Dictionary of the Amoy Vernacular, Chinese-English. (1935)
• A Pocket Dictionary of the Amoy Vernacular, English-Chinese. (1934)
• A Cantonese Syllabary-Index to Soothill’s Pocket Dictionary, incorporating all Cantonese colloquial characters and their meanings. (1951)
• Complete Chinese Character Course, etc. (1949)
• Handbook and vocabulary of the Cantonese New Testament. 1921 (with Roy T Cowles)