Leonard Richard Steel (1897 - 1961)

Born 30 Jan 1897 in Hackney, London, United Kingdom

Husband of Edith Marjorie (Goulstone) Steel — married 12 Sep 1930 in Weihai, Shandong, China

Died 21 May 1961 at age 64 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaya

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Kathy Viney [send private message]

Biography

Leonard was born at 20 Meynell Crescent in South Hackney, the second child of Richard John Steel, a Wood Turner, and Emily Alice Bailey.

He became a Christian missionary, leaving for his first assignment in Shanghai, China, on 8 February 1923 on the "City of Poona." There he met a young Kiwi nurse, Marjorie Goulstone, and they were married on 12 September 1930 at the Union Chapel in Port Edward, Weihaiwei.^[1]

The following year, Len's father died in Essex.

In the early 1930s, perhaps after the Japanese invaded Manchuria, the couple returned to England and it would appear they stayed with Len's mother at 3 Holyrood Drive, Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex. They then sailed for New Zealand on 28 July 1932 on the "Port Huon", arriving in Auckland on 4 September 1932. It was probably then that Len was first introduced to the Goulstone family.

In 1937, Len was present at his mother's death in Southend General Hospital, Westcliff on Sea. His address at that time was not with his mother at 8 Holyrood Drive, but at 29 Wellstead Gardens. Does this indicate that he and Marjorie were together in England at this time, and had set up home near Len's wodowed mother?

Len did some public speaking in both Australia and New Zealand. According to a newspaper advertisement for one of these meetings, he spent 16 years in Manchuria, which must have been 1923-1939.

"Next Sunday's P.S.A. should prove a most interesting afternoon. The speaker, Mr. Leonard Steel, has lived in Manchuria for over sixteen years, the last part of his stay there took place under the Japanese rule. Over sixty beautiful slides will be shown, and from what we have heard of a previous talk given by Mr. Steel, an enthralling story will accompany the pictures. An excellent musical programme has been arranged in support." ("The Methodist", Sydney, NSW, Sat 29 Jul 1944, Page 8. Viewed on Trove, 21 July 2022)^[2][3]

Assuming this 16 years is correct, Len and Marjorie must have returned to China after their trip to England and New Zealand and continued working there until the outbreak of WWII.

Below is a write-up of one of his addresses in New Zealand in 1933: LIFE IN JEHOL: EXTORTION OF TAXES - AN ADDRESS TO ROTARIANS

If I do nothing else I am sure I shall make you feel thankful that you are in New Zealand and not in Jehol,” said Mr L. R. Steel, who has returned to New Zealand after spending eight years in China. He gave an interesting address to the Wanganui Rotary Club at its weekly luncheon on Monday, graphically sketching the condition of the unfortunate people living in Jehol.

The people can be characterised as industrious, hardy and poor,” he said. “The ragged barrenness of the country seems to have impressed itself upon them. They live in hovels and have no comforts. There is no wallpaper on the mud walls, no floor boards and no chairs, the only furniture being a mud bed in which the family sleep with only a few cotton bed clothes. Their lives are drab, drear and desolate in the extreme.

They are governed by a military dictatorship, under which are the civil magistrates and their officials, who are overridden by the complete power of the military. One of the noticeable features of the Government is the ability and the ease with which money is collected, and if the New Zealand Government went over to Jehol they would find many new ways of getting revenue One of the commonest methods in the towns is to get together a body, the Chamber of Commerce, for instance, and announce how much money is required. Then the chamber or the chairman has to find the money within a given time or go to prison.

Another source of revenue is the land tax. A collector goes out with four or five armed men and quarters himself and them on a farmer, demanding the best of food and lodging. If he comes away with a sum of money he requires, it is only because the butt end of a rifle has been used to extract it from the unfortunate resident. Opium has been extensively cultivated and every year more and more is produced in Jehol. I have seen acres and acres of white poppies grown which would yield tons of opium and I estimate that no less than two-thirds of the people of Jehol are opium smokers. Growing opium is really illegal, but it has boon encouraged by the officials because they tax every acre on which it is produced, thereby reaping a great harvest. Those who refuse to grow it have sometimes been taxed more heavily than those who do.

The introduction of paper money has also yielded the authorities more money. On three occasions during the eight years I was in the country the officials put out 100,000,000 dollars’ worth of paper money. This was forced upon the people who were compelled to accept it. If they did not they had to go to gaol, and gaol cost them far more to get out of than if they accepted the money. After about eight months this money falls to a lower value and after 18 months it is not worth the paper it is printed on, so that 100,000,000 dollars in silver has been placed in the pockets of others.

There is no return for taxes, and there are no public hospital or refuge of any kind for a philanthropic purpose. Generally the police are six months behind in their pay, while brigandage is carried out all over the country. These brigands are usually the defeated troops of some provincial official and they quarter themselves on the people. The police, who are often sent out after the brigands, do not put themselves out in case they might be in the same position someday. If the brigands leave the villages the police occupy them and the people find that they are worse off than before.

Mr. Steel also dealt with the Japanese occupation of Manchuria. He said that the proper administration of China was hampered by the vastness of the country and the corruptness of those administering the law. On the conclusion of his remarks he was thanked by Mr. A. G. Bignall. (Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 76, Issue 96, 26 April 1933, Page 6)^[4]

Len and Marjorie resigned from the mission in 1940.^[5] Len was 43 at this time.

After WWII, Len and Marjorie worked in India and amongst the Palm Island Aborigines in Australia. (The Aboriginal name for Palm Islanders is 'Bwgcolman people' (pronounced Bwook-a-mun), which means 'many tribes–one people'.) They then worked in India for a time, then with the Palm Island Aboriginal people in Queensland, Australia.

At some point, Len returned to his pre-missionary career as a mining engineer. It was while working for the tin mines in Malaya that Len passed away. He died in 1961 in Kuala Lumpur, aged 64. His address at the time of his death was 2638 Petaling Hill, Kuala Lumpur, Malaya.^[6] Len was most likely buried in Cheras Christian Cemetery.

Marjorie returned to Australia and lived not far from her sister, Dorothy. She died there 1969.

Research Notes

• A query has been made with the Malayan government to see if we can get the record of Len's death and see what took him at such a young age. Waiting for a response mid 2022. Kathy Viney

Sources

1. ↑ Witnesses to the marriage were Ernest Charles Ockenden and Evelyn P Daniell.
2. ↑ https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/155479532?searchTerm=%22leonard%20steel%22%20manchuria
3. ↑ https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/155479580?searchTerm=%22leonard%20steel%22
4. ↑ https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/WC19330426.2.38
5. ↑ Correspondence 27 July 2022 between K Viney and China Inland Mission. Gave the date of resignation.
6. ↑ It appears that this address was in Chinatown, Luala Lumpur. It would make sense that the Steels would choose to work there where they could speak to the language.

• “Goulstone Family Genealogy” by Bryan V Goulstone. Copy held by Kathy (Goulstone) Viney.
• Birth: GRO record held by Kathy Viney. Available on request.
• Birth: "England and Wales Birth Registration Index, 1837-2008," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:2:99DJ-LBR1 : 1 October 2014), Entry for Leonard Richard Steel, 1897; from "England & Wales Births, 1837-2006," database, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : 2012); citing Birth Registration, Hackney, London, England, citing General Register Office, Southport, England.
• Census 1901: "England and Wales Census, 1901," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X98H-GZB : 20 May 2019), Leonard Steel in household of Richard J Steel, Hackney, London, England, United Kingdom; from "1901 England, Scotland and Wales census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing South-East Hackney subdistrict, PRO RG 13, The National Archives, Kew, Surrey.
• Emigration 1923: "United Kingdom, Outgoing Passenger Lists, 1890-1960", database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:2:4BG3-ZTWR : 28 October 2021), Entry for Leonard R Steel, 1923.
• Emigration 1932: "United Kingdom, Outgoing Passenger Lists, 1890-1960", database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:2:4BG7-5PQJ : 28 October 2021), Entry for Mr L R Steel, 1932.
• Immigration 1932: "New Zealand, Archives New Zealand, Passenger Lists, 1839-1973," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:2:QKSJ-8LNC : 5 July 2019), Entry for L R Steel, 4 Sep 1932; citing ship , Archives New Zealand, Wellington; FHL microfilm 004439918.
• Burial (cemetery uncertain): Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/241919977/leonard-richard-steel: accessed 23 July 2022), memorial page for Leonard Richard Steel (1897–21 May 1961), Find a Grave Memorial ID 241919977, citing Cheras Christian Cemetery, Kuala Lumpur, Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Maintained by Kathy Viney (contributor 47786463).
• Probate: England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1995. Viewed on Ancestry, 21 July 2022.