Macgeorge , Rosalie

- bn Melbourne, Australia 30 April 1859 or 1860 d. Colombo, Ceylon 12 April 1891. First N.Z.B.M.S. Missionary. Macgeorge volunteered to join Miss Fulton in being the first two N.Z. Baptist Missionaries. Fulton withdrew, however, and Macgeorge went to India alone. Her accounts, largely written for children, provide a glimpse of the more romantic aspects of her experience. Macgeorge appears to have been determined to pioneer new work, under difficult circumstances, sometimes against advice. Her death on the field reflected in part this stubbornness but also structural failures in the N.Z.B.M.S. Nonetheless Macgeorge has been accorded martyr status in N.Z. Baptist lore. Refs: J.T. Crozier Some Notable Women in Baptist History, n.d. 12-16; R.J. Mardle, ‘Rosalie Macgeorge: Missionary Pioneer’ Bulletin, No. 5, November 1960.