William Henry Temple Gairdner

William Henry Temple Gairdner (July 31, 1873 – May 22, 1928) was a British Christian missionary with the Church Missionary Society in Cairo, Egypt. His entire life was dedicated to service in Egypt as he himself commented when he was first preparing to leave. While in Cairo he partnered with his dear friend Douglas M. Thornton in order to reach educated Muslims with the gospel of Jesus Christ. This dynamic duo held many lectures in their home, Beit Arabi Pasha, and wrote a weekly magazine titled Orient and Occident. After Thornton's death in 1907 Gairdner continued his work in Cairo but was never able to recapture the amount of work that was accomplished when Thornton was at his side. It was this lack of help that would plague his ministry until the day of his death in 1928. Gairdner was a prolific writer and scholar of Arabic. He showed much promise to contribute greatly in theological and scholarly circles of Islam but instead chose to serve the local church in Cairo.

Gairdner was born in Ardrossan, Ayrshire, Scotland on July 31, 1873. He was the son of Sir William Tennant Gairdner, a Scotsman, and Helen Bridget Wright, an English-woman. Gairdner was educated at St Ninian's Prep School, Moffat and Rossall School. His father served as a professor of medicine at Glasgow University and bestowed upon young Gairdner his passions for music, science, and philosophy. His mother contributed to Gairdner's experiences in school life and church life as she often conveyed her love for the Anglican Church to him as well as arranged for his traditional English education. Also Gairdner's personality drew greatly from his mother. From her he drew his sense of humor and emotional nature. Gairdner married Margaret Mitchell in October 1902 at Christ Church, Nazareth. Margaret was one of Gairdner's childhood friends and was the daughter of Dr. J. O. Mitchell. Gairdner and Margaret celebrated twenty-five years of marriage and raised five children together before Gairdner's death in 1928.

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