Maria Jane Taylor

Maria Jane Taylor (née Dyer, 16 January 1837 – 23 July 1870) was a British Protestant Christian missionary to China, and "Mother" of the China Inland Mission with her husband, founder James Hudson Taylor. She was a pioneer missionary and educator there for 12 years (from 1852 to 1860 and 1866 to 1870). In 1858, she married Taylor and was an invaluable assistant and influence to him. In her time with the CIM, she was instrumental in training single women to be missionaries in China, when opportunities for women to serve had been previously dependent on having a missionary husband.