Ingle Wright (Lawrence) (1923-1997) and Koreans

The Religious Society of Friends

Hardshaw East Monthly Meeting News Letter, April 1997

 

 

              Ingle Wright (Lawrence) (1923-1997) and Koreans

 

             I met Ingle at London Yearly Meeting in May, 1990. Surprisingly she greeted me with a rather unusual approach for someone British, An-nyong Ha-sa-yo? that means "How are you?" in Korean. Ingle may have seen my name card which indicated my nationality. After a brief conversation, we exchanged our addresses and telephone numbers, at that time I was a resident at Woodbrooke.

             Three months later, in August 1990, I met Ingle again at her house, kindly Clare Whitehead took me there in her car, previously I had stayed with Clare for ten days. I stayed with Ingle for three weeks before going to University of Essex to do my degree. When I arrived at Ingle's house, John (her husband) was Sunbathing in his garden. Later John told me that he was not a Quaker but a Sun worshipper, more precisely Sunshine worshipper.

             Presumably like most other people, my first impression of Ingle and her house was not so positive. Her dining room was quite dark and very chaotic, and as I entered that room I remembered Genesis verse one in The Old Testament: "The earth was at first a shapeless, chaotic mass, with the Spirit of God brooding over the dark vapours". The following 24 hours I experienced an immense number of `shocks', and consequently regretted my decision to come and stay with Ingle.

             However, inscrutable are the ways of Heaven, as time went on I began to see a completely different side of Ingle, like Dr.Jekyll and Mr.Hyde. During the three weeks, Ingle took me to various weekend conferences and day seminars. She paid for everything, including entrance fees, hotels etc. She told me, "It would be a worthwhile experience for you and a learning process. You should hold these kinds of conferences in future for Korea."

             Gradually but strongly I began to feel how much Ingle cared for me like her own son. Since then, I felt very comfortable with Ingle and her house. I really felt as if Ingle was my mother and Ingle's house was my home. She gave me love, affection and overwhelmingly supported me.

             When Alan and Janet Quilley went to Belfast for their Quaker Peace Mission in Northern Ireland, Ingle took me to their house with a present for them. I waited in her car for sometime while Ingle said `good bye' to them. A few minutes later, Ingle came back to her car. But soon she began to weep and bursted out crying. I was a bit embarrassed but I could feel her towering fondness towards the Quilley's and also how much Ingle was a lonely person.

             On several occasions I saw Ingle's tears and crying, sometimes she said with sympathy, "Poor May, poor old thing!". Some other times she cried with tears, "everybody hates me! everybody hates me!"

             I met Ingle, when I was just beginning my BA course in 1990. Now I am in my final year for my PhD course. Ingle whole-heartedly helped me during the last seven years, not only with her motherly affection, but also academically and financially. It is crystal clear that without Ingle, I would not be here today. My life in Britain is greatly indebted to Ingle and her love.

             When some Quakers asked Ingle, "Who is under 70 years old at Westhoughton Meeting?" Ingle answered them with a `proud' voice: "Sung-Soo is under 70 years old at Westhoughton Meeting."  When I applied for Membership of the Friends, Ingle wept with delight. Before her death, I wished to tell her that: "Dear Ingle, not everybody hates you!" But due to my shyness, I was never able to say so to her when she was alive. Indeed I regret that very much. I feel Ingle was born in this world to help Korea and to help my dream: Re-unification of Two Koreas.

             I will close my writing on Ingle with a quotation of an article from a Korean Newspaper, The Kunsan Press: May 24, 1955.

 

             "English Woman-doctor Ingle Wright Departs, leaving meritorious achievements behind.

             English Woman-doctor Ingle Wright goes back to her country. As a 31-year-old unmarried doctor assigned to the Provincial Hospital in Kunsan [southwest coast of South Korea] by British Friends Service Council, she improved activities in pathology laboratory, trained a great number of persons to be pathologists, installing pathologists training centre and assisted a great deal in training nurses.

             As a physician, surgeon and gynaecologist, she re-installed the old laboratory to a newest style and paid a lot of efforts in keeping new foreign medical books in the library. It is a great pity for Koreans to hear her leave in the beginning of June when her service in this country ceases."

 

* Ingle planted the seed of Quakerism in Korea and helped 20,000 Korean refugees as a member of Friends Service Unit (medical doctor) from July 1953 to June 1955 in Kunsan. At that time Korea was one of the poorest countries in the world, poorer than Somalia and Ethiopia with filth and rats. Thanks to sacrificial efforts like Ingle's, in 1997 the economy of South Korea is ranked 11th in the world with booming prosperity. I am reminded again of verse one of Genesis: "The earth was at first a shapeless, chaotic mass, with the Spirit of God brooding over the dark vapours". Thank you Ingle for your constant love.                  

 

Sung-Soo Kim is a Korean and a member of Hardshaw East Monthly Meeting. Currently he is writing his PhD thesis on The Intersection of Western Christianity and Oriental Philosophies through the Life and Thought of A Korean Quaker, Ham Sokhon (1901-1989) at the University of Sheffield.