Mildred Cable

Alice Mildred Cable (Chinese: 蓋群英) (21 February 1878 – 30 April 1952) was a British Protestant Christian missionary in China, serving with the China Inland Mission. Cable was part of an inseparable "trio" of missionaries along with sisters Francesca and Eva French. The trio is best known for their missionary efforts along remote caravan routes in Central Asia and the Gobi Desert.

Early life and career

Born in Guildford, the daughter of John Cable, a prosperous draper in Guildford, Cable early decided to become a missionary and studied pharmacy and human sciences at London University. She was engaged to a man who had also declared his intention to become a missionary, but he changed his mind and said he would not marry her unless she abandoned her ambition. She broke off the engagement, declined to take her final examination to graduate, and joined the China Inland Mission in 1901, meeting Evangeline (Eva) French who was returning to China following her first home leave. They worked together for the rest of their lives.

Cable and French were stationed in Huozhou, Shanxi, and often traveled in the surrounding area. Eva's younger sister, Francesca, joined them in 1910 (although some sources say 1908), and they became known as the "trio." After 20 years in Huozhou, they believed that the mission should be turned over to Chinese leaders and the three applied to work in relatively unknown, largely Muslim western China. Although there were doubts that women should be assigned to this region, their proposal was accepted in 1923.