Joyce Reason

Joyce Reason (December 1894 - 18 September 1974) was a British author of missionary biographies and historical fiction for young readers.

Life and Works

Joyce Reason was born in Canning Town, London. Her father, Will Reason, was a Congregational minister who campaigned and wrote around themes of social justice and poverty (books such as Poverty, Drink and the Community, Homes and Housing, Christianity and Social Renewal). Both her parents were university graduates.

She was educated at Milton Mount College For Girls in Gravesend, an educational institution for the daughters of congregational ministers, although other pupils could attend.

She was a prolific author of popular missionary biographies and accounts of the work of the London Missionary Society. She also wrote fiction and plays for young people.

Reason wrote missionary biographies of Mary Aldersey of China,James Chalmers of Papua,Albert Cook of Uganda,William Kendall Gale of Madagascar,Wilfred Grenfell of Labrador,James Hannington of Uganda,Griffith John of China,David Jones of Madagascar,Liang Fa of China,Henry Nott of the South Seas,Ruatoka of Papua,Bishop Selwyn of New Zealand,Howard Somervell of India, and others. She also wrote popular biographies of John Bunyan,Robert Browne,Henry Barrowe,William Penn,Isobel Kuhn and Sadhu Sundar Singh of India.