Elizabeth Mary Wells

Wells met missionary Reverend Douglas Arthur Lownds Hooper of the Church Missionary Society (CMS) in the early 1890s, quickly becoming engaged. Inspired by his work, and having expertise in the medical field they sought, she was inspired to also join the CMS as a medical missionary. Women were not commonly accepted as missionaries at the time, and were only allowed to join the Society as the wife of a missionary. Wells sought the permission of the Medical Board and the CMS' head physician, bolstered by her fiancé – who (among other things) had a reputation as one of the head leaders of a large group of missionaries from Cambridge University that was responsible for adding many missionaries to the CMS list – being established and respected in the organisation.[5]

Having been accepted, Wells travelled with Hooper to Jilore in 1896. It was a location Hooper had previously been working in, about 60 miles north of Mombasa. Known by many as Dr. Hooper now, Wells spent the next four years in medical service in this region of British East Africa (now Kenya), as well as preaching the Gospel. With the facilities created locally and having limited resources, Wells turned to innovation to successfully treat her patients, introducing new techniques and relief care: in one instance, she had to amputate a girl's arm due to a crocodile bite and was able to fit a prosthetic six years later; another patient was a woman who presented with gout who was still being made to work even as she could not, but who quickly recovered when Wells convinced her husband to let her rest a while in her hometown. In 1900, Hooper was poor in health and the couple had to return to England. They spent four years there before being able to return to Jilore, where they stayed until 1906.[5]

Hooper was transferred to Kahuhia in 1909, in the Central Province of Kenya. Here, Wells could have much more impact in delivering medical treatment by building on the work of Dr. T. W. W. Crawford, the previous medical missionary there. Crawford had been proud of his work servicing the near-million inhabitants of the region, and was especially derogatory to the native medics, but took furlough in early 1909, causing the need for Hooper and Wells to relocate.[5][6]

At the hospital in Kahuhia, Wells took responsibility of all the medical work, with Hooper there to ensure that the buildings and materials were suitable for her. The mission medical station was located five miles away from the closest CMS mission station and was nine miles away from Fort Hall, the government administrative centre. Being in such a highly populated district, the station was in need of more facilities. In 1913, its property had already extended over fifty acres, with more land gradually being cleared. The site included the couple's residence, the hospital buildings, and the general mission buildings.[6]