William Cassels

William Wharton Cassels (11 March 1858 – 7 November 1925) was an Anglican missionary bishop.

William Wharton Cassels
The right Rev. Bishop Cassels, D.D. Paoning Fu. (Photography published in 1899 in the book "The Yangtze Valley and Beyond" by Isabella Bird)
Born	March 11, 1858 Oporto, Portugal
Died	November 7, 1925 (aged 67) Paoling, Sichuan
Occupation	Missionary
Known for	Missionary in China, Bishop
Spouse(s)	Mary Louisa Legg

Early life and education

Cassels was born in Oporto, Portugal, the sixth son of John Cassels, a merchant, and Ethelinda Cox, a distant relation of Warren Hastings.[1] He was educated at Repton School[2] and St John's College, Cambridge.[3]

Work

He was ordained[4] deacon (Rochester) on 4 June 1882 and priest on 10 June 1883. He was a curate at All Saints' South Lambeth from 1882 to 1885. A member of the famous ‘Cambridge Seven’,[5] he joined the China Inland Mission in 1885. In 1895, he became the Bishop of Western China.[6] One of the foremost missionaries of his time, who possessed great gifts of organisation, he understood the Chinese and was held in great veneration by them.

Family and death

Cassels married Mary Louisa Legg, daughter of Edward Legg, in Shanghai, China, in 1892. They had several children.[7] He died on 7 November 1925 at Paoling, Western China.[8] Mrs Cassels died eight days later.[9]

References

1. Marshall Broomhall (1926). W. W. Cassels, first bishop in Western China
2. “Who was Who” 1897–1990 London, A & C Black 1991 ISBN 0-7136-3457-X
3. "Cassels, William Wharton (CSLS877WW)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
4. Crockford's Clerical Directory1940–1941 Oxford, OUP,1941
5. Cambridge Seven
6. ”The Clergy List” London, John Phillips, 1900
7. William Wharton Cassels. Retrieved 2013-01-05.
8. The Times, 10 November 1925; pg. 13; Issue 44115; col D Death Of Bishop Cassels. Forty Years In China
9. Marshall Broomhall (1926). W. W. Cassels, first bishop in Western China