William White (bishop of Honan)

William Charles White FRSC (22 August 1873 – 24 January 1960) was an Anglican missionary bishop to China and later an academic specializing in Chinese study.

In 1881, Will White, his mother and siblings, sailed to the new world and met their father in Norwood, Ontario.

White's boundless energy and an interest in improving the lives of children, moved him to first to Kingston, Ontario where he began a career with the YMCA and later to Ottawa (around 1892).

[4] He eventually rose to the position of administrator at the YMCA which proved an excellent training ground for his future career as a missionary.

Bicycles were an easy mode of transportation at the turn of the twentieth century and White was ecstatic to spend hours biking through the countryside around Ottawa visiting families and soliciting donations for the YMCA.

At which point, the missionary program which White applied to collapsed under financial and political strains.

It was at this point that White decided he was ready to embark on his missionary work, but felt his high school education inadequate for his career goals.

Will White enrolled in Wycliffe College in the spring of 1894, where he studied religion, languages and other academic fields.

While at Wycliffe, White attended many lectures and mission programs put on by fellow missionaries around the college campus.

He had the ability to turn any conversation towards religion, establish the listener's confidence in him, break down any resistance and relate intimate religious experiences through a matter of fact tone.

Although his stature didn't fool anyone, he felt if he gave an effort to learn the language and dress in familiar garments, those around him would be more open to discussing church matters with him.

During his tenure in Henan, White was responsible for the building of eleven churches, each with an ordained Chinese pastor.

During White's time in China he learned a great deal of about Chinese art, religion, industry and traditional life.

[10] This chance meeting and budding friendship lead to a decade long partnership in the pursuit of museum specimens.

Upon his return to Toronto, the Whites hoped to establish a home of refuge from the busy schedules of both Will and Daisy.