Bishop of Kuangsi and Well Known Missionary Figure London, Feb, 28.
The death has occurred of the Rev, William Bannister, rector of Setham, Sussex, who had been the first Bishop of Kuangsi and associated in missionary work in China for 43 years—Reuter, During the 43 years of his con tion with this country the late Bishop made numerous friends and many are those.in China to-day who will feel his death ty a personal loss. He was an untiring worker, and according to one who knew him, and whose father was at Islington, with him, a grand old man, Born at Walton lo Dale in Lancashire in 1855, he was privately educated and Inter entered Islington College. He was ordained deacon by the Bishop of London in 1879 and held the position of curate at Balderstone in Lancashire for year after his ordination, He then decided to take up missionary work abroad and in 1880 he came out to China to the Fukien branch of the M.S. and took up work in Foo chow and Kucheng. He became principal of the C. M. 8. Theological College in 1893 and this position he sheld for three years when he beea secretary to the C, M.S. in Benj kong. In 1902" he was made Archdeacon of Hongkong and while acting in this capacity, which he did until 1909, he also' took the position of Commissiary to the Archbishop of Canterbury during vacancy that occurred in the See of Victoria in Hongkong in 1906, Retirement in 1923
The late Bishop returned to En 1900 ud while on this visit Lord Bishop of the Archbishop of. Canterbur Bishops of London, Birmingham, Lichfield, Liverpool, and Southwell being present at the ceremony. From this date, up to the time he retired in 1928 he acted was Bishop of Kuangsi-Hunan, On his retirement the late Bishop went to tive in Kuling and then in 1925 he left China for home, spend= ing the winter on his way in Palestine, and it was while in Palestine that he made up his mind not {0 return to China and so went, fon to England where he took up the work of rector of Setham in Sussex, ishop Bannister vas an excellent Chinese scholar and during the time he was in Hongkong, besides his other duties, he took on those of Examining Chaplain in Chinese to the Bishop of New Queensland. Works of his, written and published Chinese, include "Scripture Catechism for the Young" and some notes on Corinthians,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.