William Armstrong Russell (1821–1879) was an Irish Protestant

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

missionary to

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

, and served as the

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

Bishop of

North China North China, or Huabei () is a List of regions of China, geographical region of China, consisting of the provinces of Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Shanxi and Inner Mongolia. Part of the larger region of Northern China (''Beifang''), it lies north ...

. Russell, son of Marcus Carew Russell, by Fanny Potts, was born at Ballydavid House, Littleton, County Tipperary, Ireland, in 1821, and was educated at Midleton School, County Cork, and at Trinity College, Dublin. He was ordained by Bishop Charles James Blomfield in 1847, and as a missionary in connection with the Church Missionary Society went to China in that year in company with

Robert Henry Cobbold Robert Henry Cobbold () (1816, Eye, Suffolk - 1893 Hereford ) was an Anglican missionary who worked with William Russell at the Church Missionary Society in China in Ningbo, China. He and Russell left for China in November 1847, arriving in Ningbo ...

, afterwards

archdeacon An archdeacon is a senior clergy position in the Church of the East, Chaldean Catholic Church, Syriac Orthodox Church, Anglican Communion, St Thomas Christians, Eastern Orthodox churches and some other Christian denominations, above that o ...

of Ningbo. These two men were the first Protestant missionaries in Ningbo. Russell translated into the

Ningbo dialect The Ningbo dialect () is a dialect of Wu Chinese, one subdivision of varieties of Chinese, Chinese language. Ningbo dialect is spoken throughout Ningbo and Zhoushan prefectures, in Zhejiang province. Intelligibility Ningbo dialect native speaker ...

the greater part of the New Testament, portions of the

Old Testament The Old Testament (often abbreviated OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew writings by the Israelites. The ...

, and the Book of Common Prayer, besides writing many tracts and essays. He was appointed the first missionary bishop of North China in November 1872, and on 15 December was consecrated in Westminster Abbey. After his return to China he admitted four Chinese to deacons' and priests' orders; he confirmed nearly three hundred Chinese Christians, and dedicated several mission churches. in 1852 he married Mary Ann, daughter of Charles William Leisk. He died at Shanghai on 5 October 1879. He published ''The Term Question'', or an Enquiry as to the Term in the Chinese Language which most nearly represents Elohim and Theos, as they are used in the Holy Scriptures,’ Shanghai, 1877.

See also