Richard Alexander Whiteside (1878-1923) of Preston, Lancashire, a cotton weaver was a Church Army evangelist before being admitted to the Church Missionary Society Preparatory Institution and College in 1904. He was accepted as a CMS missionary in 1905 and sailed for the West China Mission the same year. He served at Auksien and Chunpa and opened work at Lungan in 1911. He was the victim of a serious assault by Chinese in 1911 and returned to England. He returned to Lungan in 1913 and was ordained deacon in 1918 and priest in 1919. After furlough in England he returned to Mienyang. He was shot dead by bandits in 1923. He married Susanna Elizabeth Bryers (1876-1945) in 1910 at Szechwan. Susanna, formerly a dressmaker of Liverpool, was also accepted as a missionary by the CMS in 1905 and served at Auksien, Western China, before her marriage. Richard and Susanna Whiteside had a son, Laurence.
Reference: Manuscript registers of CMS missionaries (Men 1905-1907 and Women 1905-1907)
From the guide to the Papers of Richard Alexander Whiteside and Susanna Elizabeth Whiteside, 1899-1954, (University of Birmingham Information Services, Special Collections Department)
