Guide to the Council for World Mission / London Missionary Society Archive 1764-1977 ©The Library School of Oriental and African Studies July 1994 (Last Revised May 2017) Council for World Mission / London Missionary Society Archive Section Page No. 1 Collection-level descriptions: 5 Council for World Mission, London Missionary Society 2 Types of Documents in the LMS Archive 10 3 Home Office Papers: 13 3.1 Board Minutes 15 Board Representations to Government 17 3.2 Secretarial Deputation Papers 18 3.3 Home Committee Minutes 19 3.4 Regional Committee Minutes 24 3.5 Incoming Correspondence 30 3.6 Outgoing Correspondence 31 3.7 Candidates' Papers 38 3.8 Property 46 3.9 Odds 48 3.10 Financial Records 56 3.11 Statistics 60 3.12 Auxiliary Records 61 Overseas Materials: 4 South Seas/Pacific 62 Incoming Correspondence 63 Journals 65 Reports 65 Odds 67 5 Australia 70 Incoming Correspondence 71 Journals 72 Odds 72 6 Africa 6.1 Africa General 73 Odds 74 Livingstone Odds 80 6.2 Southern Africa 82 Incoming Correspondence: Matabeleland 83 2 Incoming Correspondence: Southern Africa 83 Journals 86 Reports 86 6.3 Central Africa 88 Incoming Correspondence 89 Journals 89 Reports 90 7 Europe 92 Incoming Correspondence: Europe, Greece & Malta, Russia 93 Journals 93 Mission to the Jews in London 94 8 Americas 95 Incoming Correspondence: Continent of America 95 Incoming Correspondence: USA 96 Journals 96 Odds 96 9 India 9.1 India General 97 Odds 98 9.2 North India 102 Incoming Correspondence 103 Journals 105 Reports 105 9.3 South India 106 Incoming Correspondence 107 Journals 111 Reports 111 10 British Guiana & West Indies 113 Incoming Correspondence: West Indies 114 Incoming Correspondence: British Guiana 115 Journals 115 Reports 116 Odds 116 11 Madagascar & Mauritius 118 Incoming Correspondence 118 Journals 120 Reports 120 Odds 120 12 Ultra Ganges / South East Asia 123 Incoming Correspondence 124 Journals 125 13 China / East Asia 13.1 China General 126 Odds 128 13.2 Central China 130 Incoming Correspondence 131 3 Journals 132 Reports 132 13.3 North China 133 Incoming Correspondence 133 Journals 135 Reports 135 13.4 South China, including Fukien 136 Incoming Correspondence: South China 137 Incoming Correspondence: Fukien 138 Journals 138 Reports 138 Reports: Fukien 139 14 Papua New Guinea 140 Incoming Correspondence 141 Journals 142 Reports 142 Odds 143 15 Personal Papers 144 16 Maps 156 17 Missionary Portraits, Photographs & Visual Materials 165 Missionary Portraits 165 Visual Materials 166 Photographs 166 4 Council for World Mission / London Missionary Society Archive Section 1: Collection-Level Descriptions 1.1 Council for World Mission (CWM) Dates: 1764-1977 Extent: 2,660 boxes Name of creator(s): Council for World Mission Council for World Mission (Congregational and Reformed) Congregational Council for World Mission London Missionary Society Missionary Society Commonwealth Missionary Society Colonial Missionary Society Administrative/Biographical history: The Council for World Mission is a co-operative of 31 Christian denominations world wide, and was established in its present form in 1977. It grew out of the London Missionary Society (founded 1795), the Commonwealth (Colonial) Missionary Society (1836) and the Presbyterian Board of Missions (1847). During the period after 1945, the work of the London Missionary Society (LMS) evolved from traditional mission fieldwork to a more democratic and decentralised structure based on the development of local churches and local church leadership. This response was brought about not only in answer to so-called 'decolonisation' but also to social and political change and demographic shifts in the post-war years. In 1966 the LMS ceased to exist as a Society and merged with the Commonwealth Missionary Society to form the Congregational Council for World Mission (CCWM). The Presbyterian Church of England joined with the Congregational Church of England and Wales (a constituent body of CCWM) in 1972 to form the United Reformed Church. Its foreign missions work was incorporated into CCWM, leading to a name change in 1973 to the Council for World Mission (Congregational and Reformed). The CWM (Congregational and Reformed) was again restructured to create the Council for World Mission in 1977. This structure was more internationalist, reflecting greater ecumenism and church independence, and the end of Western dominance in the mission field. The CWM today is a global body, which aids resource sharing for missionary activity by the CWM community of churches. The Colonial Missionary Society was founded in 1836 to work with British colonies, and to provide ministers for communities in Canada and America. In 1956 it changed its name to the Commonwealth Missionary Society, merging with the LMS in 1966. Council for World Mission is at present administered as an international charitable organisation registered in Singapore with the express aim 'to spread the knowledge of Christ throughout the world'. The four-yearly Assembly includes members appointed by CWM's constituent bodies. The Council, consisting of one director from each of them, meets at least once a year. A General Secretary and other officers are appointed by the Council. The move to Singapore took place in 2012, following a review of potential locations. A new constitution for the UK-registered charity, now to be known as Council for World Mission (UK), was voted by its Trustees immediately preceding Assembly’s June 2012 meeting in Pago Pago (American Samoa). Regional Secretaries serve member churches in 6 regions: Africa, Caribbean, East Asia, Europe, Pacific and South Asia. 5 Immediate source of acquisition or transfer: Deposited on permanent loan by the Congregational Council for World Mission (later Council for World Mission) in 1973. Further deposits in 1988, 1991, 1994, 2001 and 2005. Scope and content: Records, 1764-1977, of Council for World Mission predecessor bodies, including records of the London Missionary Society, 1764-1966, and records of the Commonwealth Missionary Society, 1836-1966. Accruals: Papers of the Council for World Mission in its own right, from its formation in 1977, are yet to be transferred into the collection at SOAS. Papers of the Congregational Council for World Mission, 1966-1977, are in the process of being transferred. Further accruals are expected of LMS, CCWM and CWM materials. System of arrangement: The collection is divided between papers of the London Missionary Society (Ref: CWM/LMS) and papers of the Commonwealth Missionary Society (Ref: CWM/CMS), comprising one main accession, 1795-1940, and three accruals, 1941-1950, 1951-1960, and 1961-1970. The CMS records were removed from the LMS sequence in 2002 and arranged and listed separately. Conditions governing access: Candidates’ papers are currently available only to 1940 and certain categories of records such as medical committee minutes are restricted. Otherwise, the papers are unrestricted. Conditions governing reproduction: No publication without written permission. Apply to archivist in the first instance. Language/scripts of material: Mainly English, with some French, Malagasy, Chinese and Pacific languages Finding aids: An outline guide to the CWM collection was prepared by the Rev C Stuart Craig, published by SOAS in 1973, and revised in 1980. An unpublished guide to the CWM/LMS/CMS papers, 1795-1940, was prepared by Hannah Lowery in 1994. This has subsequently been revised to include home office records to 1977. Unpublished lists for the three accruals to the collection, 1941-1950, 1951-1960 and 1961-1970 and detailed lists for certain sections of the London Missionary Society papers, including early missionary correspondence (to c.1899), journals and missionary deputations, 1795-c.1900, reports, 1866-1939, candidates papers (to 1940) and missionary portraits, are available in the Special Collections Reading Room, SOAS Library. A separate list has been prepared for the papers of the Congregational Missionary Society. Since 1999, records for the CWM archive have been gradually added to the internal cataloguing database, and this process is ongoing. Records catalogued electronically are now available for consultation on the SOAS Archive Catalogue http://lib.soas.ac.uk/ 16TU U16T Existence and location of copies: The main accession, 1795-1940, and the first accrual, 1941-1950, has been published on microfiche by IDC Publishers. Related units of description: The School of Oriental and African Studies also holds the Council for World Mission Library of c13,000 books and pamphlets, and papers of the Presbyterian Church of England Foreign Missions Committee (Ref: PCE) and Women's Missionary Association (Ref: PCE/WMA). 6 1.2 London Missionary Society (CWM/LMS) Date(s): Created 1764-1977 Extent: 2,598 boxes Name of creator(s): Missionary Society London Missionary Society Administrative/Biographical history: The origins of the London Missionary Society (LMS) lie in the late 18th century revival of Protestant Evangelism. A meeting of Independent Church leaders, Anglican and Presbyterian clergy and laymen, held in London in November 1794, established the aims of the Missionary Society - 'to spread the knowledge of Christ among heathen and other unenlightened nations'. The Missionary Society was formally established in September 1795 with a plan and constitution. This governed the establishment of a Board of Directors and the conduct of business, outline the powers of the Directors and the conduct of business, established an annual meeting of Members to be held in May, and defined the role of trustees. The Missionary Society was renamed the London Missionary Society in 1818. Although broadly non-denominational in scope, the Society was very much Congregationalist in both outlook and membership. Mission activity started in the South Seas, with the first overseas mission to Tahiti in 1796. Missionary work expanded into North America and South Africa. Early mission activities also centred in areas of eastern and southern Europe including Russia, Greece and Malta. There was even an LMS 'mission to Jews' in London. However, during the 19th century, the main fields of mission activity for the LMS were China, South East Asia, India, the Pacific, Madagascar, Central Africa, Southern Africa, Australia and the Caribbean (including British Guiana, now Guyana). The LMS was not always successful in gaining a hold in the overseas mission field. Western missionaries were refused entry to China until after 1843, and in Madagascar, early missionary success was countered by a period of repression and religious intolerance lasting from 1836 to 1861, and which included the deaths of many local converts. In terms of organisational structure, the LMS was governed by a Board of Directors. The workings of the Board were reorganised in 1810 when separate committees were appointed to oversee particular aspects of mission work, including the important foreign committees. The administrative structure of the LMS relied upon the work of salaried officials such as the Home Secretary and the Foreign Secretary, together with the workings of the various committees, including the Examinations Committee, which appointed missionaries to the field. Directors themselves were unpaid. The constitution of the LMS was revised in May 1870, as a direct result of financial pressures and the expansion of overseas mission work; the work of the Investigation Committee (1866) in turn led to a new administrative policy and the emphasis on the development of the self-governing and self-financing indigenous church. In 1966 the LMS merged with the Commonwealth Missionary Society, to form the Congregational Council for World Mission (CCWM), which in turn was restructured to create the Council for World Mission in 1977. Further information on the history of the London Missionary Society can be found in the official histories: Richard Lovett, The History of the London Missionary Society 1795-1895 (2 volumes, Oxford University Press, London, 1899); Norman Goodall, A history of the London Missionary Society, 1895-1945 (Oxford University Press, London, 1954); Gales of change: responding to a shifting missionary context: the story of the London Missionary Society, 1945-1977, Ed Bernard Thorogood (WCC, Geneva, 1994). 7 Scope and content/abstract: Records of the London Missionary Society, dating mainly from the foundation of the Society in 1795, but with some material from 1774 onwards relating to Madagascar and Mauritius, and a series of 'Extra' correspondence dating from 1764. The records relate to the structure and administration of the Society and mission activity overseas and comprise LMS Home Office minutes and papers, committee minutes, correspondence inward and outward, candidates' papers, and papers of official deputations; official journals, reports and correspondence from LMS missionaries in the field; special series of 'Odds', a collection of miscellaneous documents including material from the mission field; a large collection of portraits of missionaries; more than 15,000 photographs, showing individual converts, mission staff and buildings, and also depicting the lives, work and pursuits of indigenous peoples, means of transport, topographical scenes and historical events. Personal papers of LMS missionaries in the archive include an important collection of 115 original letters from David Livingstone (1813-1873), as well as correspondence of Robert Moffat (1795-1883) in Southern Africa, Robert Morrison (1782-1834) in China and James Sibree (1836-1929) and Elizabeth Lomas (1877-1959) in Madagascar. Home Personals include the papers of Dr Ralph Wardlaw Thompson (1842-1916), Foreign Secretary of the LMS from 1881-1914. Records after 1966 are those of the Congregational Council for World Mission (CCWM), and reflect the administrative changes and restructuring leading up to the creation of the Council for World Mission in 1977. Records for this period have been arranged and listed as a continuation of the LMS series as in many cases changes to administrative structures took place gradually. Language/scripts of material: Mainly English with some French, Malagasy, Chinese and Pacific languages System of arrangement: The papers in the main series are arranged into home material and foreign missions material, with the foreign missions papers arranged geographically by country. The material is divided into the following categories: Home materials; Africa; Americas; Australia; China; Europe; India; Madagascar; Papua New Guinea; South Seas/South Pacific; Ultra Ganges/South East Asia; West Indies and British Guyana; Personals. Up to 1927, incoming and outgoing letters are kept separately, as are reports (from 1866 onwards) and journals. From 1928, incoming and outgoing correspondence is arranged into personal and subject files, and is ordered alphabetically. Later accruals (1941-1970) are again arranged geographically, but the papers are also arranged into subject files, and are broader in scope than the main series of correspondence, minutes etc. Finding aids: An unpublished guide to the records, 1795-1940, was prepared by Hannah Lowery in 1994. This has subsequently been revised to include home office records to 1977. Unpublished lists for the three accruals to the collection, 1941-1950, 1951-1960 and 1961-1970 and detailed lists for certain sections of the London Missionary Society papers, including early missionary correspondence (to c1899), journals and missionary deputations, 1795-c1900, reports, 1866-1939, candidates papers (to 1940) and missionary portraits, are available in the Special Collections Reading Room, SOAS Library. Records catalogued electronically are now available for consultation on the SOAS Archive Catalogue http://lib.soas.ac.uk/ Accruals: Further accruals are expected. Archival history: Much outgoing material from 1914 onwards was lost to bomb damage during the Second World War. 8 Immediate source of acquisition: Deposited on permanent loan by the Congregational Council for World Mission (later Council for World Mission) in 1973. Further deposits in 1988, 1991, 1994, 2001 and 2005. Existence and location of copies: The bulk of the archive to 1950 is published on microfiche by IDC Publishers, in two series: Council for World Mission Archive 1774-1940, and Council for World Mission Archive 1941-1950. Material transferred from CWM after the filming, and additional Personal and Miscellaneous materials have not been microfiched. Related material: The School of Oriental and African Studies holds records of the Commonwealth Missionary Society (Ref: CWM/CMS), which forms part of the records of the Council for World Mission (Ref: CWM), and the library of the Council for World Mission (Ref: CWML). Personal papers of a number of LMS missionaries were deposited with the Council for World Mission/London Missionary Society by individual missionaries and their families, including letters of Robert Moffat in southern Africa, Robert Morrison in China, and James Sibree and Elizabeth Lomas in Madagascar, and papers of Dr Ralph Wardlaw Thompson, foreign secretary of the LMS. Personal papers of LMS missionaries presented directly to SOAS are held in the MS or PP MS sequences and include papers of J T Hardyman (Ref: PP MS 63); papers of William Lockhart (Ref: MS 380645); unpublished memoirs of James Sibree (Ref: MS 380616); Legge family papers (Ref: MS 380476). SOAS also holds records of the Presbyterian Church of England Foreign Missions Committee (Ref: PCE). Some LMS archive materials, are still held by the Council for World Mission, and are awaiting transfer to the SOAS. Dr Williams's Library, London, holds c1, 600 items of correspondence received principally by the Secretaries of the LMS, 1804-1852. West Yorkshire Archive Service holds the Arthington Trust Collection, which includes reports and correspondence relating to LMS missions funded by the Trust. Minute books of LMS auxiliaries can be found in local Record Offices. A number of oil paintings and artefacts, which were formerly part of the London Missionary Society's Museum, remain at the CWM headquarters. Some artefacts from the Museum have been transferred to The British Museum. Enquiries should be addressed to the CWM Archivist, SOAS Library, in the first instance. 9 Council for World Mission / London Missionary Society Archive Section 2. Types of Documents in the LMS Archive Journals These journals or diaries provide a day-by-day account of the work of an individual missionary or mission station, and would probably have been written by the missionary in charge. Many were then sent back to the LMS Headquarters for publication, and extracts from journals can often be found in missionary publications such as the Missionary Magazine, the Chronicle, and published Annual Reports. Journals exist from the establishment of many of the early missions, and may include the journey of a missionary to their mission, or journeys to other outlying areas such as out-stations or islands. This is particularly the case in certain areas such as the South Seas. The journals series exists mostly for the nineteenth century, although later journals were maintained for many of the Deputation Visits to missions in a particular region. Reports As a result of continuing financial pressures in the mid-19th century and the growing requirement for P P missionary work in the field to be audited, the Board of Directors decided that the missionaries should create an Annual Report of significant work occurring in their missions. This administrative change began in 1866, when the reports series was begun. These 'annual reports' were then sent to the LMS headquarters, and a significant number survive. Many examples from the reports were used in missionary publications. Although the reports series began as a result of administrative change, some missions were sending in reports to the Home Office as matter of course before this date. The Southern Africa missionaries for example were providing annual reports, and these are filed chronologically amongst the Incoming correspondence until 1866. Incoming Correspondence Until 1927, the LMS kept all correspondence received from the mission field in strict chronological order. Correspondence with all missionaries from one mission region, e.g. Central Africa, can be found together, and arranged year by year. Larger missions such as those to Africa, China and India divided their missions up into smaller regions, and the incoming correspondence is arranged by these areas. From approximately the last quarter of the 19th century, each letter has a cover sheet, which gives it a unique number, date sent, P P date received by the Home Office, the appropriate governing region (Eastern, Southern etc) and a précis of contents. Administrative correspondence, generally from correspondents in the UK, such as enquiries about LMS work, or donations of money or skills can be found in the Home Office Letters Inward series. There is also an early series of miscellaneous Home correspondence called Home Office Extra. Home Office correspondence often includes letters from overseas missionaries who were on furlough in the UK. However, there is very little correspondence relating to the actual running of the Society, and many gaps appear in these sequences. From 1928 onwards Incoming Correspondence from the field is no longer stored in chronological order, but in alphabetical order by sender. This means that the letters from a particular missionary are filed together. There may be more than one file per missionary however, as files are either yearly, or only span a limited number of years. There are also copies of some of the letters sent out by the LMS also on file, which effectively makes the correspondence from 1928 into an Incoming & Outgoing correspondence series. However, the files do primarily mainly contain incoming letters from missionaries. Detailed lists for many of these series can be found in the SOAS Special Collections Reading Room, giving sender, date, place, and brief summary of contents. Where these lists exist they are noted with an asterisk (*), as they are for all classes of materials. 10