Methodist Missionary Society Archives. on microfiche. School of Oriental and African Studies, London IDC

Transcription

1 Methodist Missionary Society Archives on microfiche School of Oriental and African Studies, London IDC

2 Introduction The filming of important missionary archives has a dual purpose: the original, unique documents are preserved for the future and copies can be made available easily and cheaply for distribution to scholarly institutes all over the world. The Archives of the Methodist Church, Overseas Division (Methodist Missionary Society), date back some 200 years and have proved a unique and fruitful source of information to the four to five hundred researchers a year from all over the world who have used them. The Archives refer to the Work of the Wesleyan Methodist Missionary Society in Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, the Caribbean region and North America, and include, for instance, minutes of the first General Committee in 1804, records of the Primitive Methodists, finance ledgers, missionary correspondence from 1807, record books of missionaries from 1769 to the present, much biographical material, and missionaries' journals. A special feature is extensive material on Dr. Thomas Coke, Wesley's 'right hand'. The Archive is now housed in the Library of the School of Oriental and African Studies, London. The records consist of three distinct groups, the most extensive being those of the Wesleyan Methodist Missionary Society and smaller collections of the Women's Work organisation and the Prim& ti»e Methodist Missionary Society; these have been listed separately. Wesleyan Methodist Missionary Society The most extensive and valuable series of records are the Synod minutes and correspondence to London from the districts all round the world. The minutes and correspondence from each region are arranged and listed together and the two series complement each other. The Synod minutes were sent in to London from the districts and contain synopses of the important events of the mission and the area. Up to 1900, the letters from the missionaries are listed in detail and these lists are available at SOAS and on microfiche. (These are noted in the Guide by an asterisk.) After 1900, the system of filing changed and the increased volume of correspondence made detailed listing impractible. The later correspondence was divided into two series, that of the Chairman of the districts and that of the missionaries. The small amount of correspondence from London is listed in the Home and General section Outgoing Letters and the records of the organisation in London are also listed in the Home and General series. In addition, the Special Series contain records complementing the main series, including the Notes and Transcripts and Biographical papers, which consist ofprivate collections of missionaries and researchers deposited with the Society at various times. The Candidate Papers are not an extensive collection and most personnel records remain with the Society. Women's Work Collection This series of records relates to the work of women missionaries employed by the Wesleyan Methodist Missionary Society who were organised and funded independently from the main Society. The records have been arranged by the form of the material and then sub-divided by the region to which they relate. No detailed lists are available. Primitive Methodist Missionary Society This is a fairly small collection of the records of the Primitive Methodist Church's missionary activities up to its amalgamation with the Wesleyan Methodist Missionary Society in It contains material relating chiefly to Southern Africa and Nigeria but also includes an interesting collection relating to missionary work in Fernando Po. The Records have been arranged by the form of the material and then sub-divided by the region to which they relate. No detailed lists are available. Cover illustration: Thomas Coke ( ) Founder of Methodist missions. Superintendent in America, constant advocate of missionary enterprise; died on the way to take up missionary service in Ceylon at the age of 67.

3 External finding aids A 45-page very detailed printed guide to the Archives, compiled by Mrs. Elizabeth Bennett. This guide relates the content of the archives with the corresponding microfiches. If you prefer to have a more detailed impression of the entire archives, ask without engagement for a free copy of this guide on microfiche. 2. Detailed inventories in typescript have been prepared for a large part of the Archives, mainly the correspondence, and are available on microfiche. The inventories are also available separately (53 fiches; Order no. LH-1833). The finding aids come free with the microfiches. Price and other information James Calvert ( ) Wesleyan pioneer missionary and translator in Fiji ; as a veteran served in South Africa in the early days of the mining rush ( ). Number of fiches Size Film type Reduction ratio Internal finding aids External finding aids Free readers 24, x 148 mm microfiche Positive silver halide 1: 23 Eye-legible headers with the exact (kind content of the fiche of material, country, years) A printed guide of 45 pages by Mrs. Elizabeth Bennett and detailed inventories on in icrofiche Three Realist Valiant 14 microfiche readers (value Dfl 1500 each) are given free to purchasers of the complete collection Single sections are available at the listed prices. Smaller parts may also be purchased. A quotation will be provided on request. For information about a flexible purchase plan please contact 1DC. Other Missionary Archives available from 1DC Conference of British Missionary Societies, Council for World Mission Archives, International Missionary Council Archives, Jerusalem and East Mission Archive, London, Joint IMC/CBMS Africa & India, Paris Evangelical Missionary Society Archives, Presbyterian Church Archives, United Society for Christian Literature,

4 Wesleyan Methodist Missionary Society Home and General Minutes LH-2700/1 General United Methodist Free Church Various [1890] LH-2707/1 Antigua Bahamas Barbados Barbados. Marriage regs. British Guiana Haiti LH-2701/ Honduras Jamaica Home 1907/ Leeward Islands (arranged by area) St. Vincent West Indies Conference Govern. Dept./Col. Office/ West Indies General Circulars Home West Indies General Outgoing Europe [ ] LH-2702/1 LH-2703/1 Channel Islands Egypt/Greece Europe (various) France Germany Gibraltar Ireland Italy Malta Naples Portugal Spain Sweden Switzerland West Africa / LH-2708/1 Fernando Po French West Africa Gambia Nigeria Sierra Leone West, Africa (irarious) LH-2709/ 1 South Africa Eastern Nigeria Fernando Po French West Africa Gambia; odds Gold Coast Nigeria Sierra Leone West Africa (miscellaneous) Western Nigeria North America LII-2710/1 LH-2705/ West Indies LH-2706/ LH-2704/ Kenia Rhodesia South Africa Transvaal LH-2711/1 1933/ Copper Belt/Kenia Rhodesia South Africa /42 South Africa Conference South Rhodesia /45 Transvaal

5 India KH-2712/ India North India South India Various general and provincial Minutes Ceylon Burma/Ceylon Ceylon India/Ceylon KH-2713/1 KH-2714/1 K H-2715/ Ceylon Colombo/Galle & Kandy North Ceylon South Ceylon Burma Burma Burma China/Burma China China Bengal Bombay Calcutta Hyderabad Lucknow Lucknow/Benares Madras Mysore Trichinopoly/Negapatam KH-2716/1 KH-2717/1 KH-2718/1 KH-2719/1 Canton China General China Miscellaneous Australasia K / Australia, New Zealand, Tasmania Fiji and Tonga Special Series K H-2721/I Notes and Transcripts KH-2722/1 Biographical KH-2723/ Candidates Papers Various Papers Central Africa Ceylon/Burma China Europe India New Zealand Ships Logs/Papers "Triton": "John Wesley" I & II South Africa South Seas West Africa West Indies Finance Hunan Hupeh Ningpo North China South China South West China Wenchow Wuchang Australia Fiji New Britain New Zealand Samoa Tasmania Tonga KH-2724/ Finance district Schedules Minutes of Finance Sub- Committee

6 Women's Work Collection Minutes KH-2725/1 China KH-2729/ Minutes Hunan, Hupeh, Ningpo, Reports KH-2726/ Wenchow North, South and South West Africa, China, India China KH-2727/1 KH-2730/ Africa Miscellaneous Bengal Missionaries on Furlough (China) Burma Ceylon Overseas Schedules KH-2731/ Europe Hyderabad Burma, Ceylon, China Lucknow/Benares Madras Medak Mysore North Ceylon North/South Ceylon Rhodesia/Transvaal South Ceylon Trichinopoly West Africa West Indies Primitive Methodist Missionary Society Minutes KH-2732/ I FINDLAY, G.G. and W.W. HOLDS WORTH. The History of the Wesleyan Methodist Missionary Society. London, vols. KH-2736/1 K H-2734/ Minutes Australia/New Zealand Reports KH-2733/ Eastern Nigeria, Fernando Po Foreign Reports Home/Corr. (alphabetically Quarterly Reports people/subjects A-Y) Home/General miscellaneous Ilome/Outgoing letters Nigeria South and Central Africa

7 Wesleyan Methodist Missionary Society Serial publications on microfiche Annual report and accounts of the Methodist Missionary Society. General Fund and Women's Work for London, KH-2750/1 Annual report of the London Missionary Society. Report no London, /1940. Lacking: Report KH-2142/1 Annual reports of the Primitive Methodist Missionary Society Report 1-84, London, Lacking: Report KH-2738/1 Annual reports of the Wesleyan Methodist Missionary Society. London, Financial supplement Lacking: 1790; ; 1807; 1810; KH-2749/1 The Arminian Magazine consisting of extracts and and original treatises on Universal Redemption. London, V Cont. as: The Methodist Magazine. London, V Cont. as: The Wesleyan-Methodist Magazine. London, V Lacking: 1820, V.43 (August, p ); 1821, V.44 (June/July, p ); 1856, V.79 (pt. 2); , V KH-2753/I At Home and Abroad. A magazine of Home and Foreign Missions for young helpers in the work. London, (Spring - summer). Cont. as: Window. London, 1974 (Autumn) Lacking: 1879, V.1; 1941; KH-2755/1 The Christian Messenger. London. Available: V KH-2740/1 Ladies' Committee for ameliorating the condition of women in heathen countries, female education... London, No Cont. as: Ladies' Auxiliary for female education. London, / No Cont. as: Woman's work. London, No KH-2754/1 Methodist New Connexion Missions. Gleanings in Harvest Fields, Lacking: 1889, p. 1-36; 1890, p ; 1891, p , p ; 1892/93, p ; 1893/94, p ; 1899, p ; 1903, p ; 1904, p ; 1905, p ; 1906,p KH /1 Minutes of the annual conferences of the United Methodist Church. London, KH-2744/1 Minutes of the conferences of the Primitive Methodist Connexion. 65th - 77th annual conference. London, Cont. as: Minutes of the annual conferences of the Primitive Methodist Church, 87th - 96th annual conference. London, Cont. as: Year book including the Minutes of the annual conferences of the Primitive Methodist. 97th th annual conference. London, Lacking: 1819?-1883, 1st - 64th; , 66th - 76th; , 90th - 94th; , 99th- 101st; 1929, 110th. K /1 Minutes of the Wesleyan Methodist conferences from the first held in London in the year London, KH-2747/ 1 Handbook and Index to the Minutes of the Conference: showing the growth and development of the Wesleyan Methodist Constitution from the first conference, 1744 to London, KH-2748/1 Missionary chronicle. London, Cont. as: The missionary magazine and chronicle; related chiefly to the missions of the London Missionary Society. London, 1836/ , V N.S , V Cont. as: The chronicle of the London Missionary Society. London, ; N.S., V Lacking: 1822(Febr.); KH-2143/1

8 The Missionary Echo of the United Methodist Free Churches. London V.1-12, N.S., V KR-2743/1 Missionary Notices, relating principally to the Foreign Missions, established by Wesley and Coke.. the Methodist Conference. London, V.1-9. Cont. as: Wesleyan Missionary Notices. N.S. London, , V London, , V London, 1868/ , V.1-9. London, V.1-8. London, V.1-8. London, V.1-6. London, V.I-5. KH-2751/1 Monthly notices of the Primitive Methodist Missionary Society. London, Lacking: Cont. as: Records of missionary of the Primitive Methodist Missionary Society. London, Lacking: 1871(13). Cont. as: The Record. Organ of the Primitive Home, Colonial and Foreign Missionary Society. London, Lacking: Cont. as: The Herald of the Primitive Methodist Missionary Society. London, Cont. as: Advance. Missionary Organ of the Primitive Methodist Church. London, KH-2741/1 The Primitive Methodist Magazine. London. Available , V.47-52;1884, V.65; , V KH-2739/1 Report of the Ladies' Auxiliary of the Wesleyan Methodist Missionary Society. London, 188] Cont. as: Report of the Women's Auxiliary of the Wesleyan Methodist Missionary Society. London, Lacking: 1898; 1900, p. 255-End. KH-275/1 United Methodist Ministers and their Circuits being an arrangement in alphabetical order of the Stations of Ministers of the: Methodist New Connexion; Bible Christians; Armenian Methodist, Protestant Methodists; Wesleyan Methodist Association; Wesleyan Reformers; United Methodist Free Churches and the United Methodist Church KH-2746/1 Women's Missionary Service. London, 1858? Cont. as: Methodist Missionary Society Women's Work. London, Lacking: 1858? KH-2757/1 Work 8c Workers in the Mission Field. London, V Cont. as: The Foreign Field of the Wesleyan Methodist Church. London, 1904/ /1932. V Cont. as: The Kingdom Overseas. London, V Lacking: 1943, V.11. KH-2752/1 Report of the home and foreign missions of the United Methodist Free Churches. London, / / Lacking: 1868/ /1875. KH-2745/1