Birmingham – The Church Missionary Society Archives

The archive contains the records of the administrative departments at the Society’s headquarters, principally the General Secretary’s, Home, Finance, Medical, Candidates and Women’s Departments, and the records of its overseas missions, 1799–1959.

The archives of its Overseas Missions include letter books, mission books, original (incoming) papers, precis books and other records. During the 19th and the early part of the 20th century, the CMS exercised close supervision over its missions and so the records are both extensive and detailed. As the work of the missions embraced not just evangelism but also education, medical work, language study and translations, and development of local agriculture and industry, these detailed records are a valuable resource for study in a wide range of other research interests including anthropology, politics, slavery, geography and travel, and women’s studies.

The archive is complemented by a large collection of privately deposited papers relating to the work of the CMS (the CMS Unofficial Papers) predominantly dated 1800-1950

The long term project to publish this archive continues and the Cadbury Research Library at the University of Birmingham looks forward to welcoming interested parties http://calmview.bham.ac.uk/Record.aspx?src=DServe.Catalog&id=XCMS