| Level | Sub-series |
| Finding Number (Click this to view full catalogue structure) | CMS/B/OMS/C/CH |
| Title | China mission |
| Extent | 13 volumes, 105 files |
| Date | 1834-1914 |
| Description | Records compiled by the committees of the CMS Overseas (Foreign) Division, London. The letter-books and mission books also include selected records of CMS Japan mission.
Comprising papers under the Committee of Correspondence 1834-1880 and under the East Asia (Group 1) Committee 1881-1914. Including incoming correspondence from the mission to CMS in London 1834-1884, outgoing correspondence from the CMS in London to the mission 1834-1914, office copies of incoming correspondence 1834-1880, and office summaries (précis) of the incoming correspondence 1881-1888. |
| Notes | Former Tree Number reference: XCMS/B/OMS/CH |
With the exception of some well-known and commonly used place name spellings, for example, Peking, Shanghai, Foochow, when the catalogue to the China mission series was first created spellings were standardized according to the Wade-Giles system employed in 'The Times Atlas of the World', comprehensive Edition, 1977. Where a place was identified and the spelling so standardized the spelling found in the document was given in square brackets. Where a place name was not identifiable the spelling found in the document was used but in inverted commas. Personal names were kept in the form found in the documents with the rare exceptions of names of Chinese people who were identifiable as having a standardized and known romanised form of their name, for example, Deacon Dzaw.
Work is underway to address outdated, discriminatory, and offensive language in finding aids used by the Cadbury Research Library, and to improve accessibility of the online catalogue in line with current standards including adding present-day place names standardised according to 'The Times Atlas of the World', comprehensive edition, 2023. Copies of the original catalogues have been retained as a record. |
| Arrangement | Papers under the Committee of Correspondence are arranged as:
I: Individual letter-books 1852-1883 (outgoing)
L: Letter-books 1834-1882 (outgoing)
M: Mission books 1834-1880 (incoming: copies)
O: Original papers 1834-1880 (incoming)
Papers under the East Asia (Group 1) Committee are arranged as:
I: Individual letter-books 1883-1914 (outgoing)
L: Letter-books 1882-1897 (outgoing)
O: Original papers 1881-1884 (incoming)
P: Précis books 1881-1888 (incoming: summaries)
The letter-books of outgoing correspondence started under the Committee of Correspondence continued to be used for the first years under the Group ` Committee. |
| Access Conditions | For preservation reasons, microfilm or digital copies are made available in place of the original documents. |
| Finding Aids | Click on the Finding Number to display the full online catalogue of the Overseas Division mission series up to 1934, including the lower level entries for China mission. Alternatively, the original paper catalogues for the mission series can be consulted in the Cadbury Research Library and CMS (Oxford). The China mission series 1834-1914 papers are listed in the ‘East Asia (Group 1) Missions’ catalogue, volume two: China.
Guides to the Adam Matthew microfilm and digitally published copies of the China mission papers are available online and in CMS (Oxford), Cadbury Research Library, and other subscribing institutions. |
| Access Status | Open, but subject to some access restrictions |
| Physical Description | The archive reference numbers for the pre-1880 incoming papers were marked in pencil on the back of each individual item, for example, C CH/O 9/14. In the early 1950s, the incoming original papers of the 'China Mission' under the Committee of Correspondence were first listed as C CH/O 1-82. In the course of the full cataloguing of these papers in 1979 it was necessary to expand and alter the reference number system and to relocate some papers within the system. The 1950s reference and the new reference used from 1979 are as follows: O1 now equals O9; O2 = O1, 2, 4, 11; O3 = O6, 12, 13; O4 = O5; O6 = O7 (placed with the missionary concerned); O8 = O14; O9= O13; O10 = O6; O12 = O15; O13 in O92; O14 = O16; O15 = O17; O16 = O19; O17 = O21; O18 = O22; O19 = O27; O20 in O27; O21 = O26; O22 = O28; O23 = O29; O24 = O30; O25 = O31; O26 = O32; O27 = O33; O28 = O34; O29 = O35; O30 = O36; O31 = O37; O32 = O38; O33 = O39; O34 = O40; O35 = O43; O36 = O44; O37 = O41; O38 = O42; O39 = O45; O40 = O46; O41 = O48; O42 = O49; O43 in O12; O44 = O50; O45 = O51; O46 = O52; O47 = O 53; O48 = O55; O49 = O56; O50 = O58; O51 = O59; O52 in O50; O53 = O61; O54 = O62; O55 = O60; O56 = O63; O57 = O64; O58 = O65; O59 in O5; O60 = O66; O61 = O68; O62 = O69; O63 = O70; O64 = O71; O65 = O72; O66 = O73; O67 = O74; O68 = O75; O69 = O76; O70 = O78; O71 = O77; O72 = O81; O73 = O82; O74 = O85; O75 = O86; O77 = O88; O78 = O89; O79 = O90; O80 = O91; O81 = O92; O82 = O93.
The post-1880 incoming papers are each individually marked in red ink. This number, plus the year, constituted the archive reference for each item, for example, G1 CH3/1919/48. When the records were transferred to the University of Birmingham and the online copy of the catalogue was created the archive finding numbers for the records of the Overseas Division were extended: the letters CMS/B/OMS were added at the beginning of the filing numbers (denoting records of the Church Mission Society Archive: Overseas Division: Overseas Mission Series). In addition, for the papers under the East Asia (Group 1) Committee, a letter denoting the type of record (O for Original papers or L for Letter-book, etc) was added after the mission reference, for example, CMS/B/OMS/G1 CH3/O 1919/48. |
| Archival Note | Catalogued by Christopher Jeens, CMS 1979-1980. Copied to the University of Birmingham online archive catalogue, 2000. Updates underway, 2024. |
| Copies | Available on microfilm and online.
Microfilm:
'Church Missionary Society Archive': Section I: East Asia Missions, Part 10.
Publisher: Marlborough: Adam Matthew Publications, 2000.
Location in the Cadbury Research Library: microfilm drawers B3 and B8.
Digital publication:
'AM Scholar-Church Missionary Society Archive': East Asia Missions: China Mission
Publisher: Adam Matthew Digital.
Access: by institutional subscription: free to members of the University of Birmingham and visitors to the Cadbury Research Library and other subscribing institutions. |