| Level | Sub-sub-fonds |
| Finding Number (Click this to view full catalogue structure) | CMS/B/OMS |
| Title | CMS Overseas (Foreign) Division: mission series |
| Date | 1803-1934 |
| Description | Papers of the different departments of the Overseas Division (initially 'Foreign' Division) arranged by individual mission area. For example, papers of the Yoruba mission. The mission series currently available for research comprise records dating up to 1959.
Including records of CMS missions in Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, and Oceana. A full list of countries is given in the Arrangement field below.
The lower levels of the online catalogue list the mission series up to 1934. The mission series 1935-1959 are listed separately. |
| Notes | Historical mission names do not necessarily indicate the geographical scope of the records. For example, researchers interested in the history of CMS mission in Australia will find the correspondence in the New Zealand [Aotearoa] mission series.
Work is underway to address outdated, discriminatory, and offensive language in finding aids used by the Cadbury Research Library, and to improve accessibility of the CMS online catalogue in line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. 2024 |
| Arrangement | When the CMS catalogues for the mission dating up to 1934 were entered in the online catalogue, the series were entered by mission area thereunder by CMS committee. As the online catalogue has been in use for over 20 years, this arrangement has been maintained. For each mission area, records dating from up to 1880 when the work of the Overseas (at the time ‘Foreign’) Division was under the Committee of Correspondence [C] are listed first, followed by record series for the same mission area under the relevant Group Committee 1880-1934 [G1, G2, and G3]. Further details about the arrangement of the records are given in the sub-sub-sub fonds level of the catalogue.
Below is a list of countries with CMS missions active between 1804 and 1959, listed alphabetically by present-day place name followed by related mission series with the unique mission reference which forms part of the finding number in [square brackets]. For example, records of CMS work in Greece are held in the Mediterranean mission series and the unique mission reference for the Mediterranean mission is ‘M’. Names of mission areas are given as they appear in the records; ‘speech marks’ indicate where a mission name is fully or partly composed of historical terms which are not in present-day use and include names or spellings introduced by colonial administrations. Where the name of a mission area changed between the start of the mission and 1959 the earliest name is given in (round brackets).
Antigua: West Indies [W]
Australia: New Zealand [N]
Barbados: West Indies [W]
Canada | Area now known as Canada: North-West Canada (North-West America) [C1]; British Columbia (North Pacific) [C2]
China: China mission [CH], Hong Kong (South China) [CH1]; ‘Chekiang’ (Mid-China) [CH2]; Western China [CH3]; ‘Fukien’ [CH4], ‘Kwangsi’ and Hunan [CH5]
Egypt: Mediterranean [M]; Palestine [P]; Egypt [E]
Ethiopia: Mediterranean [M]; East Africa [A5]
Greece: Mediterranean [M]
Guyana: West Indies [W]
India: India General [I]; North India [I1]; Himalaya [I1A]; ‘Madras’ [Chennai] (South India) [I2]; ‘Bombay’ [Mumbai] (Western India) [I3]; West Pakistan (Punjab and Sindh) [I4]; Kerala (Travancore and ‘Cochin’) [I5]; North-West Provinces [I6]; United Provinces [I7]; Central Provinces I8]; Dornakal (‘Telegu’) [I9]; ‘Tinnevelly’ [Tirunelveli] [I10]
Iran: Iran (‘Persia’) [PE]
Iraq: ‘Persia’ [PE], Turkish Arabia [TA]
Israel: Palestine [P]
Jamaica: West Indies [W]
Japan: Japan [J], China [CH]
Jordan: Jordan (Palestine) [P]
Kenya: Kenya (East Africa) [A5]
Madagascar: Mauritius [MA]
Malaysia: Malaya [MY]
Malta: Mediterranean [M]
Mauritius: Mauritius [MA]
New Zealand | Aotearoa: New Zealand [N]
Nigeria: Sierra Leone (West Africa) [A1]; (Abeokuta) [A2]; Niger [A3]; Northern Nigeria [A9]
Pakistan: West Pakistan (Punjab and Sindh) [I4]
Palestine: Mediterranean (M); Palestine [P]
Rwanda: ‘Ruanda’ [A11]
Seychelles: Mauritius [MA]
Sierra Leone: Sierra Leone (West Africa) [A1]
South Africa: South Africa [A4]
South Sudan: Sudan [S]
Sri Lanka: ‘Ceylon’ [CE]; India General [I]
Sudan: Egypt [E], Northern Sudan [SN]
Tanzania: ‘Tanganyika’ [A8]
Trinidad and Tobago: West Indies [W]
Turkey: Mediterranean [M]
Uganda: Uganda [A7]; Kenya (East Africa) [A5]; Nyanza [A6]; Upper Nile [A10]; ‘Ruanda’ [Rwanda] [A11] |
| Access Conditions | Some of the mission series are available on microfilm and online (see sub-fonds catalogue entry CMS/B). For conservation reasons where surrogates are available, microfilm or digital copies are made available in place of the originals. Details are given in the catalogue at file level. |
| Access Status | Open, but subject to some access restrictions |
| Related Material | Records of the CMS Overseas Division: mission series 1935-1959; general series, 1819-1961 (predominantly dating up to 1959). |