| Level | Sub-sub-sub-fonds |
| Finding Number (Click this to view full catalogue structure) | CMS/B/OMS/A1 |
| Title | 'West Africa mission' later 'Sierra Leone mission' |
| Extent | 42 volumes, 250 files, 15 boxes |
| Date | 1803-1934 |
| Description | Records compiled by the committees of the CMS Overseas (Foreign) Division, London, up to 1934.
Comprising papers under the Committee of Correspondence 1803-1880, and under the Africa (initially 'Group 3') Committee 1880-1934. Including incoming correspondence from the mission to CMS in London 1803-1934, outgoing correspondence from the CMS in London to the mission 1820-1934, office copies of the incoming correspondence 1820-1880, and office summaries (précis) of the incoming correspondence 1880-1934.
Papers under the Africa Committee for the years 1935-1959 are catalogued separately. Details are given below under ‘Finding Aids’. |
| Notes | When the catalogue was created names of mission stations were standardised but there was no attempt to give present-day place names where these differ from place names in the records. The bulk of names in the sub-number references are the spellings used in the documents.
Work is underway to address outdated, discriminatory, and offensive language in finding aids used by the Cadbury Research Library, and to improve accessibility of the CMS online catalogue in line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. |
| Arrangement | Papers under the Committee of Correspondence are arranged as:
E: Early correspondence 1803-1820 (incoming and outgoing)
I: Individual letter-books 1852-1873 (outgoing)
L: Letter-books 1820-1883 (outgoing)
M: Mission books 1820-1880 (incoming: copies)
O: Original papers 1820-1880 (incoming)
Papers under the Africa (initially Group 3) Committee are arranged as:
L: Letter-books 1883-1934 (outgoing)
O: Original papers 1880-1934 (incoming)
P: Précis books 1880-1934 (incoming: summaries)
The last letter-book of outgoing correspondence started under the Committee of Correspondence continued to be used after the day-to-day administration of the mission passed from the Committee of Correspondence to the Group Committee. Researchers interested in outgoing correspondence dating from 1881 to 1883 will need to use the letter-book held under finding number CMS/B/OMS/C A1 L9 as well as CMS/B/OMS/G3 A3 L10. |
| 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 the Sierra Leone (West Africa) mission series. Alternatively, the original paper catalogues for the mission series can be consulted in the Cadbury Research Library: Special Collections and CMS (Oxford). The West Africa (Sierra Leone) mission series 1803-1934 are listed in the 'Africa (Group 3) Missions' catalogue, volume one and accompanying calendar.
The 'Catalogue to the Papers of the Overseas Division', which includes a listing of the Sierra Leone mission series 1935-1959, is not available online. A paper copy of the catalogue is available to view in the Cadbury Research Library and CMS, Oxford. Copies can also be supplied on request (email: special-collections@contacts.bham.ac.uk).
Guides to the Adam Matthew microfilm and digitally published copies of the West Africa (Sierra Leone) 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 papers have been marked in pencil on the back of each individual item, for example, C A1/O 4/21. The post-1880 incoming papers are each individually marked in red ink, and this number, plus the year, comprised the archive reference for each item, for example, G3 A1/1889/124. 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 Africa (Group 3) 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/G3 A1/O 1889/124. |
| Administrative History | This was the first CMS mission area, comprising all activity in West Africa up to 1844 after which its sphere was confined to Sierra Leone though the name of the mission did not change until 3 July 1894. The first missionaries arrived in 1804: Melchior Renner, and Peter Hartwig, both graduates of the Berlin Seminary. |
| Archival Note | Papers catalogued by H. S. Cobb, CMS 1952. Hard copy handlist revised and expanded by Rosemary Keen, CMS 1960. Further revised by Rosemary Keen, CMS 1978. 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 IV: Africa Missions, Parts 1-2, 5, 12.
Publisher: Marlborough: Adam Matthew Publications, 1999-2001.
Location in the Cadbury Research Library: microfilm drawers A10, B1, C2 and C3.
Digital publication:
'AM Scholar - Church Missionary Society Archive': Africa Missions: West Africa (Sierra Leone) 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. |
| Related Material | Records of the CMS Overseas Division: Yoruba mission series (CMS/B/OMS/A2); Niger mission series (CMS/B/OMS/A3); Northern Nigeria mission series (CMS/B/OMS/A9); Sierra Leone mission series 1935-1959 (CMS/B/AF35-59/G3 A1). |