| Level | Sub-sub-sub-fonds |
| Finding Number (Click this to view full catalogue structure) | CMS/B/OMS/A10 |
| Title | 'Upper Nile mission' also named 'Elgon mission' |
| Extent | 2 volumes, 1 box |
| Date | 1926-1934 |
| Description | Records compiled by the Committees of the CMS Overseas (Foreign) Division, London, up to 1934.
Comprising papers under the Africa (initially Group 3) Committee. Including incoming correspondence from the mission to CMS in London 1927-1934, outgoing correspondence from the CMS in London to the mission 1926-1934, and office summaries (précis) of the incoming correspondence 1927-1934.
Papers of Upper Nile (Elgon) mission 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Work is underway to address outdated, discriminatory, and offensive language in finding aids used by the Cadbury Research Library, and to improve accessibility of the online catalogue in line with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 | The papers are arranged as:
L: Letter-books 1926-1934 (outgoing)
O: Original papers 1927-1934 (incoming)
P: Précis books 1927-1934 (incoming: summaries) |
| 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 Upper Nile mission. Alternatively, the original paper catalogues for the mission series can be seen in the Cadbury Research Library: Special Collections and CMS (Oxford). The Upper Nile mission series 1926-1934 are listed in the 'Africa (Group 3) Missions' catalogue, volume five.
The 'Catalogue to the Papers of the Overseas Division' which includes the catalogue of the Upper Nile 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 Upper Nile 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 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 A10/1927/2. 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, 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 A10/O 1927/2. |
| Administrative History | Work in the districts of Bukedi, Kitgum, Gulu, Lango and the Teso districts of Uganda (the newly constituted Upper Nile Diocese) was separated from the CMS Uganda mission and a separate CMS mission was created under the jurisdiction of the new Bishop in Sudan 1 September 1926. The archive series, however, does not begin until 31 December 1926.
The CMS Upper Nile mission was known under the name 'Elgon mission' 1928-1936.
CMS Secretaries (London) with primary responsibility for the Egypt and Sudan Missions:
1889-1892 Robert Lang
1892-1912 Frederick Baylis
1912-1925 George Thomas Manley
1926-1934 Handley Douglas Hooper
CMS Secretary to the General Committee, London:
1880-1895 Frederick Edward Wigram
1895-1910 Henry Elliott Fox
1910-1922 Cyril Charles Bowman Bardsley
1923-1925 Herbert Lankaster 1926-1941 William Wilson Cash
Lay Secretary (secretary to the Finance Committee), London:
1888-1894 Major General Clennell Collingwood
1895-1907 David Marshall Lang
1908-1909 Robert Machonachie
1910-1921 Herbert Lankaster
1922-1925 John Kinahan (acting)
1925-1937 Louis Steele |
| Acquisition | Deposited in the Library of the University of Birmingham, 1981. |
| Archival Note | Papers catalogued by Rosemary Keen, CMS 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 IV: Africa Missions, Part 7.
Publisher: Marlborough: Adam Matthew Publications, 1999.
Location in the Cadbury Research Library: microfilm drawer C7.
Digital publication:
'AM Scholar-Church Missionary Society Archive': Africa Missions: Sudan: Upper Nile 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 | CMS Overseas Division: Uganda mission series (CMS/B/OMS/A7); Upper Nile mission series 1935-1959 (CMS/B/AF35-59/G3 A10). |