| Level | Sub-sub-sub-fonds |
| Finding Number (Click this to view full catalogue structure) | CMS/B/OMS/A11 |
| Title | 'Ruanda [Rwanda] mission' |
| Extent | 2 volumes, 1 box |
| Date | 1933-1934 |
| Description | Records compiled by the Committees of the CMS Overseas (Foreign) Division, London, up to 1934.
Comprising papers under the Africa (Group 3) Committee. Including incoming correspondence from the mission to CMS in London 1933-1934, outgoing correspondence from the CMS in London to the mission 1933-1934, and office summaries (précis) of the incoming correspondence 1933-1934.
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Work is underway to address outdated, discriminatory, and offensive language in finding aids used by the Cadbury Research Library, and to improve accessibility of the online catalogue in line with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 1933-1934 (outgoing)
O: Original papers 1933-1934 (incoming)
P: Précis books 1933-1934 (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 'Ruanda mission'. Alternatively, the original paper catalogues for the mission series can be seen in the Cadbury Research Library: Special Collections and CMS (Oxford). The 'Ruanda mission' series 1933-1934 are listed in the 'Africa (Group 3) Missions' catalogue, volume four.
The 'Catalogue to the Papers of the Overseas Division' which includes a listing of the 'Ruanda' [Rwanda] 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 'Ruanda 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 A11/1934/10. 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 A11/O 1934/10. |
| Administrative History | A mission in Rwanda (at the time 'Ruanda') was first considered in 1916. Work began at Kabale on the Uganda border in 1921. In 1926 the 'Ruanda Council' was formed as a CMS committee responsible for the administration and support of the Mission. In 1929 the 'Ruanda Council' took full financial responsibility for the mission, but work was not separated from the CMS Uganda mission until 1933.
Main places of work (listed by start date):
1921 Kabale (in the Kigezi area of Uganda)
1928 Gahini (Rwanda)
1931 Bunyoni (Kigezi area of Uganda)
1932 Shyira and Kigeme (Rwanda) |
| Archival Note | 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 19.
Publisher: Marlborough: Adam Matthew Publications, 2004.
Location in the Cadbury Research Library: microfilm drawer C7.
Digital publication:
'AM Scholar-Church Missionary Society Archive': Africa Missions: Rwanda 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); 'Ruanda mission' series 1935-1959 (CMS/B/AF35-59/G3 A11). Papers of the Mid-Africa Ministry (GB 0150 MAM). |