| Level | Sub-sub-sub-fonds |
| Finding Number (Click this to view full catalogue structure) | CMS/B/OMS/A3 |
| Title | Niger mission |
| Extent | 18 volumes, 18 boxes, 1267 items |
| Date | 1857-1934 |
| Description | Records compiled by the committees of the CMS Overseas (Foreign) Division, London, up to 1934.
Comprising papers under the Committee of Correspondence 1857-1880, and under the Africa (initially 'Group 3') Committee 1880-1934. Including incoming correspondence from the mission to the CMS in London 1857-1934, outgoing correspondence from the CMS in London to the mission 1858-1934, office copies of the incoming correspondence 1857-1880, 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Work is underway to address outdated, discriminatory, and offensive language in finding aids used by the Cadbury Research Library, and to improve accessibility of the CMS online catalogue in line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:
L: Letter-books 1858-1882 (outgoing)
M: Mission books 1857-1880 (incoming: copies)
O: Original papers 1857-1880 (incoming)
Papers under the Africa (initially Group 3) Committee are arranged as:
L: Letter-books 1882-1934 (outgoing)
O: Original papers 1880-1934 (incoming)
P: Précis books 1880-1934 (incoming: summaries)
The 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 1882 will need to use the letter-book held under finding number CMS/B/OMS/C A3 L1 as well as CMS/B/OMS/G3 A3 L2.
Between 1900 and 1906, in the précis books there is a separate section headed 'Hausaland' for agenda items relating to work in the north. The Original papers [O] corresponding to these entries are held with the Northern Nigeria mission series (CMS/B/OMS/G3 A9). |
| 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 Niger mission series. Alternatively, the original paper catalogues for the mission series can be seen in the Cadbury Research Library: Special Collections and CMS (Oxford). The Niger mission papers 1857-1934 are listed in the 'Africa (Group 3) Missions' catalogue, volume two.
The 'Catalogue to the Papers of the Overseas Division' which includes the catalogue of the Niger 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 Niger 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 A3/O 4/126. 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 A3/1896/12. 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 A3/O 1896/12. |
| Administrative History | Niger mission was the second of three CMS mission areas set up in Nigeria in the 19th and early 20th century. It was founded in 1857 following the third Niger expedition. Work centred on Onitsha but gradually spread up the Niger.
The area covered by the Niger nission changed 28 January 1900. From that point, work in the north was considered a separate entity by the committees in London and began to be known as the Hausaland mission. In 1907 the Northern Nigeria mission was fully established as a separate administrative unit. |
| Archival Note | Papers catalogued by H. S. Cobb, CMS 1952. Hard copy handlist revised and expanded 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 6, 10-11.
Publisher: Marlborough: Adam Matthew Publications, 1999-2001.
Location in the Cadbury Research Library: microfilm drawers B2 and C3-C4.
Digital publication:
'AM Scholar - Church Missionary Society Archive': Africa Missions: Nigeria: Niger 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); Northern Nigeria mission series (CMS/B/OMS/A9); Niger mission series 1935-1959 (CMS/B/AF35-59/G3 A3). |