| Level | Sub-sub-sub-fonds |
| Finding Number (Click this to view full catalogue structure) | CMS/B/OMS/A8 |
| Title | 'Tanganyika [Tanzania] mission' |
| Extent | 3 volumes, 3 boxes |
| Date | 1900-1934 |
| Description | Records compiled by the committees of the CMS Overseas (Foreign) Division in London to 1934.
Comprising papers under the Africa (initially Group 3) Committee. Including incoming correspondence from the mission to CMS in London 1900-1934, outgoing correspondence from the CMS in London to the mission 1907-1934, and office summaries (précis) of the incoming correspondence 1900-1934.
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Work is underway to address outdated, discriminatory, and offensive language in finding aids used by the Cadbury Research Library, and to improve accessibility of the online catalogue in line with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 1907-1934 (outgoing)
O: Original papers 1900-1934 (incoming)
P: Précis books 1907-1934 (incoming: summaries)
Researchers looking for précis book entries 1900-1907 should refer to East Africa mission précis book volume six where 'Tananyika' entries are under the headings 'Usagara' 1900-1903, Usagara-Chigogo March 1903-July 1904, and 'Usagara-Ugogo' September 1904-1907), finding numbers CMS/B/OMS/G3 A5 P6: 1/1900-19/1907. |
| 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 CMS Overseas Division mission series up to 1934, including the lower level entries for ‘Tanganyika'. Alternatively, the original paper catalogues for the overseas mission series can be seen in the Cadbury Research Library: Special Collections and CMS (Oxford). The 'Tanganyika' mission series 1900-1934 are listed in the 'Africa (Group 3) Missions' catalogue, volume four.
The 'Catalogue to the Papers of the Overseas Division' which includes the catalogue of the 'Tanganyika' [Tanzania] 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 'Tanganyika' 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 A8/1916/92. 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 A8/O 1916/92. |
| Administrative History | The CMS 'Tanganyika mission', which worked in what is part of present-day Tanzania, was set up in 1900. Working under the name 'Usagara mission' 1900-1903, 'Ussagara-Ugogo mission' 1904-1911, and 'German East Africa mission' 1911-1920. In 1900 work was begun at Berega and Mvumi. Other principal stations of the ‘Tanganyika Mission’ were Buigiri (opened in 1901), Kongwa (1904) and Kilimatinde (1922).
CMS was active in the area before the mission was established as a separate administrative unit. From 1876 to 1885, work in this area came under the CMS Nyanza mission. From 1886 to 1907, work was administered as part of Eastern Equatorial Africa mission 1886-1904 renamed British East Africa mission in 1904. In 1876 missionaries were sent to establish work in Uganda and stations were set up at Mpwapwa in 1876 and Mamboya in 1880.
CMS Secretaries (London) with primary responsibility for South and East Africa mission work:
1836-1846 Dandeson Coates
1847-1865 Henry Venn
1868-1873 Edward Hutchinson
1873-1880 Henry Wright
1880-1881 Edward Hutchinson
1881-1892 Robert Lang
1892-1912 Frederick Baylis
1912-1925 George Thomas Manley
1926-1934 Handley Douglas Hooper
CMS Secretary to the General Committee, London:
1825-1846 Dandeson Coates
1846-1872 Henry Venn
1872-1880 Henry Wright
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 [Financial Secretary], London:
1820-1846 Dandeson Coates
1846-1863 Major Hector Straith
1859-1866 Colonel Michael Dawes
1867-1881 Edward Hutchinson
1869-1875 Major General Edward Lake
1882-1887 General George Hutchinson
1888-1894 Major General Clennell Collingwood
1895-1907 David Marshall Lang
1908-1909 Robert Maconachie
1910-1921 Herbert Lankaster
1922-1925 John Kinahan (acting)
1925-1937 Louis Steele |
| Archival Note | Papers catalogued by Rosemary Keen, CMS 1980. Copied in 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: 'Tanganyika 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: East Africa (Kenya) mission series (CMS/B/OMS/A5); Nyanza mission series (CMS/B/OMS/A6); 'Tanganyika' mission series 1935-1959 (CMS/B/AF35-59/G3 A8). |