| Level | Sub-sub-sub-fonds |
| Finding Number (Click this to view full catalogue structure) | CMS/B/OMS/CH 3 |
| Title | Western China mission |
| Extent | 7 volumes, 11 boxes |
| Date | 1897-1934 |
| Description | Records compiled by the committees of the CMS Overseas (Foreign) Division, London, up to 1934.
Comprising papers under the East Asia (initially Group 1) Committee of the CMS Overseas Division, London, up to 1934. Including incoming correspondence from the mission to CMS, London 1898-1934, outgoing correspondence from the CMS in London to the mission 1897-1934, and office summaries (précis) of the incoming correspondence 1898-1934.
Papers under the East Asia Committee for the years 1935-1951 are catalogued separately. Details are given below under ‘Finding Aids’. |
| Notes | With the exception of some well-known and commonly used place name spellings, for example, Peking, Shanghai, Foochow, when the catalogue to the China mission series was first created spellings were standardized according to the Wade-Giles system employed in 'The Times Atlas of the World', comprehensive Edition, 1977. Where a place was identified and the spelling so standardized the spelling found in the document was given in square brackets. Where a place name was not identifiable the spelling found in the document was used but in inverted commas. Personal names were kept in the form found in the documents with the rare exceptions of names of Chinese people who were identifiable as having a standardized and known romanised form of their name, for example, Deacon Dzaw.
Work is underway to address outdated, discriminatory, and offensive language in finding aids used by the Cadbury Research Library, and to improve accessibility of the online catalogue in line with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 1897-1934 (outgoing)
O: Original papers 1898-1934 (incoming)
P: Précis books 1888-1934 (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 Western China. Alternatively, the original paper catalogues for the mission series can be consulted in the Cadbury Research Library and CMS (Oxford). The 'Western China' papers 1897-1934 are listed in the ‘East Asia (Group 1) Missions’ catalogue, volume two: China.
The ‘Catalogue to the Papers of the Overseas Division’, which includes a listing of the West China mission series 1935-1951, 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 Western China 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. This number, plus the year, constituted the archive reference for each item, for example, G1 CH3/1919/48. 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/G1 CH3/O 1919/48. |
| Archival Note | Catalogued by Christopher Jeens, CMS 1979-1980. 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 I: East Asia Missions, Parts 15-16.
Publisher: Marlborough: Adam Matthew Publications, 2001.
Location in the Cadbury Research Library: microfilm drawers B9, B10 and C8; the microfilm reel in drawer C8 is in a box titled 'Addendum reel: additional G1 CH3 O'.
Digital publication:
'AM Scholar - Church Missionary Society Archive': East Asia Missions: Western China 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: 'West China Mission' series 1935-1951 (CMS/B/AS35-59/G1 CH3). |