| Level | Sub-sub-sub-fonds |
| Finding Number (Click this to view full catalogue structure) | CMS/B/OMS/I2 |
| Title | 'South India mission' later 'Madras [Chennai] mission' |
| Extent | 64 volumes, 418 files, 30 boxes |
| Date | 1815-1934 |
| Description | Records compiled by the committees of the CMS Overseas (Foreign) Division, London, up to 1934.
Comprising papers under the Committee of Correspondence 1815-1880, and under the West Asia (initially 'Group 2') Committee 1880-1934. Including incoming correspondence from the mission to the CMS in London c 1815-1934, outgoing correspondence from the CMS in London to the mission c 1815-1934, office copies of the incoming correspondence 1820-1880, minutes 1884-1896, and office summaries (précis) of the incoming correspondence 1887-1934.
Papers under the West Asia and Asia committees 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Work is underway to address outdated, discriminatory, and offensive language in finding aids used by the Cadbury Research Library, and to improve accessibility of the online catalogue in line with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 | Papers under the Committee of Correspondence are arranged as:
E: Early correspondence 1815-1820 (incoming and outgoing)
I: Individual letter-books 1851-1884 (outgoing)
L: Letter-books 1820-1884 (outgoing)
M: Mission books 1820-1880 (incoming: copies)
O: Original papers 1819-1880 (incoming)
Papers under the West Asia (initially Group 2) Committee are arranged as:
L: Letter-books 1890-1934 (outgoing)
M: Minute books 1884-1896
O: Original papers 1880-1934 (incoming)
P: Précis books 1887-1934 (incoming: summaries)
The letter-books 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 1884 will need to use the letter-books held under finding numbers CMS/B/OMS/C I2 I4 and C I2 L9. |
| Access Conditions | For preservation reasons, where available 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 South India mission series. Alternatively, the original paper catalogues for the mission series can be consulted in the Cadbury Research Library and CMS (Oxford). The South India mission papers 1815-1934 are listed in the ‘West Asia (Group 2) Missions’ catalogue, volume three: South India.
The ‘Catalogue to the Papers of the Overseas Division’, which includes a listing of the 'Madras' [Chennai] 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 South India 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 of the pre-1880 incoming papers are marked in pencil on the back of each item, for example, C I2/O117/3. The post-1880 incoming papers are each individually marked in red ink, and this number, plus the year, comprised the original archive reference for each item, for example, G2 I2/1902/24. 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 original filing numbers (denoting records of the Church Mission Society Archive: Overseas Division: Overseas Mission Series). In addition, for the papers under the West Asia (Group 2) 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/G2 I2/O 1902/24. |
| Administrative History | CMS South India mission began in Chennai (at the time named 'Madras') in 1814. The 'Madras Corresponding Committee' was formed in November 1814 and the missionaries arrived the following year. The 'Madras Corresponding Committee' ran all of the South India mission work until 'Travancore and Cochin' was set up as an autonomous mission in 1881. In 1924 work in the 'Telegu' area and at Tirunelveli (at the time named 'Tinnevelly') was separated from 'Madras' and two new independent missions were established: 'Telegu mission' and 'Tinnevelly mission'. The 'South India mission' was subsequently renamed 'Madras Mission'.
The main mission stations were 'Madras' [Chennai] started in 1814 and 'Ootacamund' [Udagamandalam] started in 1870.
Mission work in the villages of [Tirunelveli] was grouped in districts. The first six, organised in 1841, were 'Palamcotta', 'Satankullam', 'Suviseshapuram', 'Mengnanapuram', 'Dohnavur' and Northern. Each district was under the charge of an itinerating European missionary. Between 1844 and 1845 five further districts were added: 'Paneivilei' and 'Nulloor' [Nallur] in 1844, and 'Paneividali', 'Surandei' and 'Kadatchapuram' in 1845. Changes continued as missionaries came and went. In 1856, the Northern District based on the 'Tinnevelly itinerancy mission' was formed. The northern parts of the 'Panikullam' (or 'Paneivadali') district and of the 'Surandei' mission were gradually passed over to the new district while a missionary was stationed at 'Sivagasi'; in 1866 the name was officially changed to 'Sivagasi'. By 1869 there were ten districts covering more than a thousand villages and a District Church Council (DCC) was formed for each. The ten districts were: 'Palamcotta', 'Dohnavur', 'Suviseshapuram', 'Mengnanapuram', 'Paneivilei', 'Panikullam', 'Nallur', 'Surandei', and in the north 'Sivagasi' and 'Vageikullam'. For a short time in the 1870s there was also a district of 'Nallammalpuram'. |
| Archival Note | Catalogued by Rosemary A. Keen, CMS, 1985-1986. Copied to the University of Birmingham online archive catalogue, 2000. Updates underway, 2024. |
| Copies | Parts of the South India mission series are available on microfilm and online. With the exception of the Original Papers (CMS/B/OMS/C/I2 O), the records from the South India mission series under the Committee of Correspondence have been microfilmed and are available online. South India (later 'Madras') records under the Group 2 Committee are not available on microfilm or online (CMS/B/OMS G2 I2).
Microfilm:
'Church Missionary Society Archive': Section VI: Missions to India, parts 3 and 4.
Publisher: Marlborough: Adam Matthew Publications, 2004.
Location in the Cadbury Research Library: microfilm drawers B5 and B6.
Digital publication:
'AM Scholar- Church Missionary Society Archive': Missions to India: South India Mission, 1815-1884.
Publisher: Adam Matthew Digital.
Access: by institutional subscription: access is 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: 'India General' series (CMS/B/OMS/I); 'Travancore and Cochin' mission series (CMS/B/OMS/I5); 'Telegu' mission series (CMS/B/OMS/I9); 'Tinnevelly' mission series (CMS/B/OMS/I10); 'Madras' mission' series 1935-1959 (CMS/B/AS35-59/G2 I2). |