| Level | Sub-sub-sub-fonds |
| Finding Number (Click this to view full catalogue structure) | CMS/B/OMS/I6 |
| Title | North-West Provinces mission |
| Extent | [6] volumes, 10 boxes |
| Date | 1892-1903 |
| Description | Records compiled by the committees of the CMS Overseas (Foreign) Division, London, up to 1934.
Comprising papers under the West Asia (Group 2) Committee. Including incoming correspondence from the mission to CMS, London 1892-1902, outgoing correspondence from the CMS in London to the mission 1892-1903, and office summaries (précis) of the incoming correspondence 1892-1902. |
| 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Work is underway to address outdated, discriminatory, and offensive language in finding aids used by the Cadbury Research Library, and to improve accessibility of the online catalogue in line with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 1892-1903 (outgoing)
O: Original papers 1892-1902 (incoming)
P: Précis books 1892-1902 (incoming: summaries)
The précis book for February 1900-1902 continued to be used when work was continued under the 'United Provinces mission' and is filed with records of the United Provinces mission. |
| 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 North-West Provinces mission. Alternatively, the original paper catalogues for the mission series can be consulted in the Cadbury Research Library and CMS (Oxford). The North-West Provinces mission papers are listed in the ‘West Asia (Group 2) Missions’ catalogue, volume two: North India. |
| Access Status | Open |
| Physical Description | The 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 I6/1901/4. 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 I6/O 1901/4. |
| Administrative History | CMS work in North India began in Kolkata ('Calcutta') in 1816. The 'North India mission' covered the whole of North India until 1878. Between 1878 and 1904 autonomous missions were set up for the Punjab, United Provinces, North-West Provinces and Central Provinces (see CMS/B/OMS/I India General). The area remaining comprised Bengal with Nadia district and Bihar with 'Santalia'.
The 'North-West Provinces mission' was set up in 1892 when the Diocese of Lucknow was established. It comprised the North-West Province with its capital at Agra and the Province of 'Oudh' with its capital at 'Allahabad' (present-day Ayodhya and Prayagraj in the administrative district of Uttar Pradesh), also the Central Provinces and 'Rajputana' [Rajasthan].
In 1902 the CMS changed the name to 'United Provinces mission' to avoid confusion with the newly created 'North West Frontier Province'. The North West Frontier Province was a geographical area of British India created by the British in 1901 now Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.
When the Central Provinces and 'Rajputana' were formed into the new diocese of Nagpur in 1903, the area was designated a separate CMS mission under the name 'Central Provinces mission'. The remaining United Provinces of Agra and 'Oudh' [continued but under the new title 'United Provinces mission'. |
| Archival Note | Catalogued by Rosemary A. Keen, 1962-1963. Handlist revised and expanded by Rosemary Keen, 1984-1985. Copied to the University of Birmingham online archive catalogue, 2000. Updates underway, 2024. |
| Related Material | Records of the CMS Overseas Division: 'India General' series (CMS/B/OMS/I); North India mission series (CMS/B/OMS/I1); 'United Provinces mission' series (CMS/B/OMS/I7); 'Central Provinces mission' series (CMS/B/OMS/I8). |