| Level | Sub-sub-sub-fonds |
| Finding Number (Click this to view full catalogue structure) | CMS/B/OMS/N |
| Title | New Zealand [Aotearoa] mission |
| Extent | 40 volumes, 2 boxes, 4758 items |
| Date | 1809-1914 |
| Description | Records compiled by the committees of the CMS Overseas (Foreign) Division, London. Including CMS work in Australia [initially 'New Holland'].
Comprising papers under the Committee of Correspondence 1809-1880 and under the Africa (initially Group 3) Commitee c 1880-1914. Including incoming correspondence from the mission to CMS, London c 1809-1914, outgoing correspondence from the CMS in London to the mission c 1809-1914, office copies of incoming correspondence 1820-1880, and office summaries of the incoming correspondence 1880-1914.
There is much material throughout the correspondence relating to the Maori wars and controversy over land claims. Only a few examples of these subjects are mentioned in the catalogue entries. |
| 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Work is underway to address outdated, discriminatory, and offensive language in finding aids used by the Cadbury Research Library, and to improve accessibility of the online catalogue in line with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. |
| Arrangement | Papers under the Committee of Correspondence are arranged as:
E: Early correspondence 1809-1821 (incoming and outgoing)
I: Individual letter-books 1852-1883 (outgoing)
L: Letter-books 1820-1878 (outgoing)
M: Mission books 1820-1880 (incoming: copies)
O: Original papers 1819-1880 (incoming)
Papers under the Africa (initially 'Group 3') Committee are arranged as:
L: Letter-books 1879-1914 (outgoing)
O: Original papers 1880-1914 (incoming)
P: Précis books 1880-1914 (incoming: summaries) |
| 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 New Zealand mission. Alternatively, the original paper catalogues for the mission series can be consulted in the Cadbury Research Library and CMS (Oxford). The 'New Zealand mission' papers are listed in the ‘Africa (Group 3) Missions’ catalogue, volume seven. |
| Access Status | Open |
| Physical Description | Before they were deposited in the University of Birmingham: Special Collections, some changes were made to the numbering and arrangement of the incoming papers. The main alterations comprised reconstitution of the papers of the Corresponding Committee including removal of the mission secretary's papers to the A-Z individuals section (CMS/B/OMS/C N 17-98)* and redistribution of statistics and medical certificates to the relevant individual papers.**
In the list below, the old reference number is given followed by the equivalent current catalogue reference:
1=1-3, 2a=10, 2b=1-2, 2c=3, 3=13, 4a-e=4-7, 4f=8, 4g=9, 5a=1,3,10A, 5b=1-3, 6=4-7, 7=*, 8=1-3, 9=12, 10=**, 11=**, 12=10, 13=53, 14=14, 15=11, 16=16, 17=15, 18=16, 19=17, 20=18, 21=19, 22=20, 23=21, 24=22, 25=23, 26=24, 27=25, 28=26, 29=27, 30=28, 31=29, 32=31, 33=32, 34=33, 35=35, 36=34, 37-52=37-52, 53=54, 54=55, 55=57, 56=56, 57=58, 58=59, 59=14, 60=60, 61=61, 62-83=62-83, 84=17/54B, 85=84, 86=85, 87=86, 88=87, 89=88, 90=89, 91=90, 92=91, 93=92, 94=93, 95=94, 96=95, 97=96, 98=97, 99=98, 100=36, 101= removed to records of the CMS Home Division (CMS/H/H5 archive series).
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 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 N/1909/63. |
| Administrative History | The New Zealand mission was established in 1814/1815 through the efforts of Rev Samuel Marsden (1765-1838), senior chaplain to New South Wales [Australia], supported with funding by the Church Mission Society.
In 1892, the first step was taken towards the formation of the New Zealand Church Missionary Society (NZCMS) when the New Zealand Church Missionary Association was formed and began to select, train and send out missionaries not only to CMS missions (ie those administered under the Parent Society) but to the Melanesian Mission, the Maori Mission and the Church of England Zenana Missionary Society. The name NZCMS was adopted in 1916.
Initially Church Mission Society presence in Australia was through CMS (UK) undertaking mission work in the country. CMS in London sent out missionaries to Australia to work amongst Indigenous peoples from the early 1820s. From 1892, local Church Missionary Associations were established across Australia. The Associations selected and trained Australian missionaries for work in CMS missions in different parts of the world; the missionaries were supervised by CMS (London) and the local governing bodies out in the missions. In 1916, the 'Church Missionary Association of Australia and Tasmania' (later 'Church Missionary Society of Australia') was formed out of the various Associations with branches serving different parts of the country. |
| Custodial History | In 1903 Dr Thomas Morland Hocken acquired from the CMS Secretaries four volumes of letters and papers of Samuel Marsden together with material for some other New Zealand missionaries. These were later deposited in the Hocken Library, University of Otago, Dunedin.
A note of the original New Zealand mission material now in the Hocken Library (copied from the microfilm catalogue and listed below alphabetically by surname):
John Butler: letters and journals, 1818-1824
George Clarke (senior and junior): letters
William Colenso: letters and journals, 1834-1854
Richard Davis: letters and journals 1824-1863
William Hall: letters and journals, 1813-1832
James Hamlin: journals, 1835-1852
John King: letters and journals, 1815-1853
Thomas Kendall: letter and journals, 1813-1832
Samuel Marsden: material including letters from other missionaries and CMS Secretaries
Miscellaneous letters and journals |
| Archival Note | Papers catalogued by Rosemary A. Keen, CMS 1980-1981. Revisions underway Cadbury Research Library 2024. |
| Copies | Early in 1959 the material left in London, together with much material relating to New Zealand in other archive series, was microfilmed and copies of the film were deposited in the National Library of Australia, the Public Library New South Wales and the Alexander Turnbull Library Wellington. Unfortunately much of this material was out of order and some items totally misplaced. The present catalogue, which is confined to the main mission series (CMS/B/OMS/C N and G3 N) has corrected this. A list of the old and new references has been compiled, but some items described in detail in the microfilm catalogue may be difficult to find in the online catalogue. As each individual document now has its reference there should be no confusion between the two catalogues, provided careful note is made of whether the original or the microfilm copy is being cited. |
| Related Material | The local committees' working papers have been reconstituted as far as possible, but the minutes and accompanying papers have not been described in detail. As this material includes missionaries' quarterly and annual reports, for researchers studying individuals, it is essential to look at the relevant documents in the CMS/B/OMS/C O 1-16 section as well as the main A-Z sequence which comprises letters and papers of individuals arranged alphabetically by name (CMS/B/OMS/C O 17-98). Although much of the original archive is now held in New Zealand, the copies in the mission books (CMS/B/OMS/C N M) help to fill the gap. |