| Level | Sub-sub-sub-fonds |
| Finding Number (Click this to view full catalogue structure) | CMS/B/OMS/P |
| Title | 'Palestine mission' later 'Jordan mission' |
| Extent | 19 volumes, 25 boxes |
| Date | 1880-1934 |
| Description | Records compiled by the committees of the CMS Overseas (Foreign) Division, London, up to 1934. Including records relating to CMS work in Egypt, Israel, and Jordan.
Comprising papers under the Africa (Group 3) Committee. Including incoming correspondence from the mission to CMS in London 1880-1934, outgoing correspondence from the CMS in London to the mission 1882-1934, and office summaries (précis) of the incoming correspondence 1880-1934.
Papers under the Africa and 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. The historic names of the mission as documented in the catalogue and the records do not necessarily reflect the historic or present-day country divisions recognised by peoples living in the area nor the views of present-day CMS or the University of Birmingham.
Work is underway to address outdated, discriminatory, and offensive language in finding aids used by the Cadbury Research Library, and to improve accessibility of the online catalogue in line with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 | The papers are arranged as:
L: Letter-books 1882-1934 (outgoing)
O: Original papers 1880-1934 (incoming)
P: Précis books 1880-1934 (incoming: summaries) |
| Access Conditions | For conservation reasons digital or microfilm copies are made available in place of the originals. |
| 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 'Palestine mission'. Alternatively, the original paper catalogues for the mission series can be consulted in the Cadbury Research Library and CMS (Oxford). The 'Palestine mission' series 1868-1934 are listed in the ‘Africa (Group 3) Missions’ catalogue, volume six: 'Palestine'.
The ‘Catalogue to the Papers of the Overseas Division’, which includes a listing of the 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). The Palestine (Jordan) mission papers are listed with the Asia (Group 2) Mission series.
Guides to the Adam Matthew microfilm and digitally published copies of the 'Palestine 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 original archive reference for each item, for example, G3 P/1910/124. 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, 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 P/O 1910/124. |
| Administrative History | CMS began working in Palestine in 1851 in response to an invitation from Bishop Gobat. Before the 'Palestine mission' was established as a separate administrative unit in 1880, the work was administered as part of the CMS 'Mediterranean mission’.
Over the years, the 'Palestine mission' became the administrative base for work in neighbouring countries. From 1882 to 1889 work in Egypt was administered as part of CMS Palestine mission. When the Society for Promoting Female Education in the East (FES) came to an end in 1899, CMS took over their work in present-day Israel (at Nazareth, Bethlehem and 'Shefa Amr’) and work in these areas came to be administered as part of the Palestine mission. The Palestine mission served as the administrative base for CMS work in Jordan (from 1921-1946 the British Protectorate of 'Transjordan’) and in 1951, the Palestine mission was renamed 'Jordan mission’.
Main mission stations (listed by start date):
1851 Jerusalem
1852 Nazareth
1874 Salt
1876 Nablus and Jaffa
1878 Gaza
1921 Amman |
| Custodial History | Deposited in the Library of the University of Birmingham, 1981. |
| Archival Note | Papers of the Mediterranean and 'Palestine' missions were catalogued by H. S. Cobb, CMS 1951. The handlist was revised by Rosemary Keen, CMS 1967-1968 and further revised and expanded by Rosemary Keen, 1980-1981. Copied to the online catalogue by L. Needham, University of Birmingham 2000. Revisions underway, I. Frlan, Cadbury Research Library 2024. |
| Copies | Available on microfilm and online.
Microfilm:
'Church Missionary Society Archive': Section IX: Middle East Missions, parts 2-4.
Publisher: Marlborough: Adam Matthew Publications, 200-..
Location in the Cadbury Research Library: microfilm drawers C8 and C9.
Digital publication:
'AM Scholar-Church Missionary Society Archive': Middle East Missions: Palestine.
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: Mediterranean Mission (CMS/B/OMS/C M); Palestine Mission 1935-1950 (CMS/B/AS35-59/G2 P); Jordan Mission (CMS/B/AS35-59/G2 P). Records of the Society for promoting Female Education in the East (GB 0150 FES). |