| Level | Sub-series |
| Finding Number (Click this to view full catalogue structure) | CMS/G/AM |
| Title | Missionaries |
| Extent | 8 volumes, 45 files, 7 items |
| Date | 1849-1958 |
| Description | Papers, notes, reports and correspondence reflecting the role of the General Secretary's Department in communicating CMS policy, news and service issues affecting the Society's missionaries including copies of the [General] Committee's Instructions to missionaries 1860-1943; small sequences of minutes, correspondence and papers concerning sources of information and support for missionaries temporarily or permanently resident in the UK, and records concerning provision for missionaries' children 1849-1945. Although predominantly concerning missionaries, there are a few references to Home staff pensions.
The Instructions for missionaries refer to current issues impacting on the Society and the world at large, including the two World Wars, and are an important source for anyone researching the evolution of the Society's approach to mission; the children's sequence is useful for family history where a missionary had children at the Church Missionaries' Children's Home; this sub-series also includes records of guidance and policy decisions devised in response to conditions arising during World War II and correspondence regarding the need for chaplains to work with troops 1935-1936 and 1945. |
| Access Conditions | Some papers contain personal information covered by GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018. A closure period has been applied to the records in order to ensure compliance with this legislation. Details are given in the catalogue at file level. |
| Access Status | Partially closed |
| Related Material | For further correspondence concerning Livings for returning missionaries, see the correspondence series CMS/G/AC 2. Minutes of the Children's Home Visiting Sub-Committee 1850-1882 are incorporated into the main Committee minute books (CMS/G/C 1) and correspondence and papers relating to a special sub-committee on the work of the Home also form part of the General Secretary's Department Committee series (CMS/G/C 14); the indexes to the main Committee minutes can be searched for references to children and minutes concerning the Home (CMS/G/C 1A). For later records see also CMS/G59/AM.
Eugene Stock's 'History of the Church Missionary Society', volume II, London: CMS 1899 includes a sketch of the Church Missionaries' Children's Home when it was based in Highbury Grove.
The CMS Unofficial Papers collection includes copies of C. M. Children's Home publications 1906-1932 (CMS/ACC922) and a few Instructions to individual missionaries. |