| Description | Comprising correspondence with areas of the world in which CMS missionaries were working, including files for specific missions areas (for example, Niger mission); correspondence with affiliated organisations overseas in Australia and Tasmania, Canada and New Zealand, and small sequences relating to a scheme for employment of West Indian missionaries to work in West Africa and CMS work with countries in which it did not operate missions, notably German files relating to CMS support for German mission societies, German CMS missionaries and prospective recruits in the run up to, and aftermath of, World War II. Including private and confidential material intended for limited circulation; mission, tour and deputation reports; files of general correspondence with much concerning nomination of bishops, division of dioceses, finance and other matters relating to overseas bishoprics as well as information on CMS missions and files of early correspondence incorporating records relating to the work of the Committee of Correspondence.
This series is an important source of information on: CMS overseas policy, finance and property; complex staffing issues (including allegations against CMS staff and attacks on CMS missionaries); CMS enquiries into the work of its missions and missionaries and different branches of mission work, particularly education and medical work but also industrial work, overseas bookshops, theology training, literary work etc. There are records concerning CMS relations with overseas governments and some correspondence concerning wider socio-economic, religious and political issues such as the East African slave trade, liquor traffic in West Africa, the 'caste' system in India, racial segregation, church union and religious freedom including correspondence with the British government. The North India correspondence includes completed statistical forms used to compile data on mission work which are a useful source for names of children of European missionaries often giving date of birth. It includes records from other CMS record series, most notably the overseas (missions) series (Finding numbers CMS/B/OMS) and the General Secretary's Department c. i. sequence (Finding numbers CMS/G/AZ 4). This is indicated at file level. |
| Arrangement | Each geographical area has the same reference number that is used in the main overseas mission series. For example, Y/A1 relates to Sierra Leone and Y/I4 to Punjab and Sindh mission. Within each of these sections the first sub-number is always for early material (mainly pre-1920), for example, Y/A1/1 is early material for Sierra Leone and Y/A3/1 early material for the Niger Mission. For some sections there is no early material, but the reference number has still been allocated, though not used (G/Y/A8-A11; G/Y/Ag 1; G/Y/CH5/1; G/Y/E/1; G/Y/I5/1; G/Y/I7-I10; G/Y/S and G/Y/SN). |