| Description | Papers of Rev Jesse Hillman (1922-2004), predominantly relating to his roles with CMS in Egypt, Sudan, Kenya and the UK, 1946-1986. The collection also includes correspondence and papers relating to the family's deportation from Egypt at the time of the 'Suez Crisis' in 1956; correspondence regarding examination awards received by Hillman whilst Hospital Administrator, Harpur Memorial Hospital, Old Cairo, Egypt; and articles and religious verse written by Hillman. Also within the collection are Annual Letters; Link Letters; circular letters; diary entries detailing Hillman's visits for CMS; autobiographical notes, and other personal papers related mainly to Jesse Hillman, but do also relate to other family members, most notably, Jesse's wife, Dorothy Hillman (1918-2011). |
| Administrative History | Jesse James Hillman, missionary, administrator and clergyman, was born 14 May 1922, in West Norwood, London, son of a railway station master. He was educated at St Lukes and Gipsy Road LCC school (West Norwood), Sir Walter St John's (Battersea) and St Mary's (Basingstoke). He worked as a railway booking clerk for four years before, as a conscientious objector, serving with the Friends Ambulance Unit and the Friends Relief Service in Italy and Greece during the Second World War, 1942-1946. In 1947, he married Dorothy (b 1918), née Baylis, who was working as a hospital dispenser in Worcester. Jesse and Dorothy had four children, all of whom were born in Cairo. Their daughter, Mary, died in Cairo of leukaemia aged just six months, 23 October 1953.
Having been accepted as a missionary in May 1946, Jesse first sailed overseas with CMS in 1947 where, with Dorothy, he worked in Egypt, the Sudan and Kenya before joining the CMS 'Home' staff in London holding three Secretarial posts between September 1970 and his retirement in October 1986.
In addition to his CMS work, between 1949 and 1950, Jesse was seconded to the American Friends Service Committee and worked with the United Nations in Palestinian Refugee camps in Gaza whilst Dorothy ran the central pharmacy. In 1957, he was licensed as a Lay Reader in the diocese of Mombasa. After returning to the UK, the Hillman's were involved in several new initiatives. From 1976, whilst the family lived downstairs, Dorothy began to run the flat upstairs ('Liskeard House') as a self-catering guest house 'for missionaries visiting London and official CMS overseas visitors'. Jesse was appointed first CMS Overseas Secretary when the new Overseas Division was established in 1976 and set up the Communications Division when appointed Secretary following the abolition of the CMS Overseas and Home Divisions in 1981. Dorothy Hillman sat on the CMS Personal Grants and Allowances Committee 1972, and the CMS Personal Grants Committee 1973-1985. Jesse Hillman held a number of committee roles 1970-1986. After completing the Southwark Ordination Course, he was ordained deacon 29 June 1986; in October of the same year, the family moved to Hereford and Jesse retired from CMS and began working as non-stipendiary curate in Peterchurch. Jesse died 6 November 2004. Dorothy died 7 December 2011.
Jesse Hillman 1946-1986:
1946: accepted as a missionary by CMS
1946-1947: missionary training with CMS
1947: Lee Abbey Community
1947 November-1948: Cairo, Egypt: hospital administrator, CMS Hospital, Old Cairo
1949-1950: Gaza: seconded to work with the United Nations in Palestinian Refugee camps
1950-1956 November: Cairo, Egypt: Hospital Administrator, Harpur Memorial Hospital
1956: UK: at St Julian's having been deported from Egypt along with other British, French and US nationals 'after the Anglo-French invasion'; October: appointed CMS representative for Egypt
1957 April-May: relocated to Omdurman, Sudan: CMS Hospital
1957: Nairobi, Kenya: first CMS Regional Medical Secretary for East Africa; also working during this time for the Christian Council of Kenya and the Uganda Protestant Medical Bureau (co-ordinator of Protestant Christian medical work in Kenya and Uganda)
1963-1970 June: Kenya: CMS representative in Kenya (and from time to time, Uganda)
1970 September-1976: London, UK: CMS Africa Secretary
1976: London: CMS Overseas Secretary
1981: London: CMS Communications Secretary
1983-1986 undertook the Southwark Ordination Course
1986 October: retired from CMS.
Committee roles:
Africa Committee: 1970-1974 (secretary from September 1970)
Mission Operations Committee: 1976-1979 (secretary)
Mission Overseas Committee: 1980 (secretary, also secretary of the Finance and the Bursaries Sub-Committees)
Islam Panel: 1982-1983 (convenor); 1983-1986 (secretary)
Communications Committee: 1981-1986 (secretary)
Community Life Working Party: 1981-1982 (chairman)
Community Life Sub-Committee: 1982-1986 (chairman)
Editorial Advisory Sub-Committee: 1983-1986 (chairman).
Church Missionary Trust Association: 1984-1986 (director)
Sources: the records; CMS card index; CMS committee minutes. |