Record

LevelSub-fonds
Finding Number (Click this to view full catalogue structure)CMS/ACC297
TitleAccession 297: Papers of Bertha Harriett Nevill and Frank Nevill
Extent5 items, 1 file, 9 objects
Date[1834]-[c 1900]
DescriptionFamily papers, including: papers of Frank Nevill relating to his final years in Sierra Leone, 1887-1888; miscellaneous papers of Bertha Nevill dating from around the time she went out to India under CMS, 1891-1899; and artefacts compiled by one or more members of the Nevill family, [1834]-[c 1900].
ArrangementThis collection forms part of the Church Mission Society Unofficial Papers. It is arranged into one series: Miscellaneous Papers.
Access StatusOpen
Administrative HistoryFrank Nevill (1855-1889), clergyman, and CMS missionary to Sierra Leone 1884-1889. Brother of Bertha Harriet Nevill and George Nevill.

Born in London, Frank attended Islington Proprietory School. He studied at Cambridge University (Trinity College, BA, 1877; MA 1881) and Durham (MA, 1887). He was ordained Deacon in 1879 and Priest in 1880. Between 1879 and 1884, he was curate of Emmanuel Church, Maida Hill.

He was accepted as a CMS missionary, 20 May 1884. On 27 December 1884, he and his sister left England for Sierra Leone where he was to serve as Principal, Fourah Bay College; he also had the responsibility of Mission Secretary. He returned to England on furlough twice: leaving Sierra Leone for England 27 May 1886 (returning to Sierra Leone, 30 October) and leaving Sierra Leone 14 June 1888 before leaving England for the final time, 8 December 1888. Less than a year later, he died in Sierra Leone, 2 November 1889.

Published works: 'Faith and Obedience: Being ten sermons preached in Emmanuel Church, Maida Hill' London: Shaw and Co, 1884.


Bertha Harriett Nevill (1858-1908), educator and CMS missionary. Sister of Frank Nevill and George Nevill.

Bertha accompanied her brother, Frank Nevill, to Sierra Leone, 27 December 1884. She returned to England, 26 May 1886, before travelling back to Sierra Leone in October. After a second trip to England in 1888, she returned to Sierra Leone as Acting Principal of the Annie Walsh Memorial School. After her brother's death, Bertha left Sierra Leone for the final time, 5 November 1889.

Bertha went on to offer for service as a CMS missionary in her own right. She was accepted by CMS, 20 December 1892, and left for India to join the CMS Punjab and Sindh Mission, 1 December 1893 (partly self-funded). She was largely based at Amritsar from 1892 until her death in 1908. She worked in the Middle Class Girls' School. She returned to England for some months from June 1898 and again from March 1904. On her final return to India in October 1905, she was based at Clarkabad. She died in Southsea, England, 16 November 1908.

Source: Annotated copy of the CMS Register of Missionaries (Clerical, Lay and Female) and Native Clergy, from 1804-1894'. Printed for Private Circulation. Available online via institutional subscription: Adam Matthew Digital 'Church Missionary Society Periodicals'.
Custodial HistoryPresented by J. S. Nevill, Hanwell, June 1973.

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