Record

LevelSub-fonds
Finding Number (Click this to view full catalogue structure)CMS/ACC4
TitleAccession 4: Papers of Frances Dennis
Extent2 boxes
Date1897-1950
DescriptionThis collection includes a series of letters and journal letters written by Frances Dennis, mostly addressed to 'My dear Friends' which relate to her service as a CMS missionary at Onitsha, Ugboke and Owerri in Southern Nigeria, 1902-1907. They also include, for example, reports of various journeys in the hinterland of Asaba and Benin and a journey from Ibadan to Idumiye in 1907. Other material includes a typescript of her autobiographical experiences as a missionary, entitled 'Niger Dawn', notes of Ibo folk tales and proverbs which she collected, some photographs and letters she received
ArrangementThis collection forms part of the Church Mission Society Unofficial Papers. It is arranged into a single series: Family Papers.
Access ConditionsAccess to all registered readers
LanguageEnglish
Finding AidsA catalogue of this collection (forming part of the wider CMS/ACC unofficial papers catalogue) is available on the online archive catalogue. Click on the Finding Number to display the summary contents list of the catalogue and to view the full catalogue. A paper copy of this catalogue is also available for consultation at Special Collections.
Access StatusOpen
Administrative HistoryFrances Mary Dennis (b 1874) was accepted as a CMS missionary in 1897. She served in Southern Nigeria and was stationed at Onitsha, Ugboke and Owerri. She had two brothers and a sister who were also CMS missionaries, Thomas, Edward and Ellen. Her fiance, Rev Charles Geoffrey Hensley, also a CMS missionary, died in 1901. Frances resigned from missionary service in 1909 on her marriage to Rev. Stephen Hensley, a clergyman
Reference: Register of missionaries (clerical, lay & female) and native clergy from 1804 to 1904 (Church Missionary Society, 1905)
Custodial HistoryPresented to the CMS by Mrs. F. M. Hensley, Sep 1959; transferred on permanent loan to the Special Collections Department by the CMS in the 1980s
CopiesThe letters and journals of Frances Dennis have been microfilmed and micropublished with other primary sources under the title 'Women's Language and Experience, 1500-1940. Women's Diaries and Related Sources', Adam Matthew Publications, 1996. See the file level entry in the catalogue (CMS/ACC4 F1).
Related MaterialCadbury Research Library holds the Church Missionary Society Archive, the official archive of the society (GB 0150 CMS) which includes papers relating to Frances Dennis's service as a missionary. It also holds papers of her brother, Archdeacon Thomas Dennis, see CMS/ACC89