Administrative History | The collection relates to the following generations of the Venn family:
First generation Henry Venn (1725-1797): Son of Richard Venn (1691-1740); M.A. Jesus College, Cambridge, 1749; fellow of Queens' College, Cambridge, 1749-1757; curate of Clapham, 1754; vicar of Huddersfield, 1759; rector of Yelling; published sermons and devotional works. He married Eling Bishop (d c 1767, daughter of Rev Thomas Bishop, minister of St Mary-le-Tower, Ipswich); his children included a son, John (1759-1813) and daughters, Catherine and Jane.
Second generation John Venn (1759-1813): Only son of Henry Venn (1725-1797); B.A. Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, 1786, M.A. 1786; ordained deacon 1782 and priest, 1783; curate to his father at Yelling, later rector of Little Dunham, Norfolk, 1783-1792, then rector of Clapham, Surrey 1792-1813 and of Great Tey, Essex, 1804-1813. He was one of the founders of Church Missionary Society in 1797, the central figure of the Clapham 'Sect' and a friend of Charles Simeon (1759-1836), another founding member of the CMS. He married twice: Katherine King (daughter of William King, merchant of Hull) and Frances Turton (daughter of John Turton of Sugnal near Eccleshall, Staffs). Children from his first marriage included Emelia (1794-1881), Henry (1796-1873), John (1802-1890), Caroline (who married Rev S. E. Batten) and Jane.
Third generation Henry Venn (1796-1873): Eldest son of John Venn (1759-1813); B.A. Queens' College Cambridge, 1818, M.A. 1821, B.D. 1828; Fellow of Queens' College, Cambridge, 1819-1829; ordained deacon, 1819 and priest, 1821; curate of St Dunstan-in-the-West; returned to Cambridge, 1824 as dean and college lecturer; vicar of Drypool, Hull, 1827 and rector of St John's Holloway, London, 1834-1847; prebendary of St Paul's, 1846; honorary secretary of the Church Missionary Society, 1841-1873. He published sermons, pamphlets and memoirs including Life and Letters of Henry Venn (his grandfather) and Missionary Life of Xavier. He was a leader of the Evangelical body of the Church of England and a member of the Royal Commissions on Clerical Subscriptions and Ritual Reform. He married Martha Sykes (d 1840, daughter of Nicholas Sykes of Swanland near Hull); his children included Henrietta (1832-1902), John (1834-1923) and Henry (1838-1923).
John Venn (1802-1890): Second son of John Venn (1759-1813); East India College, Haileybury, 1818-1820 and went to India as a Cadet but invalided home; B.A. Queens' College, Cambridge 1827, M.A. 1830; Fellow of Queens' College, Cambridge, 1829-1834; ordained deacon, 1828 and priest, 1829; curate of St Mary-le -Strand, London, 1828-1829 and of Pinner, Middlesex, 1830-1833; vicar of St Peter's with St Owen's, Hereford, 1833-1870; prebendary of Hereford, 1843-1868. He provided a steam corn mill for the benefit of the poor and started an Industrious Aid Society. He was author of a number of theological works including 'St Paul's Three Chapters on Holiness' and 'Commentary on St Paul's Epistle to the Galatians'. He was unmarried.
Fourth generation John Venn (1834-1923): Son of Henry Venn (1796-1873); B.A. Caius College, Cambridge, 1857, M.A. 1860, DSc., 1884; Fellow of Caius College, Cambridge, 1857-1923; President, 1912-1923; ordained deacon in 1858 and priest in1859; curate of Cheshunt, Herts, 1858-1859 and of Mortlake, Surrey, 1860-1862; lecturer in Moral Science at the University of Cambridge from 1862, Hulsean Lecturer in 1869 and one of those involved in the development of the Moral Sciences Tripos. His publications included Logic of Chance, 1866, 3rd edn 1888; Hulsean Lectures, 1869; Symbolic Logic, 1881, 2nd edn 1894; and Empirical Logic, 1889, 2nd edn 1907. In his later life he devoted himself to the publication of University and College records which included Biographical History of Gonville and Caius College, 3 vols 1901. He also collaborated with his son on the preparation of Part 1 of 'Alumni Cantabrigienses' and 'Matriculations and Degrees 1544-1659'. He was also interested in the history and genealogy of the Venn family and published the Venn Family Annals, 1904. He married Susanna Carnegie Edmondstone (daughter of Rev Charles Welland Edmondstone) and had one son, John Archibald Venn (1881-1958)
Fifth generation John Archibald Venn (1881-1958): Son of John Venn (1834-1923); B.A. Trinity College, Cambridge, 1902; Fellow of Queens' College Cambridge, 1927; Lecturer in the History and Economics of Agriculture, University of Cambridge, 1921-1949; President of Queens' College, Cambridge, since 1932 and Vice-Chancellor, 1941-1943; publications included 'The Book of Matriculations and Degrees, 1544-1659; 'Alumni Cantabrigienses'; 'Foundations of Agricultural Economics' (2nd edn 1933);and numerous contributions to the Economic Journal and other periodicals; married Lucy Marion Ridgeway (daughter of Professor Sir William Ridgeway). Sources: Alumni Cantabrigienses, Part II (Cambridge University Press, 1954); editions of Who Was Who |
Custodial History | Presented to the CMS by a member of the Venn family in 1958 and transferred on permanent loan to the Special Collections Department by the CMS in the 1980s.
In 1950, when the Venn MSS were in private hands, the papers were arranged and listed by staff of the Historical Manuscripts Commission and allocated National Register of Archives reference numbers. The NRA list was revised by the CMS in 1958 and allocated different reference numbers. Some items on the NRA list were not found and others could not be identified with certainty.
The following list gives the NRA reference first and then, where possible, the corresponding CMS reference (the CMS references should all prefixed by CMSACC81): NRA 1 = T1 NRA 2 = T5 NRA 3 = T2 NRA 4 = T6 NRA 5 = T3 NRA 6 = T7 NRA 7 = T8 NRA 8 = T9 NRA 9 = T4 NRA 10 = T10 NRA 11 = F46 NRA 11A = F47, F45 NRA 11B = F45 NRA 11C = NRA 11D = F42 NRA 12 = F37 NRA 13 = F43 NRA 14 = F44 NRA 14A = C75 NRA 15 = F2, F6 NRA 15A = F63 NRA 15B = F6 NRA 16 = F6 NRA 16A = F6 NRA 17 = F6 NRA17A = NRA 17B = F5 NRA 17C = F48 NRA 17D= F22 NRA 18 = F17 NRA 18A= F18 NRA 19 = NRA 20 = F60 NRA 20A = F1 NRA 21 = F30 NRA 21A = NRA 21B = F50 NRA 22 = NRA 23 = F60 NRA 23A = NRA 23B = NRA 23C = NRA23D = NRA 23E = NRA 23F = F60 NRA 24 = F62 NRA 24A = F35 NRA 24B = F40 NRA 24C = F36 NRA 24D = F38 NRA 24E = F41 NRA 24F= Q1 NRA 25 = Q2 NRA 26 = C17, C18 NRA 27 = NRA 27A = C16A NRA 27B = C16 NRA 28 = C16A NRA 28A = C16A NRA 29 = C1-C16A NRA 30 = C65-C67 NRA 31 = C49-C64 NRA 32 = NRA 33 = C1 NRA 34 = C1-C16A NRA 35 = C19 NRA 36 = C23 NRA 37 = C49 NRA 38 = C22 NRA 39 = NRA 40 = C21 NRA 41= C68 NRA 42 = NRA 43 = C19 NRA 44 = C48 NRA 45 = NRA 46 = C31-C34 NRA 47 = C69 NRA 48 = C30 NRA 49 = NRA 50 = C20 NRA 51 = C24 NRA 52 = C32 NRA 53 = C38 NRA 54 = C35 NRA 55 = C39 NRA 56 = C35 NRA 57 = C28 NRA 58 = NRA 59 = C74 NRA 60 = C33 NRA 60A = C35 NRA 61 = NRA 61A = C37 NRA 62 = C40 NRA 62A = C36 NRA 63 = NRA 64 = C42 NRA 65 = C45 NRA 66 = F75 NRA 67 = F33 NRA 68 = F3 NRA 68A = F4 NRA 69 = F10 NRA 70 = F8 NRA 70A= F11 NRA 71 = F12 NRA 72 = F24 NRA 73 = F13 NRA 74 = F14 NRA 74A = F15 NRA 74B = F39 NRA 75 = F16 NRA 76 = F23 NRA 76A = Z23 NRA 76B = F19 NRA 76C = F20 NRA 76D = F29 NRA 77 = F21 NRA 77A = F28 NRA 77B = F31 NRA 78 = F9 NRA 79 = Q12 NRA 80 = Q3 NRA 81 = Q6 NRA 82 = Q8 NRA 83 = Q9 NRA 84 = Q4 NRA 85 = Q5 NRA 86 = Q10 NRA 87 = Q11 NRA 88 = Z5 NRA 89 = Z6 NRA 90 = F55 NRA 91 = NRA 92 = NRA 92A = F56 NRA 92B = F54 NRA 93 = F73 NRA 94 = NRA 95 = C64 NRA 96 = F49 |