Record

LevelSub-fonds
Finding Number (Click this to view full catalogue structure)CMS/ACC858
TitleAccession 858: Letters of George James Clark
Extent2 files, 1 CD
Date1876-[2003]
DescriptionThis collection comprises copies of letters from George James Clark, CMS lay agent, written to his father, George Augustus Clark, January-September 1876, together with copies of transcripts of letters. All but one of the letters predate the letters from Clark in the official papers of the Church Missionary Society and therefore add substantially to the record of his recruitment and his journey out to Africa.
ArrangementThis collection forms part of the Church Missionary Society Unofficial Papers. It is arranged into one 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 HistoryGeorge James Clark (b c 1848) of Whitehaven was an engineer and architect. He offered his services to the CMS in 1876 and went to East Equatorial Africa as a lay agent. He was one of the eight who answered the call in 1875, initiated by H. M. Stanley to send missionaries, to Uganda. The CMS enterprise was called the Nyanza Mission and the others in the party which left Southampton on 27 April 1876 were Alexander Mackay, mechanical engineer; Rev Charles Thomas Wilson; Thomas O'Neill, engineer and architect; William Muir Robertson, artisan and industrial teacher; James Robertson, builder; and Dr John Smith. The leader of the expedition, Lieutenant George Shergold Smith, had set sail the previous month in a steamer, the Highland Lassie, which had been presented for the Mombasa Mission and which Smith agreed to deliver.

Clark commenced the Mpwapwa Station, where he erected the mission house, conciliated the goodwill of the Ugogo and made some progress in the language. He returned to England in March 1877 because of ill health and his connection with the CMS closed the following year.

References: Register of missionaries (clerical, lay & female) and native clergy from 1804 to 1904 (Church Missionary Society, 1905); Eugene Stock, The History of the Church Missionary Society, Vol 3 (London: Church Missionary Society, 1899)
AcquisitionPresented by a member of the family in March 2003
Related MaterialThe Special Collections Department holds the Church Missionary Society Archive, the official archive of the society (GB 0150 CMS), which includes papers relating to the service of George James Clark as a CMS missionary.

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