| Level | Fonds |
| Finding Number (Click this to view full catalogue structure) | DA29 |
| Title | Papers of Lesslie Newbigin |
| Extent | 28 manuscript boxes |
| Date | 1909-2008 |
| Description | Papers of Lesslie Newbigin comprising personal and family correspondence, 1936-1998, official correspondence, 1919-1998, correspondence and papers relating to publications and research of Newbigin and associates of his, 1935-1997, sermons, 1955-1997, addresses, lectures and associated papers, circa 1952-1996, floppy discs, 1995-1998, print outs from floppy discs, 1995-1998, photographs, 1934-circa 1970s, audiocassettes made/acquired by Newbigin, 1979-1998, press cuttings, 1961-1996, artefacts, 1938, printed pamphlets and printed editions of papers, addresses and lectures of Newbigin, circa 1955-1997, and audiocassettes associated with the life and work of Newbigin, 1996-1998.
The papers relate to the personal and professional affairs of Newbigin, and contain material relating to his experiences as a Church of Scotland missionary in Southern India, the establishment of the Church of South India (CSI) in 1947, and his subsequent CSI appointments, his Secretarial positions on the International Missionary Council and the World Council of Churches, his academic career at Selly Oak Colleges, Birmingham, his ministry at the Winson Green United Reformed Church, Birmingham, and his publications. The correspondence relating to the personal affairs of Newbigin includes material relating to family matters, and the personal affairs of Newbigin's associates |
| Arrangement | The collection is arranged into the following series: personal and family correspondence, official correspondence, correspondence and papers relating to the publications and research of Lesslie Newbigin and associates of his, sermons, addresses, lectures and associated papers, floppy discs, print outs from floppy discs, photographs, audiocassettes made/acquired by Newbigin, press cuttings, artefacts, printed pamphlets and printed editions of papers, addresses and lectures of Newbigin, and audiocassettes associated with the life and work of Newbigin. Thereunder files are largely arranged chronologically |
| Access Conditions | Access to parts of this collection is restricted. See relevant series and file level records for details. |
| Copyright | Permission to make any published use of any material from the collection must be sought in advance in writing from the Director of Special Collections (email: special-collections@contacts.bham.ac.uk). Identification of copyright holders of unpublished material is often difficult. Special Collections will assist where possible with identifying copyright owners, but responsibility for ensuring copyright clearance rests with the user of the material |
| Language | English |
| Finding Aids | A catalogue of this collection 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, or view the catalogue as a PDF file by clicking in the document field below. A paper copy of this catalogue is also available for consultation at Cadbury Research Library: Special Collections. |
| Document | DA29.pdf |
| Access Status | Open, but subject to some access restrictions |
| Physical Description | The collection contains a large number of audiocassettes, and a small number of floppy discs |
| Administrative History | (James Edward) Lesslie Newbigin was a Presbyterian Church of Scotland missionary in Madras (Chingleput and Kancheepuram) from 1936-1946. He played a formative role in the establishment of the Church of South India in 1947 and on its foundation was appointed Bishop of Madras and Ramnad. From 1959-1965 he was General Secretary of the International Missionary Council and then the World Council of Churches, before returning to episcopal work as Bishop of Madras, 1965-1974. From 1974-1979 he taught and researched at Selly Oak Colleges, Birmingham. He was also Moderator of the General Assembly of the United Reformed Church. He was the author of a substantial number of publications. |
| Custodial History | The main deposit of papers was made with the Selly Oak Colleges by Lesslie Newbigin in July 1992. A later deposit was made by his family, in November 1999, after Newbigin's death. The collection was then transferred to the Orchard Learning Resources Centre which was opened in 1997 following the merger of the Selly Oak Colleges Library and the Westhill College Library. In 2000, the custodianship of all archive collections held at the Orchard Learning Resources Centre was transferred to the University of Birmingham
Cataloguing of the papers was undertaken by the Special Collections Department, University of Birmingham, in August 2000, as a result of the University of Birmingham's relationship with Selly Oak Colleges endowment trust. |
| Acquisition | Deposited in 1992 by Lesslie Newbigin, with an additional deposit added by his family in 1999. A further small deposit of a set of slides and commentary was added to the archive in September 2009, DA29/14
An additional deposit (Accession 2018/71) including Newbigin's personal diaries (ref: DA29/14/3 to DA29/14/7) was added to the archive in September 2018. |
| Related Material | The collection included a large quantity of publications which are now stored and catalogued separately. The papers of Rev Michael Hollis contain material relating to the affairs of the Church of South India (GB 0151 DA52) |
| Associated Materials | The Newbigin.net site is in the process of updating and will be available through a dedicated Newbigin Centre website (in construction) within the next few months, hosted by Ridley Hall, Cambridge. For the time, see: http://www.ridley.cam.ac.uk/centres/newbigin-centre (June 2016; AG) |
| Publication Note | Geoffrey Wainwright, 'Lesslie Newbigin: A Theological Perspective', published by OUP, 2000 |