CHURCH MISSIONARY SOCIETY ARCHIVE
Section VII: General Secretary's Papers

Part 1: Papers relating to Africa, 1847-1950

The Papers of the General Secretary's Department are very important as the General Committee was ultimately responsible for CMS policy. Here we focus on correspondence with overseas missions in Africa. There is material on:

• Education policy in East Africa, 1925-1948.
• the Kikuyu conferences, 1910-1919.
• the CMS Regional Secretary for East Africa and Sudan, 1946-1949.
• candidates for consecration as bishops in West Africa.
• Theological training in West Africa, 1945-1950.
• the enquiry into the Niger mission, 1880-1893.

There is also:

• Early material on the bishopric of Sierra Leone, 1851-1855.
• Early material on the Yoruba mission, 1847-1889.
• An account of early difficulties to be contended with in South Africa by
  M Frere, 1879.

These records form a very important source for understanding the policy decisions underpinning CMS activities abroad as well as being a crucial record on the formation of churches and dioceses and the appointment of bishops overseas. Scholars can examine the influence of leading figures such as Henry Venn,
Frederick Wigram, Herbert Lankaster and William Cash and others who succeeded to the position of General Secretary.