CHURCH MISSIONARY SOCIETY ARCHIVE

Section IV: Africa Missions

Part 20: Uganda Mission, 1898-1934

Part 21: Kenya Mission, 1935-1949

Part 22: Uganda Mission, 1898-1934

Part 23: Uganda, Tanganyika and Rwanda Missions, 1935-1949

Part 24: Mauritius, Madagascar and the Seychelles Missions, 1856-1929

Introduction to Part 20

Part 20 begins coverage of the papers of the Uganda Mission up to 1934. It includes Letter Books, 1898-1934 and Original Papers, 1898-1909. The remaining Original Papers from 1910-1934 and the Précis Books are included in Part 22 and the papers from 1935-1949 in Part 23.

The Letter Books, 1898-1934 contain copies of outgoing correspondence from the Secretaries at headquarters in London to the missionaries and others concerned with mission affairs. They are all indexed. Contained are letters, reports and circulars on a variety of subjects: the Sudanese revolt and death of Rev G L Pilkington in 1898, the proposed constitution of the Church of Buganda, a report on the conference of the European missionaries on church organisation in Uganda, instructions to new missionaries, letters re educational work, resolutions re expenditure, a copy of a royal warrant for new boundaries for the dioceses of Uganda and Mombasa, correspondence re the constitution of the Rwanda Mission.

The Original Papers, 1898-1909 consist of incoming papers sent by the missionaries and mission secretary to headquarters in London. They include letters, journals, some Annual Letters, reports and minutes and give a good overview of the work in the mission, the experiences of the missionaries and the customs of the local people.

Letters: Letters from missionaries on all manner of mission matters from R H Walker, F Rowling, Bishop A R Tucker, G L Pilkington, F H Wright, A B Lloyd, C W Hattersley, E C Gordon, Dr Albert Cook, A J Pike, F Baylis, J B Purvis, Miss Mary S Thomsett, A B Fisher, W A Crabtree, H E Maddox, T R Buckley, K Borup, A Whitehouse, H H Farthing, Miss E M Furley, G K Baskerville, Mrs A B Fraser (formerly Miss A B Glass), E C Davies, T B Johnson, A Wilson, D A O’Connor, H A Savile, F Rowling, E Millar, A G Fraser, H Boulton Ladbury, W G Innes, Miss F K Reed, A L Kitching, E C Gordon, R H Leakey, M A Taylor, J Roscoe (Secretary of the mission), C H Ecob, H C Weatherhead, W E Owen, Miss E T Hill, H B Lewis, T R Buckley, Miss A E Allen, F Baylis, J Elizabeth Chadwick, Miss O Walton, J S Herbert, S R Skeens, J M Hannington, Miss A L Allen, W Chadwick, C F Harford, C J A Burden, Miss G E Bird.

Included also is a letter from Kahaya, King of Ankole (translated) and from the King of Toro (translated) and from King Davidi Kasagama, King of Toro (translated). There are also letters re slavery to and from the Governor of British East Africa, J Hayes Sadler together with letters from Bishop Tucker to the Governor re educational work in the mission and regarding the constitution of the Church in Uganda.

Journals: Interesting journals describe local events, customs, work and itinerations made around the mission. Included are those of G K Baskerville, Miss E M Furley, Dr Albert Lloyd describing Pygmies he met, Miss E M Furley, Miss A B Glass (very long and detailed), Dr Albert Cook, A B Fisher, many from Mrs A B Fraser, T B Johnson, and H Boulton Ladbury.

Reports: The subjects of the reports are varied ranging from reports on itinerations, health, education, conferences and visits by the Bishop; a report on the progress of the Mombasa-Victoria Railway with a map of the railway; a report by E H Hubbard on a visit to the Kraal of Lainana, the chief of the Masai; on an itineration around the mission by Bishop Tucker; a report by A H Walker on the hospital, the Technical School and the Industrial School at Mengo; report on the Industrial School at Mengo by F Baylis; report of a missionary tour through Ankole by Bishop Tucker (in the original manuscript and also printed); report on the Industrial Mission; report on an itineration by W A Crabtree; report on the Uganda Industrial Mission by K Borup; report re an itineration by Bishop Tucker and one by W G Innes; report of a tour of inspection to the Albert Edward Lake, Toro by T B Johnson; report on a journey to Mt Elgon and the Bukedi country by Bishop Tucker; report on a Men’s Conference; report of the inspectors of the Uganda Educational Board; report on work in the mission by A L Kitching and of Bishop Tucker on a visit to Nassa; report on the famine in the mission area by J Roscoe; report on the CMS King’s School in Budo; report of a tour through Busoga and Bukedi by J Roscoe; notes on the Nandi Tribe by H O Savile; missionary probation reports and medical reports; report of language examinations.

Minutes: Minutes of the Finance Committee; of the conference held at Mengo re Church organisation; minutes of the Executive Committee; of a conference of lady missionaries in Mengo; order of the Proceedings of the Conference of Missionaries, 1904; minutes of the Translation Committee and Missionary Committees.

Annual Letters: Annual Letters describing the work and experiences of the missionaries from: F H Wright, H Maddox, E C Davies, W E Owen, E C Gordon, F Rowling, Miss F K Reed, G K Baskerville, R Banks, H B Lewin, S R Skeens, R H Leakey.

Miscellaneous: These items are very varied. They include a printed copy of the Church Catechism in the Luganda language; news cuttings regarding the political situation in Uganda; a description by Miss E M Furley of the revolt in Uganda and the murder of Mr Pilkington in January 1898; news cuttings re Dr Albert Lloyd’s journey from Toro and the situation there; comparison of the medical work undertaken in the mission for the first six months of the years 1897-1899; details of the estate left by Rev E H Hubbard; language examination results; printed material re the events in Uganda; Miss E M Furley’s thoughts on proposals for the new constitution of the Bugandan Church.

Included also are: a printed catechism in the Luganda language; issues of Mengo Notes, an information pamphlet for missionaries (change of name to Uganda Notes from 1902); a prayer book in the Luganda language; news cuttings; discussions regarding an independent Uganda Church; summary of statistics of the churches in the mission; list of CMS churches in the Kingdom of Toro compiled by A B Fisher; a news cutting re the African labour problem together with official papers; notes on a proposed Intermediate School; photos of local people; statistics of the Uganda Mission; estimates for the Acholi Station; statistics for the Uganda Mission; plans for missionary houses; estimates for the mission; photos of missionary houses; statistics for the CMS Mengo hospital and Lunyoro reading sheets.

Further items include: a copy of the draft constitution of the Church of Buganda; a description of the Industrial Training Scheme in the mission; a news cutting on the attendance of Bishop Tucker at the Pan Anglican Conference; statistics for the invaliding out and death of missionaries in the mission for 1897-1907; a description of the celebrations in Hoima for the accession of Kabaka Andareya in 1903; estimates for the mission for the year; pamphlet on education in Africa and a draft of the educational scheme for Uganda; pamphlets on the Bantu languages and on the Constitution of the Church of Uganda; resolutions of the Diocesan Synod; laws of the Church of Buganda; proposals for an Industrial Training Scheme; pamphlet on the educational code for 1910.

EXTRACTS

Reel 406 Original Papers 1898 “A Visit to the Kraal of Lainana, the big chief of the Masai” by Rev E H Hubbard:

“We left Mombasa on the 13th of October, & after a prosperous & quick journey arrived at Fort Smith, Kikuyu, on the 6th of Nov. We had travelled most of the way with Mr Arthur Hardinge, the Consul General of East Africa, who was on a visit of inspection to Kikuyu. On arriving here we had the unwelcome news of the Mutiny of the Nubian soldiers of Major Macdonald and of the disturbed state of the road in front caused by these mutineers raiding the country. As we could not go on we lent our porters to the Consul General to help take in the stores & munition of the relief force….

Taking advantage of our forced delay at this place I thought it a splendid opportunity to get about & see more of the people of the two great tribes who live about here, the Masai in the West & the Wakikuyu to the East and North East. I have been five or six hours journey both ways. I have visited Lainana, the great Masai chief, in his large kraal on the plains & also Wanggenge, the leading Wakikuyu of those parts who lives about 15 miles from here in the straight line towards Mt Kenia. I will describe my visit to Lainana first.

Taking with me a few porters & boys I started for the Masai headquarters. ….we went through Masai land proper. Here no plantations or gardens of any description were to be seen, but in place of them were huge herds of cattle & flocks of goats & sheep. I was now among the elite of the Masai nation; the El Moran, or Warriors, were met with constantly, all carrying their huge spears & most of them carrying their well known peculiar shields. These Masai live upon nothing else but the flesh of cattle & sheep & goats & the milk of the cow. They despise vegetables and corn, thinking these things fit for old people only….”

Reel 407 Extracts from an Annual Letter from Rev F H Wright, Nassa, November 26, 1898:

“Amongst the Nassa Christians my efforts have continued of making the Church independent of us. This has required great gentleness and tact, (but I believe I have succeeded where others would have failed, although I get little sympathy and my efforts are not appreciated by the F C in Uganda).

Instead of the Christians living with us, wearing a ridiculous amount of cloth, European garments etc, feeding three times better than their fellows in their villages, doing no work, and being called either our slaves or our (askaries) policemen, they are now living away from the station, cultivating their own food earning their own cloth by honest labour, and setting an example to the heathen of consistent Christian lives. We also have collections at Communion.

The Baganda teachers, instead of returning to their own country loaded with cloth, iron boxes, soap, razors, pens and paper, and all the other things so dear to a people who delight to ape the European are now realising that their reward is in heaven....”

Reel 408 1900 Letter from E H Ecob at Toro, 28 November 1899:

“At the time of writing I am on the shores of the Edward Albert Lake and in the Congo Free State. I had hoped by crossing here that probably in the near future our Toro work might extend here…. I am told that although I may come to the Free State as a visitor yet I may not as a Missionary….

Thus work in the direction of an extension westward is barred effectually. Please pray that these Bakonjo people of the Semliki Valley and of the adjacent hills may be evangelised. The few R C teachers here are at present only touching the Basongola here, for there are two tribes. The Basongola being not the same as the Bahima of Uganda, are tall, have straight noses, type of face often Circassian, wear a certain amount of dress, and are not among the peasantry polygamists. The Bakonjo are short, inhabit the hills, dress with a strip of cloth between the legs held up by a bit of string round the waist, and are all polygamists. These people have a language allied to that of the Basongola, but not coming in contact with the Baganda do not understand Luganda.

A Mukonjo lady, unlike her male tribesmen, has a great deal of adornment. On each arm and leg she has innumerable laces (made from grass). In fact so numerous are they that the good lady positively waddles along as she walks, the laces touching each other. Around her neck are strange shaped beads, brass ends of old cartridge cases, etc. A kilt completes her attire. “Ungainly” sums her up…”

Reel 408 Original Papers 1900 Journal of Miss A B Glass, Mengo, April 30th 1900:

“Our garden consists entirely of different sorts of banana & papai trees. On the ground a tiny little tomato grows, which is very good in soup, & there are also occasional French beans. A eucalyptus grows close to the verandah & some tiny little birds hardly bigger than humming birds have been building a nest as big as a thrush’s in it & making such a commotion about it too. Some of the birds here have wonderfully brilliant plumage. There are crowds of brilliant yellow weaver birds & queer hornbills with beaks & heads almost as big as their bodies, but very few of them sing. In the evenings the whole place resounds with beetles & frogs & a very noisy sort of cricket or grasshopper & there is the nasty little buzz of the mosquito too. You shiver when you hear it!

I went with Miss Chadwick to visit the Chief of Ungogwe the other day in his town house at Mengo. A funny wrinkled old man who used to be a great drunkard. He has quite given it up now & has lately been baptised after a long, long probation. We went through the usual fenced enclosures. These are so beautifully made: it must take millions of reed to make so many – the King’s enclosures are fenced in quite a different pattern of basket work from the others – we found his attendant playing the great game of Uganda. It is played with marbles on a big chess board the squares being scooped out to hold the marbles. The Chief was very delighted to see us & most comically patronising to me because I couldn’t speak Luganda. We sat on camp stools & waited while he sent one of the small boys who were kneeling a little distance off to fetch his wife. Ten or twelve insecty native dogs alternately pawed us & barked at us the whole time so I was not sorry when we left. The Chief as a special favour, conducted us to his outer entrance himself a good 15 or 20 mins walk I should think.

…. On Saturday the King’s tailor called on us! He is a very important personage here & is a little black dwarf & pays visits carried on the shoulders of a great strong tall servant. Today he was followed by another servant carrying on his head a uniform case containing his best clothes. The key had been stolen & the dwarf thought we might have a key which would fit.

…. I wonder if you at all realise what “Mengo" as we call it is like. The strange thing to me is that seen from this verandah where I am writing, the town just looks like an enormous banana grove. All the houses except those of the Europeans & the Prime Minister are little conical reed huts & the banana trees with their huge broad fronds quite cover them up & the brown parched ground too so that as one looks over the tree-tops the place is a beautiful stretch of greenery though when down on the ground one sighs for a blade of grass…”

Reel 410 Original Papers 1903 Letter from Alfred R Tucker, Bishop of Uganda, Hoima, Bunyoro, March 13th 1903:

“I am now on a long tour of inspection, Confirmation, etc through Bunyoro, Toro, and possibly Nkole, and do not expect to get back to Mengo till towards the end of April. I must confess I am not in first rate condition and that consequently the daily journey is a daily toil. But the joy of seeing the growing work swallows up every thought of weariness and weakness.

You may remember that during the latter part of my stay in England reports reached us of declension and failure. Since my arrival in Uganda I have most anxiously considered what grounds there were for such a pessimistic view of things as that which last reached me before leaving home and I am bound to say that looking at the work as a whole I fail to see any ground at all for such a gloomy statement of affairs as that to which you refer. On the contrary ever since my arrival in Uganda I have daily had fresh cause to thank and praise God for all that He has done and is doing.

For several years we have had before us the prospect of the completion of the railway and the consequent inrush of outside evil influences. This is now fully upon us and the way in which the Buganda are meeting the new influences at work surprises me and fills me with thankfulness. There has been no falling off in the number of candidates for Baptism and Confirmation. The income of the Church has made a great leap forward and Teachers are not more backward in offering for service than in the days gone by. The wonderful way in which Bunyoro and Nkole have been opened up to us and the way in which the peoples of these two countries are coming under Christian instruction is one of the marvels of these times of blessing which God has been giving to us in recent years. The work among the women too is one of the features of the work which cheers and encourages me perhaps more than any other. Large numbers of women are not merely under training as Teachers but actively engaged in the work of evangelising their sisters. The result is that in many places the number of female candidates for Confirmation exceeds that of the men. The educational work too is making great strides as also is the medical work….”

Reel 416 Original Papers 1908 Report on a tour through Busoga, Bukedi and Mt Elgon by John Roscoe, Acting Secretary of the Uganda Mission, Namirembe, 23 June 1908:

On Monday the 15th inst I returned from my tour through Busoga, Bukedi and Mt Elgon. The stations in North Busaga, Kamuli, and Kumbya, were new to me and the whole of that part of the country. …I will do no more than give a brief account of my impressions now.

The Famine. In North Busoga the famine is not so bad as it is in the South. At Kamuli and Kumbya there is great scarcity of food and some few people have died though not many. The crops looked to be in good condition and rain was falling daily, there are therefore hopes of an abundance of food shortly. So too on my return journey after crossing the Mpologoma River into Busoga, the country did not seem to be in such a dreadful state as that nearer Iganga. The districts of Tabingva, Iganga, and Jinja are the worst by far. The people are dying daily in large numbers, and the dead are left on the road side with no one to bury them. The Government reported seven thousand as having died, I could not find they had come to this number by registration of deaths only by guess, to my mind it is a high number. Still the death rate is high, and there can be little hope for a better state of affairs in South Busoga for some time to come. The people have ceased to cultivate and have eaten up every edible thing in the land; they are now too feeble to help themselves and those who have a little strength sit idle unless forced to work by the Government. It is impossible to give you an accurate account of the state of affairs; I doubt if you would believe me if I told you what I saw. The people seem to have lost all trace of humanity and have become like wild beasts. Parents no longer think of their children, each one hunts and seizes food for himself or herself, the weakest goes to the wall.

…. Nabumalo our station on Elgon is fifty miles from Ngora where the Kitchings are at work. We do not require any more workers amongst the Bageshu as yet, both the ladies and Mr Holden agree there is not the work for any one else there. The Bageshu are a low type of Bantu so divided amongst themselves that it is impossible to go into the next clan with any degree of safety. They are a fierce treacherous tribe, and are cannibals of the lowest type. We need to move slowly and with great caution amongst them….”

Reel 419 Original Papers 1909 Annual Letter from Rev S R Skeens, Iganga, December 16 1909:

“The past year has not been so terribly tragic a one as that of 1908 with its thousands of starving Busoga, dying all around us from want of food and exposure.

…. The effect of the great depopulation of the country through the famine and the Sleeping Sickness, has been that wild-beasts have increased so much that they have become a veritable plague. A doctor, who went round the depopulated districts of South Busoga, reckoned that 1500 people during the past year, had been carried off and eaten by wild animals.

Our dispensary, which has increased its in-patient accommodation from one to sixteen beds, has constantly received patients, rescued from leopards and hyaenas. As many as twenty of these “Hyaena and leopard cases” were received during six months.

…. During January and February of 1909, we had a most interesting tour in a part of Kavirondo, which belongs to the Busoga District. There a very earnest Muganda Christian had commenced to teach the heathen, a little church had been built, and day by day this very earnest man was surrounded by a group of almost naked Kavirondo, who had come to learn to read.”

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