CHURCH MISSIONARY SOCIETY ARCHIVE

Section IV: Africa Missions

Part 8:   Nigeria - Yoruba Mission, 1880-1934

Part 9:   Nigeria - Yoruba Mission, 1880-1934

Part 10: Nigeria - Niger Mission, 1880-1934

Part 11: Nigeria - Niger Mission, 1880-1934 and Nigeria - Northern Nigeria, 1900-1934

Part 12: West Africa (Sierra Leone) Mission, 1881-1934

Part 13: West Africa (Sierra Leone) Mission, 1935-1949 and Nigeria Missions, 1935-1949

Introduction to Part 12

Part 12 continues the papers of the West Africa (Sierra Leone) Mission. The papers pre 1880 have been filmed in Parts 1, 2, and 5. The papers for the period 1935-1949 are contained in Part 13. Part 12 covers the Letter Books, 1883-1934, Original Papers, 1881-1934 and Précis Books for 1880-1881, 1887-1934.

The Letter Books for 1883-1934 contain copies of the outgoing correspondence from the Secretary in London to the missionaries and others concerned with mission affairs. The letters are indexed by name of recipient. Diverse items are included: circular letters re the adoption of converts to Christianity and employment of native agents; letters from Bishops in Sierra Leone and from the Colonial Office and the Archbishop of Canterbury in England; lists of books in stock at CMS London; reports re payments received by missionaries for work done for the government; circulars to West African agents and congregations; circular questionnaires from various sources such as The Native Races and the Liquor Traffic United Committee; Centenary Review Committee questions; reports by missionaries on visiting the Sierra Leone mission; letters to missionaries engaged in educational work; circulars re taking home a native from the mission field; memoranda on the development of church organisation in the mission field; reports on meetings held at CM House regarding the Fourah Bay College; regulations for pensions for missionaries; reports on the place of women in the Church in the mission field.

The Original Papers for the years 1881-1934 contain a mixture of material. There are letters, annual reports and very detailed and interesting journals of missionaries about their work in the mission; newspaper cuttings and copies of newspapers such as The West African Reporter, The Freetown Express and Christian Observer, West Educational Times, The Sierra Leone Missionary Gleaner, Saturday Monthly, Sierra Leone Messenger, The Sierra Leone Weekly News, The Sierra Leone Church Guardian, The Sierra Leone Church Chronicle, The West Africa Mail and Trade Gazette; financial statements for the Grammar School and Church Committee; reports on the 1881 Census of Sierra Leone and its dependencies showing the increase and decrease in females and males since 1871; lists of scholars at Fourah Bay College showing their nationality, birthplace and education with reports on the College; photographs of mission establishments such as Wilberforce Hall and of native pastors and local people; examination papers; statistics of the Sierra Leone Church.

Also included are plans for mission buildings such as the Annie Walsh Memorial School; printed sermons; pamphlets of The Women’s Missionary Institute and Medical Mission; annual reports of the different mission areas within the Sierra Leone mission; pamphlets re the Grammar School at Freetown with photographs, expenses and results of exams; the first annual report of the Princess Christian College, 1893; report on the ancient town of Falaka with a vivid description of the chief and the language spoken; maps of the mission areas; minutes of the Executive Committee with brief reports from missionaries re their work and itineration; lists of native agents employed by the Sierra Leone Native Church with name of station and salary; magazines entitled The Sierra Leone Church Monthly Magazine and Our Monthly Magazine and the first and following issues of The Fourah Bay College Quarterly Magazine; items written in the Africa native language together with the grammar for African languages such as Mende; Annie Walsh School financial estimates; Travelling Superintendents’ reports; reports on the Pan-Anglican Congress.

The Précis Books for 1880-1881 and 1887-1934 consist of a printed précis of the Original Papers prepared for meetings of the Group Committee. The contents of the précis therefore mirror the contents of the Original Papers as described above. Each précis comprises number, date, writer, date received, summary of contents, proposals for committee action to be taken and/or the secretary’s remarks.

The extracts below give the researcher an idea of the range of material to be found in the Original Papers. The first is taken from the Journal of Mr S Taylor written in March 1881 and describes preparations for a preaching journey he undertook with Mr Morgan:

By the providence of God we have arrived towards the close of the dry season when missionary journeys can be undertaken into the interior of this dark benighted country with less dangers and inconveniences – the many streams that one must necessarily meet with are now almost dry and fordable. We rejoiced therefore when an opportunity of going out presented itself by Mr Alley’s offering to take up my regular school work during my absence. Preaching is always felt to be an honoured instrument under God’s blessing for the enlightenment and salvation of the world. Mr Morgan and myself then made arrangements to be absent for about 2 weeks on a preaching tour – after a day’s delay caused by the negligence of some labourers Mr Alley had employed , we left the Station on the evening of Tuesday the 15th of March, after having been commended in prayer to the protection of God by Mr Alley. About two hour’s walk took us to Rokoir ? where we decided to preach and rest for the night – we asked that the people be assembled – Mr Morgan preached– the people thanked us and said that they used to see Mr Alley pass to other villages….”

The next extract in the papers for 1887 is taken from a letter by the missionary Bertha H Nevill:

Sierra Leone
October 21st 1887

Dear Mr Lang

I never know whether you expect to hear from me or not but as my stay in School has nearly come to an end I thought I ought to send you a short report of the past few weeks…. Of course we miss Miss Ansell very much, but we have tried and so far, I believe, succeeded in carrying on school as usual. There has been some sickness, but that we must expect during the rainy season. Our senior teacher has been ill for three weeks and another teacher for nearly as long and as I was also down with fever for a week. We were rather short handed. The girls have been behaving well. The numbers of our Young Women’s Christian Association are increasing steadily and I hope it may be the means of keeping our influence over the girls when they leave school…. Before Archdeacon Crowther returned to the Niger he wrote an earnest appeal to me as Acting Principal on behalf of the Children of Niger Missionaries. I laid the matter before the Visiting Committee and obtained their consent to receive such children as boarders for £7 a year; the number at any time not to exceed four. Also to receive any such children as Day Scholars free…. The report for 1886-7 has lately reached us; I hope you will not think me very foolish if I ask why my name is not mentioned with my brother’s in the list of arrivals and departures. The names of missionaries wives are put there and the names of independent lady agents; is it because I am unfortunate to be neither?…. I do not want the praise in the report, but it is often a great source of comfort and strength to know that friends in England are praying for us. Please forgive me if I ought not to have spoken of this….

The next is taken from a letter written in March 1898 by E H Elwin at Fourah Bay College to the Secretary in London:

…. You will be very sorry to hear that we have had to send Yurah Mutkeh away – he was the boy who had special leave of the Parent Committee to be in the College; A charge of immorality was brought against him and the letter with the Charge, he himself destroyed after opening it and reading it. Again he brought a serious charge against the missionary who had charged him just at the last and what really decided us admitted he had slept 8 consecutive nights in the same bed with the girl in question. I am truly sorry for he had been brought up by Mr Alley at Port Lokkoh. There has been a good deal of trouble up country in connection with the hut-tax and such rumours reached us by the monthly boat that we thought it right that Mr Hensley should go up and he has not returned…. Port Lokkoh has been almost altogether burnt down and the Soldiers of the West Indian Government to the number now of 200 have gone up. We do not however feel any anxiety for the Missionaries and those in the outstations have come to the Central. You may remember a King named Bai Bure – he is defying the Govt– is an old warrior and has not yet been captured. The disturbance we believe will then at once come to an end….

The following is from the Original Papers for 1909. It is from James Denton at Fourah Bay College and discusses what use they should make of the Pan Anglican Thankoffering:

A number of us met at Bishops Court last Monday by invitation of the Bishop to discuss the location of the Pan Anglican Thankoffering. It was decided to advise the Bishop to ask for the whole £8000 to be associated with FBC…. I want to remove with you...any thought that our motives are too utterly selfish in this matter. The way it commends itself to me is this: 1). FBC is being put ( or at least the attempt is being made to put it) on a basis that shall soon make it possible for CMS to be relieved of all financial responsibility and for CMS to withdraw ( if so disposed) absolutely and finally and without the tinge of reproach from Sierra Leone. There is no other society likely to step in nor is such desired. The native church should have the chance of working out its own destiny , but it should do so under circumstances that give fair warrant for hope of success – But Oyo and Oka and all the other institutions springing up in West Equatorial Africa have CMS behind them and it is not too much to expect that CMS will remain behind them for some considerable time to come, long enough to hope for them in the future some other windfall as this Thank Offering is now. May not the marriage dowry of the eldest daughter rank as of more immediate importance than the provision of pocket money for the younger daughter still at school. 2) But there is a further sense in which the non-selfish character of our request may be agreed. We (Sierra Leone) will not benefit to the extent of a single penny by this use of the money. We shall still need to find from our own resources the fees of every Sierra Leone man going to FBC. We are merely asking for the means of guaranteeing the Institution which for some time at any rate, Lagos needs as much as we….

The extract below is from J L Horstead at Fourah Bay College and is taken from the papers for 1930:

Staffing of Annie Walsh School
Miss Hamblett’s departure is now fixed for June 15th…. I hope the committee will deliberate before appointing Miss Middleton to the Principalship. My reason for saying this is that I do not consider Miss Middleton has the strength of personality to maintain the school at the level to which Miss Hamblett has brought it and to pilot it through the difficult period we must anticipate now that some are pressing for the handlng over of the school to the Diocesan Synod.

Position of Mr and Mrs Young
The last month has brought big and regrettable change over the affairs of education in the Protectorate. To begin with Mr Keigwin took ill and was brought down to the Nursing Home in Freetown. Discharged as physically fit, he was obviously far from well and as events have proved mentally unsteady. He returned to the Home and subsequently was reported to have contracted blackwater fever. He is at present lying very ill and no one is allowed to see him.…

Meanwhile disturbances have taken place in the Protectorate, risings occurred at Koyeima and Bo School and numerous Chiefs petitioned the Governor…. It is obvious that a crisis has arisen in Education in the Protectorate and we shall need to use our wisdom and our grace in setting things working again. One thing seems to me clear namely that as the Youngs are the only people who really know the schools for them to withdraw at this juncture would mean that both Missions and Government would be deprived of the advice of the most experienced minds….

<back