Wesleyan Methodist Missionary Society records, ca. 1817-1827

MLMSS 197
Status: Unavailable. Applies to MLMSS 197/Boxes 1 - 2
B 1503

fonds

ca. 1817-1827

1260024

3 boxes of textual material

The Wesleyan Methodist Missionary Society was constituted in London in 1818, and in the same year a mission for convicts was founded in New South Wales, with work beginning in other colonies in Australia, New Zealand and the South Seas in later years. In 1855, the Australasian Methodist Missionary Society was granted autonomy, with Stephen Rabone, John Eggleston and Benjamin Chapman serving as general secretaries over the following decades.

MLMSS 197

The collection largely comprises letters from Methodist clergy and missionaries to the general secretaries of the Australasian Wesleyan Methodist Missionary Society in Sydney, most addressed to Rev. S. Rabone, and some to Rev. J. Eggleston and to Rev. B. Chapman. Also included are photographs, reports and articles relating to the Methodist Church and its missions. Catalogue numbers included in item descriptions refer to the listings in B 1503.

BOX 1-2
Letters from missionaries, New Zealand, and the South Seas, 1817-1827
Status: Boxes 1 and 2 unavailable

BOX 3
Item 1
Letters from Rev. N. Turner, written from Sydney and Brisbane, concerning personal and family matters and the progress of the Methodist Church in Queensland, 1848-1862; letters from Anne Turner, written from St Kilda, 1879 (Cat. nos 872-889)

Item 2
Letters from Rev. W. B. Boyce, general secretary of the Wesleyan Methodist Missionary Society in London, 1850-1886; letter from Rev. E. Hoole, London, 1865; letter from C. Finch, secretary of the British and Foreign Bible Society, London, 1875; letter from George Smith, Luton, 1874 (Cat. nos 1116-1209)

Item 3
Letters from Rev. J. H. Fletcher, written from Queensland and from Newington College, Sydney, 1853-1868 (Cat. nos 1227-1272)

Item 4
Letters from Rev. R. W. Vanderkiste, written from the Goulburn and Port Stephens Circuits and referring to circuit matters, 1855-1865 (Cat. nos 703-721)

Item 5
Letters from Rev. D. J. Draper, Melbourne, relating to Methodism in Victoria, 1856-1864 (Cat. nos 613-682)

Item 6
Letters from Rev. J. Watsford, written from Sydney, Goulburn, Melbourne and Adelaide, relating to a charge of unfriendly conduct on the part of Rev. Schofield and to circuit affairs in southern NSW, 1857-1875 (Cat. nos 683-702)

Item 7
Letters from Rev. W. A. Quick, Newtown, 1857-1859 (Cat. nos 1210-1226)

Item 8
Letters from W. Hessel and S. E. Hessel, written from Sydney and Bristol, 1858-1869

Item 9
Letters from Rev. J. A. Manton, written from Sydney and chiefly dealing with the Wesleyan colleges and Parramatta Circuit, 1856-1864

Item 10
Letter from W. Nichols, London, regarding publication of ‘Leigh’s Life’, 1870; letters from J. Oram, Sydney, 1858-1864; letters from G. Lane, Singleton, 1868; letters from Miriam (daughter of Stephen Rabone), 1871

Item 11
Letters from Rev. S. Ironside, written from Sydney and Hobart Town, 1858-1869

Item 12
Letters from Rev. W. Curnow, written from Sydney, Ipswich and Goulburn, 1858-1870

Item 13
Letters from Rev. J. Waterhouse, written from Tasmania, Victoria and Fiji, 1858-1879; letter from Rev. S. Waterhouse, Hobart Town, 1857 (Cat. nos 1083-1109)

Item 14
Letters from Rev. G. Hurst, written from Sydney, Wollongong and West Maitland, 1859-1871; letter from Rev. R. W. Vanderkiste, Berrima, regarding the behaviour of Rev. G. Hurst and enclosing copies of letters from other ministers on the same subject, 1855

Item 15
Letters from Rev. G. Brown, written from Samoa, 1860-1861

BOX 4
Item 16
Letters from Rev. G. Martin, written from Manning River, Kiama and Morpeth, 1862-1870

Item 17
Letters from T. Johnston, Parramatta, 1864 (Cat. nos 1273-1282)

Item 18
Letters from Rev. J. Bickford, Sydney, 1864-1866

Item 19
Letters from S. E. Bancroft, Bristol, 1870-1871

Item 20
Letters from various correspondents throughout N.S.W., and from London, Belfast, Samoa and China, with copies of resolutions and minutes, some written by S. Rabone, 1855-1879; papers labelled ‘undated letters & documents + items with an incomplete date’ (Includes Cat. no. 1110)

Item 21
Letters from N.S.W., 1856-1861

Item 22
Letters from N.S.W., 1862-1864

Item 23
Letters from N.S.W., 1865-1868

Item 24
Letters from N.S.W., 1869-1876

BOX 5
Item 25
Letters from Victoria, 1860-1879

Item 26
Letters from Queensland, 1855-1879 (Cat. nos 933-1082)

Item 27
Letters from Tasmania, 1859-1878

Item 28
Letters from South Australia, 1858-1877 (Cat. nos 910-913)

Item 29
Letters from Western Australia, 1866-1878 (Cat. nos 914-932)

Item 30
Letters from New Zealand, 1857-1873 (Cat. nos 890-909)

Item 31
Letters from English correspondents, 1858-1871

Item 32A
Papers including biographical material on Methodist clergy in Australia with manuscript and typescript articles relating to Methodism in Australia, one written by Rev. James Colwell, 1858-ca. 1907; notebook entitled ‘Extracts re New South Wales Methodism from the Private Diary of the late Rev. Jos. Oram and the Obituary of the Rev. John McKenny, taken from the English Conference Minutes of 1848’

Item 32B
Thirteen photographic prints and two drawings, all mounted on card, depicting Wesleyan churches, clergy and documents, most mounts stamped or marked ‘The Crown Studios’. This material was most likely assembled by James Colwell for use in his book ‘The Illustrated History of Methodism. Australia 1812 to 1855; New South Wales and Polynesia 1856 to 1902.’ Sydney: William Brooks and Co., 1904.

Item 33
Reports and other documents relating to missions in Fiji and New Zealand, with subjects including Fijian language, pastimes, ornaments and mission schools and New Zealand mission schools, 1843-1886

B 1503
Volume stamped on spine ‘Wesleyan Methodist Missionary Society material purchased 1915-6’ containing a list of material submitted by Angus and Robertson to the N.S.W. Public Library in 1915 and subsequently purchased. The entries are numbered from 1-1339.

The original arrangement of the letters is not known, although some letters are numbered in ink. The letters were at a subsequent time arranged in bundles or ‘items’ organised either by correspondent name or location, and this arrangement has been preserved. In some cases these groupings are consistent with the catalogue numbers in B 1503.

Copyright status:: In copyright - This collection has multiple rights owners
Research & study copies allowed: Applies only to material in which the author has been deceased for more than 50 years