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REGIONS BEYOND MISSIONARY UNION ARCHIVE

Part 1: Minute Books of the Regions Beyond Missionary Union, 1903-1955

Part 2: Correspondence and Reports of Regions Beyond Missionary Union: The Congo Mission,

            1888-1955

Part 3: Correspondence and Reports of Regions Beyond Missionary Union; Peru, Argentina, India, Nepal,

            Kaliminta and Irian Jaya, 1893-1955

Part 4: Regions Beyond, 1878-1981, and Horizons, 1981-1990

Part 5: Correspondence and Reports of Regions Beyond Missionary Union: All Regions, c1955-1990

 

Regions Beyond Missionary Union: An Archival History

This collection of Regions Beyond Missionary Union material was deposited at the Centre for the Study of Christianity in the Non-Western World in 1991 after the mission had been dissolved. It consists of the surviving records of the London office of the mission which acted as headquarters and which was where most of the business was administered. As such the archive includes material generated by the central office, board and executive secretaries such as minutes, reports and correspondence as well as material sent to headquarters from the field or from regional and national councils. This mission began as a family led undertaking and the close involvement of the Guinnesses, particularly in the early years, is reflected in the survival of the records. Official councils were not constituted until several years after the East London Training Institute was opened, the business was dealt with by the Guinnesses and the records, in particular the voluminous correspondence they received from the field and many of the accompanying papers and photographs, were kept in their hands and have been lost. The lack of early editions of Regions Beyond and annual reports can also be explained by the fact they remained with the Guinness family, as a separate mission office did not exist at the time (see related material below). As the mission grew and was run on a more business-like basis throughout the twentieth century the amount of surviving records increased. As with any archive, survival has depended to some extent on the efficiency of the office staff or an accident. The office changed location several times and this, and a possible fire during the Second World War, probably led to a loss of records. From the appointment of Ernest Oliver in 1961 the records, and in particular the correspondence, became much more complete. The London office also acted as a centre for the publicity and deputation work undertaken by missionaries and others. Some of the early material used for this, in particular the lantern slides and photographs, has been lost or was kept by individual missionaries, but there is a large volume of later material such as soundslide sets and films. When the mission was dissolved it is possible that some records were passed to other agencies who were to be responsible for the RBMU work. A collection of soundslide sets, for example, was added to the archive in 1995, having been sent to the Centre by Latin Link, the body operating in the RBMU region of South America. The RBMU collection also contains an amount of material that had originally been collected by RBMU director G W Forbes Smith and which was presented to the Centre on a separate occasion.

System of Arrangement and Access

Before the material was presented to the Centre, it was partially sorted and arranged by the mission. This arrangement has been largely kept as reflecting the order in which the records were created and the different sections of the mission’s activities. On the request of the mission, material after a certain date, usually 1976, has been classed as restricted. The date was chosen as it coincided with the hand-over from one executive secretary to another and the records are stored separately.

Language/Scripts of Material


The predominant language is English, but the records also include many of the languages and dialects of the regions in which the mission operated and some of the later correspondence is in French or German, particularly that concerned with the Congo.

Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements


The slides can be viewed without special equipment at CSCNWW but a projector is needed to view them at full size. A tape player is needed to listen to the audio-cassettes. Many of the films have been copied onto video, although some were of very poor quality. In general the material is in good physical condition.

Related Material


The surviving members of the Guinness family retain some relevant records. Many of these relate to the Guinnesses rather than directly to RBMU such as a personal diary belonging to Harry Grattan Guinness (1887) and some correspondence between Henry Grattan and Grace Guinness. Records relating to Lucy Guinness, including her diaries and correspondence, are in the possession of the Kumm family in America, although the Guinness family has some copies. Some Guinness records have been deposited elsewhere: the library of the Gordon Guinness, grandson of Henry Grattan Guinness, for example, is in the possession of All Nations Bible College at Ware. It includes books by Henry Grattan Guinness ad Harry Grattan Guinness, volumes of Regions Beyond and some early annual reports. These are likely to be the ones missing from the Centre’s collection. The British Library and Yale University in America hold copies of Regions Beyond and other mission publications and the National Library of Scotland also has some publications and a copy of Other Seventy Also, an early mission annual report. The existence of Councils in North America and in particular the separation of RBMU UK from RBMU International, led to the creation and retention of records in America and Canada. RBMU International became part of World Team in 1995 and RBMU minutes, reports and correspondence still exist in their American and Canadian offices. The archives of the United Mission to Nepal are at the Centre for the Study of Christianity in the Non-Western World. Records that belonged to individual missionaries survive in many locations. Otago Museum in New Zealand, for example, has a collection of early 20th century lantern slides deposited by David K McDonald, a CBM missionary. The School of Oriental and African Studies in London holds a collection of photographs relating to the mission in India (MS 380389, Banks Photograph Collection, c 1897-1940). The involvement of the mission and, in particular missionaries like John and Alice Harris, in the campaign against atrocities in Congo, means that relevant records can be found in the offices of Anti-Slavery International in London, in the Anti Slavery Society archives at Rhodes House in Oxford and in the British Library of Political and Economic Science. Information about the survival of records in the field is difficult to come by, much has been lost but there may be relevant material in the hands of local churches or present day mission agencies. In Congo the Centre Aequatoria has a large collection of documents and pamphlets, including schoolbooks and religious textbooks written by RBMU missionaries.

Other Sources


The mission published numerous pamphlets relating to its work as well as the journal Regions Beyond, many of which can be found in the collection. Articles in Regions Beyond and other publications often detail the history of activities in various fields. Three fairly recent histories of the mission as a whole have been published: For Such A Time (Elizabeth Pritchard, Eastbourne: Victory Press, 1973); The Cloud Moves (Kenneth Holmes, London: RBMU, 1974); and Drumbreats That Changed the World (Joseph Conley, Pasadena, CA: William Carey Library, 2000). Michelle Guinness’s The Guinness Legend (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1989) gives a detailed account of the origins of the mission and the early years.

Caroline Brown
8 August 2001

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