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Ghana in Records from Colonial Missionaries, 1886-1951

Person holding a holy bible and cross in their hands and praying as the sun rises.

Ghana through the eyes of Anglican missionaries, 1886–1951

The present is a most critical moment for us who are trying under the greatest difficulties to hold our own and to make some headway against heathenism, and against the most regrettable indifference of so many, who though baptised, elsewhere, have lapsed into practical heathenism, or even worse.
Committee of Women's Work (1907), img 4

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USPG records from Ghana

Ghana in Records from Colonial Missionaries, 1886–1951 was curated in association with the Bodleian Library. 

This collection contains records compiled by the United Society Partners in the Gospel (USPG), a UK-based Anglican missionary organisation that operates globally. From the eighteenth to the early twentieth century the USPG went by the name of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts (SPG). 

The SPG’s mission was established at Cape Coast Castle in 1752 by Rev. Thomas Thompson. Thompson was succeeded by Rev. Philip Quaque, the first African to be ordained a priest of the Church of England. The mid-nineteenth century saw a revival of Anglican missionary activity with the arrival of missionaries sent by the Mission of the West Indian Church to West Africa, an organisation that was based in Barbados.

This collection contains letters, reports, and supplementary material relating to missionaries who worked in Ghana throughout the period 1886–1951. These documents contain a wealth of information, especially with regard to the spread of English education and to the introduction of education for women. The collection provides students and academics with unique insights into the evolution of the SPG and the broader development of Christianity in Ghana.

Contents

Ghana in Records from Colonial Missionaries, 1886-1951...

Ghana through the eyes of Anglican missionaries, 1886–1951

Discover 
Wood graving of a historic view of Cape Coast Castle - one of around 35 historic forts on the Gold Coast (now Ghana).

Highlights

Licensed to access Correspondence, 1907

This document contains letters sent and received by the ­­Committee of Women’s Work. This organisation aimed to introduce education for women.

Licensed to access West Africa, vol 4

This document contains letters received by the SPG in West Africa. It covers the plan, drawn-up in 1914, to utilise education so as to gain control from future Ashanti chiefs.

Licensed to access Correspondence of Bishop Hamlyn, 1905–1909

This document contains the correspondence of Bishop Hamlyn relating to a project to erect a church at Sekondi.

Licensed to access Missionary reports, 1910–1919

This document contains missionary reports. These include statistics, such as the number of people baptised in a year.

Insights

  • The SPG was founded in 1701 and originally sent priests and teachers to America. It expanded into the West Indies, Canada, Australia, and West Africa throughout the eighteenth century.

  • A key aim of the SPG in Ghana was to spread education. These records therefore contain considerable material relating to schooling.

  • The original letters from abroad cover West Africa from 1899 to 1933. They include Sierra Leone 1900–1933; Ghana 1903; Cape Verde 1904–1910; and St. Vincent 1907–1912.

  • The Committee of Women’s Work was responsible for the introduction of education for women. These records highlight how the First World War affected this organisation’s strategy.

Licensed to access Wesleyan and Primitive Methodist Periodicals, 1744-1960

1744   1960

Licensed to access Colonial Women Missionaries of the Committee for Women's Work, 1861-1967

1861   1967

Licensed to access Tanzania and Malawi in Records from Colonial Missionaries, 1857-1965

1857   1965

Licensed to access Australia in Records from Colonial Missionaries, 1808-1967

1808   1967
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