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Missionaries' Correspondence

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Missionaries' Correspondence

Collection: Tanzania and Malawi in Records from Colonial Missionaries, 1857-1965    Volumes    Missionaries' Correspondence
This correspondence reveals a history of the mission's relationship with the native people they sought to convert which is at times tumultuous. Alongside the preaching and lessons that might be expected from missionaries, are guidelines regarding appropriate punishments and incidents where individuals condone wife beating. However, a missionary bishop did object to a member of the Goverment's alleged proposal that female slaves should not be emancipated with their male counterparts, lest their masters should be left lacking concubines. Various items within this grouping discuss sightings of and interactions with both slaves and their captors; however. general agreement upon their right to freedom sits alongside derogatory remarks toward their race as a whole. Deaths are frequent in these accounts with cholera and water-born diseases frequently killing both natives and missionaries; deaths are also caused by serious famines, the war between the Manganju and Anjewa peoples, and the 1905 rebellion. Some traces of African history are present in this grouping, though it is a version interpreted through the eyes of missionaries. The missionaries made notes regarding the Swahili and Makua languages, recorded details of the war betweem the Manganju and the Anjewa, described how accusations of witchcraft were dealt with, recorded the migration of a tribe with c.5000 members to avoid capture and forced labour, and provided accounts of the 1905 rebellion as it unfolded. This voluminous selection of correspondence provides a detailed overview of how the missionaries both saw and experienced their time in Africa, before many of them met their sudden deaths.
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Correspondence from J. P. Fixsen to his mother part 3

With only two exceptions, these letters are all written by J.F.Fixen to his mother. They include discussion of plans for a church in Libya, details of how many locals have...

Date:1857-1965
Contributor:Rhodes House Library
Identifier:72542cB23

Correspondence from J. P. Fixsen to his mother part 2

An update on the work conducted in Nyasaland between 1919 and 1923 features commentary on Portugese poll tax rises and seizure of people for plantation work, moves which resulted in...

Date:1857-1965
Contributor:Rhodes House Library
Identifier:72542cB22

Zanzibar - Miscellaneous Letters and J. P. Fixsen Correspondence part 1

These papers discuss the difficulty involved in disposal of the goods of deceased missionaries who have not made a will, the appointment of a new Bishop, arrangements for the upcoming...

Date:1857-1965
Contributor:Rhodes House Library
Identifier:72542cB21

Correspondence and papers of Bishop Hine 1901-1909 part 3

Correspondence and printed works by and relating to Bishop Hine, including an account of Bishop Hine in the Zanzibar Gazette and a selection of pastoral letters written by him between...

Date:1857-1965
Contributor:Rhodes House Library
Identifier:72542cB20

Correspondence and papers of Bishop Hine 1901-1909 part 2

These letters include some correspondence written prior to the uprising and more covering the development of the rebellion. The former includes a description of the Kilwa uprising, then a letter...

Date:1857-1965
Contributor:Rhodes House Library
Identifier:72542cB19

Correspondence and papers of Bishop Hine 1901-1909 part 1

Amongst this mission-related business correspondence and personal opinions of Africa, are accounts of the 1905 rebellion which saw women evacuated to Lindi, a Bishop speared, and mission properties burnt to...

Date:1857-1965
Contributor:Rhodes House Library
Identifier:72542cB18

Correspondence and papers of Bishop Hine 1892-1901

These items predominantly consist of discussion relating to the challenges faced by the mission with regard to staffing and with increasing their congregation. Within these records is a letter from...

Date:1857-1965
Contributor:Rhodes House Library
Identifier:72542cB17

Correspondence and papers of Rev. Chauncy Maples 1877-96

This correspondence reveals some conflict within the mission as to whether the native husbands should be allowed to beat native wives who are suspected of adultery. Chauncy Maples expressed his...

Date:1857-1965
Contributor:Rhodes House Library
Identifier:72542cB16
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