GB 0102 MMS/Special Series/Biographical/Central Africa/FBN 13-14 & MMS Boxes 611B-C - Smith, Edwin

5 boxes

The papers were deposited with the Methodist Missionary Society and form part of the special series of biographical papers of individual missionaries, including an additional deposit (Boxes 611B-C) made by Smith's grandson in 1997.
GB 0102 MMS/Special Series/Biographical/Central Africa/FBN 13-14 & MMS Boxes 611B-C 1877-1949 Collection (fonds) 5 boxes Smith , Edwin William , 1876-1957 , missionary, anthropologist and linguist

Born at Aliwal North, Cape Colony, 7th September 1876; son of the Rev John Smith (1840-1915) and his second wife Fanny Jeary (married 1874), Primitive Methodist missionaries; studied at Elmfield College, York; accepted for the ministry, 1897; Primitive Methodist missionary in Basutoland [Lesotho], South Africa, 1898-1902; married Julia Anne (née Fitch), 3rd October 1899; joined the mission to the Baila-Batonga in northern Rhodesia [Zambia], 1902; at Nanzela, 1902-1908; at Mexborough, 1908-1909; pioneered the mission at Kasenga, 1909-1915; reduced the Ila language to written form, made a grammar and dictionary, and translated most of the New Testament; returned to England, 1915; military chaplain in France, 1915-1916; seconded to the British and Foreign Bible Society, 1916-1939; initially its secretary in Rome, Italy; later at the Society's headquarters giving editorial supervision to Scripture translations in many languages; editorial superintendent, 1933-1939; a prominent anthropologist and pioneer of the study of indigenous African religious beliefs; founder member of the International Institute of African Languages and Cultures (later the International African Institute), 1926; President of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, 1933-1935; retired from the church, 1939; taught in north America, at the Kennedy School of Missions, Hartford Seminary, and at Fisk University, 1939-1944; editor of Africa, journal of the International Institute of African Languages and Cultures, 1945-1948; honorary Doctor of Divinity from University of Winnipeg, c1937; honorary Doctor of Divinity, University of Toronto, 1942; died at Deal, Kent, 1957. Publications: works on the Ila language and people, anthropological works, works relating to inter-racial relations, and research on missionary history and biography, including: Handbook of the Ila Language (1907); with A M Dale, The Ila-speaking Peoples of Northern Rhodesia (1920); Robert Moffat (1925); The Golden Stool (1926); The Secret of the African (1929); Aggrey of Africa (1929); African Belief and Christian Faith (1936); The Mabilles of Basutoland (1939); The Life and Times of Daniel Lindley (1947); edited African Ideas of God (1950); biography of Roger Price, Great Lion of Bechuanaland (1957).

The papers were deposited with the Methodist Missionary Society and form part of the special series of biographical papers of individual missionaries, including an additional deposit (Boxes 611B-C) made by Smith's grandson in 1997.

Deposited on permanent loan with the records of the Methodist Missionary Society from 1978.

Papers, 1877-1949, of Edwin Smith, comprising Smith's typescript and manuscript translations from religious texts into the Ila language, 1905-c1915, manuscript account of Ila, 1902, and manuscript account of Primitive Methodist missions in Africa, c1929; Smith's general official correspondence files, 1901-1913, the subjects including mission activities and finance; press cuttings, notes, and manuscript by Smith on the Baila-Batonga mission, 1890s-1900s; press cuttings on African, missionary, and Methodist affairs, 1897-1907, Smith's journal, 1898-1901, notes, typescripts and printed material, 1877-1924 and undated, by Smith and others on Ila and missionary work, and two manuscripts in Afrikaans, 1877 and undated (copy letters of the Rev John Smith, 1885-1886); undated photographs of Aliwal North, Basutoland, Nanzela and Kasenga missions (Ref: Box 611B); a letter from Smith in Aliwal North to his mother, 1900 (Ref: Box 611C/1); diary and pamphlet concerning Smith's journey to Nanzela, 1909 (Ref: Box 611C/2); Smith's diaries of trips to Egypt, Palestine, the Sudan, USA, Canada, and South Africa, 1929-1949 (Ref: Box 611C/3).

N/A.

Unrestricted, but only to be viewed on microfiche where copies exist (MMS/Special Series/Biographical/Central Africa/FBN 13-14). Where copies do not exist (Boxes 611B-611C), researchers should request original material.

No publication without written permission. Apply to archivist in the first instance.
English, Ila, Afrikaans

Unpublished handlist to item level.

Some material published on microfiche by IDC Publishers.

The School of Oriental and African Studies holds the records of the Primitive Methodist Missionary Society (Ref: MMS/PMMS), including files relating to Smith's work, 1898-1924, largely comprising letters from Smith relating to his time as a missionary in Africa (including MMS/PMMS/Correspondence/South and Central Africa/FBN 16-17). Reports written by Smith may also be extant within (MMS/PMMS/Reports/Quarterly/FBN 3-4).

Compiled by Rachel Kemsley as part of the RSLP AIM25 project. Sources: Dictionary of National Biography; Biographical Dictionary of Christian Missions, ed Gerald H Anderson (1998); Alphabetical Arrangement of Wesleyan Methodist Ministers (1947); Wesleyan Methodist Church Minutes of Conference (1958), p 182; British Library OPAC. Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997. Mar 2002 African cultures African languages Aliwal North Ancient religions Anthropologists Bantu languages Basutoland Canada Central Africa Christianity Christians Clergy Diaries Documents East Africa Egypt Ethnic groups Evangelistic missionaries Evangelistic missionary work Information sources Kasenga Lesotho Linguists Literary forms and genres Literature Methodism Methodists Middle East Mission administration Missionaries Missionary societies Missionary work Mission policy Nanzela National cultures Newspaper press Nonfiction North Africa North America Ordained missionaries Palestine Photographs Press Press cuttings Primary documents Primitive Methodist Missionary Society Prose Protestantism Protestant nonconformists Protestant nonconformity Protestants Province of the Eastern Cape Religions Religious activities Religious doctrines Religious groups Religious institutions Religious movements Religious organizations Religious texts Smith , Edwin William , 1876-1957 , missionary, anthropologist and linguist Smith , John , 1840-1915 , missionary Social scientists South Africa Southern Africa Sudan Theology Translations Travel Travel abroad Tribes USA Visual materials Zaire Zambia Nonconformists Nonconformity

Deposited on permanent loan with the records of the Methodist Missionary Society from 1978.

Papers, 1877-1949, of Edwin Smith, comprising Smith's typescript and manuscript translations from religious texts into the Ila language, 1905-c1915, manuscript account of Ila, 1902, and manuscript account of Primitive Methodist missions in Africa, c1929; Smith's general official correspondence files, 1901-1913, the subjects including mission activities and finance; press cuttings, notes, and manuscript by Smith on the Baila-Batonga mission, 1890s-1900s; press cuttings on African, missionary, and Methodist affairs, 1897-1907, Smith's journal, 1898-1901, notes, typescripts and printed material, 1877-1924 and undated, by Smith and others on Ila and missionary work, and two manuscripts in Afrikaans, 1877 and undated (copy letters of the Rev John Smith, 1885-1886); undated photographs of Aliwal North, Basutoland, Nanzela and Kasenga missions (Ref: Box 611B); a letter from Smith in Aliwal North to his mother, 1900 (Ref: Box 611C/1); diary and pamphlet concerning Smith's journey to Nanzela, 1909 (Ref: Box 611C/2); Smith's diaries of trips to Egypt, Palestine, the Sudan, USA, Canada, and South Africa, 1929-1949 (Ref: Box 611C/3).

N/A.

Unrestricted, but only to be viewed on microfiche where copies exist (MMS/Special Series/Biographical/Central Africa/FBN 13-14). Where copies do not exist (Boxes 611B-611C), researchers should request original material.

No publication without written permission. Apply to archivist in the first instance.

• Engels

• Latijn

English, Ila, Afrikaans

The School of Oriental and African Studies holds the records of the Primitive Methodist Missionary Society (Ref: MMS/PMMS), including files relating to Smith's work, 1898-1924, largely comprising letters from Smith relating to his time as a missionary in Africa (including MMS/PMMS/Correspondence/South and Central Africa/FBN 16-17). Reports written by Smith may also be extant within (MMS/PMMS/Reports/Quarterly/FBN 3-4).

Unpublished handlist to item level.

Some material published on microfiche by IDC Publishers.

Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.

• Engels