The West Indies in Records from Colonial Missionaries, 1704-1950
The West Indies through the eyes of Anglican missionaries, 1704-1950
The papers of the SPG remain an invaluable source for the study of developing countries from the eighteenth century onwardsUniversity College of Wales, Aberystwyth
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The West Indies through the eyes of Anglican missionaries, 1704-1950
The West Indies in Records from Colonial Missionaries, 1704-1950 was curated in association with the Bodleian Library.
This collection contains records compiled by the United Society Partners in Gospel (USPG), a UK-based Anglican missionary organisation that operates around the world. 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). This collection contains letters, reports, and supplementary material relating to missionaries in the West Indies during the period 1704-1950.
This collection tracks a shift in the SPG’s purpose. Originally, as the owners of enslaved people, the SPG shifted into missionary work, focusing on spreading the gospel to the recently emancipated. The collection highlights the injustices generated by this form of evangelism, as the society received a charitable gift in the form of Codrington College to educate black children. Yet, this funding was instead used as a source of private income and for a school for white children. It took more than a century before black children were educated at this school.
The collection contains a wealth of information, including: the progress of the mission; details on the declining support for missionaries in the West Indies; information on Codrington College; and insights into how monetary grants were spent. The papers, therefore, provide students and academics with a unique insight into the evolution of the SPG and of the development of Christianity in the West Indies.
Contents
The West Indies in Records from Colonial Missionaries, 1704-1950...
The West Indies through the eyes of Anglican missionaries, 1704-1950
Volumes & Documents
Highlights
Insights
This archive contains information on the West Indies from the perspective of its Anglican missionaries. Included are documents relating to the Bahamas, Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica, Trinidad, Antigua, Nevis, and Montserrat.
The reports included discussions concerning poverty; war; smallpox; the treatment of enslaved people; the loyalty of missionaries in the Bahamas; the emancipation of enslaved people; and resistance to educating black children on the part of authorities.
Codrington College was believed to have been donated to the SPG to educate black children. This collection includes papers that reveal the story of the College, including its initial reluctance to provide education to black children.
Documents include correspondence and reports from the West Indies, between 1704 and 1950, informing the SPG headquarters of the progress of the mission.
