Correspondence and diaries of the Rt Revd George Bell (1883-1958), successively student of Christ Church, chaplain to Archbishop Randall Davidson, Dean of Canterbury, and from 1929 Bishop of Chichester.
This extensive collection includes material on the German churches before and after the Second World War, the allies' war policy, relief work among refugees, the atomic bomb, the ecumenical movement and Churches overseas, South Africa, religious drama and art, liturgy, and church and state relations.
The Christian Faith Society originated in 1691 in a bequest of Robert Boyle for advancing religion among infidels, and was renamed in 1794 the Society for the Conversion and Religious Education of the Negro Slaves in the British West-India Islands and in 1836 the Society for Advancing the Christian Faith in the British West-India Islands.
The papers comprise minutes, correspondence and accounts, 1642-1956.
A micropublication of the Christian Faith Society is available from World Microfilms [1]
The Church Society was founded in 1950 by the merger of the Church Association (f.1865) and the National Protestant League (f.1906), which was itself an amalgamation of the National Protestant Church Union (f.1893) and the Church of England League (f.1904), formerly the Ladies League (f.1899).
The collection comprises minutes of the Church Association and its committees from 1867, and the National Protestant Church League, 1919-49.
The English Church Union was founded in 1860 by the merger of the Church of England Protection Society (f.1859) with a number of local church societies with the similar object of defending and propagating high church principles. In 1934 the ECU united with the Anglo-Catholic Congress to form the Church Union.
The collection comprises minutes of the ECU and CU, Anglo-Catholic Congresses, Bristol Church Union, and parochial returns on reservation, 1954.
Records of ecclesiastical administration during the Commonwealth period, including parochial surveys, and surveys of the former episcopal and capitular estates, records of appointment of clergy and augmentation of benefices. Originally numbered in the manuscript sequence as 902-22, 944-50, 966-1021, these were renumbered in the 1960s as a separate collection.
A micropublication of the Commonwealth Records is available from World Microfilms [2]
Further information is available in:
Houston, J. Catalogue of Ecclesiastical Records of the Commonwealth 1643-1660 in the Lambeth Palace Library (1968).
Doctors' Commons, the association or college of ecclesiastical lawyers founded in 1511 and situated in Knightrider Street, London, was dissolved following the Court of Probate Act, 1857.
Its records were dispersed, but most of those that survive are in the Library. These comprise the register, 1511-1855, a 19th century minute book, and financial and estate papers. For further details and a calendar of the register of Doctors' Commons (DC 1), see G.D. Squibb, Doctors' Commons. A history of the College of advocates and doctors of law, (1977).
Correspondence of Canon J.A. Douglas, vicar of St. Luke, Camberwell, and from 1933 Hon. General Secretary of the Church of England Council on Foreign Relations, concerning relations between the Church of England and the Eastern Orthodox Churches during the first half of the 20th century.
The Library holds the official papers of several Bishops of London, known as the Fulham Papers as they were were transferred from Fulham Palace, the former Bishops' residence.
The majority of the collection dates from the 18th-19th centuries and includes correspondence on the administration of the diocese of London, and on the churches, particularly in America and the West Indies, which came under the bishop's jurisdiction at the time.
It also includes a series of visitation returns, 1763-1900, the earlier volumes being in the Guildhall Library [3], which houses the majority of records of the diocese. Further diocesan records are held at London Metropolitan Archives (ref: DL).
There are a number of finding aids to Faculty Office material which do not yet form part of our online catalogue (see attachment, right).
A micropublication of the colonial sections of the papers is available in several American libraries and may also be purchased from World Microfilms Limited [4], who also publish micropublications of the letterbooks of Bishop Blomfield and the London visitation returns 1763-1815.
The records of the Incorporated Church Building Society (ICBS) comprise the minute books and some 16,000 files relating to applications for grants for the building and restoration of churches thoughout England and Wales, from the foundation of the Society in 1818 until 1982. Applications were made on a standard form which included data on the population and character of the parish, as well as information on the church building.
The church plans relating to the files have been digitised and are now available through the Church Plans Online [5] website. The site also includes a list of the files, and identifies the churches, reasons for the grants, and the names of surveyors, architects or other professionals responsible for the buildings, and indicates the existence of plans and photographs.
Also of use is "List of I.C.B.S. grants, 1818-1927" (from The Incorporated Church Building Society annual report for ... 1927).
Correspondence and papers of the Revd. John Keble and various relatives, including Thomas Keble, vicar of Bisley, 1778-1894.
This collection is on deposit and the Library is unable to provide copies in any form.
The Lord Wharton Charity was founded in 1692 by Philip Wharton, 4th Baron Wharton, for the purchase of bibles, catechisms and other books for poor children in Buckinghamshire, Cumberland, Westmorland, and Yorkshire. The collection includes accounts, minutes and papers, mainly 19th-20th century.
Records created by the headquarters of the Mothers' Union (MU), Mary Sumner House, Westminster. Founded to promote the sanctity of marriage and Christian family life, the MU was primarily interested in the morality of society, and its activity ranged from petitioning parliament to running family fun days. By the early 20th century, the MU had established itself in dioceses overseas, undertaking a mix of missionary and development work.
The archive comprises minutes, correspondence, accounts, pamphlets, architectural plans, photographs and slides. The majority of the archive dates from the 1890s onwards, as it was not until then that the Mothers' Union established a centralised structure. The papers also contain a few series of documents originating from members who, although not always based at Mary Sumner House, played important roles within the organisation.
Correspondence and papers of the Royal Commission on Ecclesiastical Discipline, which was appointed in 1904 and reported in 1906: Report of the Royal Commission on Discipline, together with Minutes of evidence taken before the Royal Commission.
The papers comprise 25 volumes, including minute books, surveys of churches where ritualist practices had been introduced, 1901-5, and newspaper cuttings, 1904-6.
Copy of 48 sermons preached between 1672 and 1689. They are attributed to John Kettlewell (1653-1695), but the authorship is uncertain.
This collection is on deposit and the Library is unable to provide copies in any form.
Correspondence and papers of SPG, comprising the papers of John Chamberlayne, first secretary of SPG, 1702-11, later given to the Archbishop of Canterbury, minutes, 1701-50, financial records, 1702-96, and some late 18th century correspondence of the Archbishops of Canterbury relating to the church overseas and the establishment of episcopacy in America.
For other correspondence, 1702-14, see the Tenison volume in Archbishops Papers and for minutes of SPG, 1758-66, see MS 1124. within the manuscripts series.
Micropublication of the SPG Papers is available in a number of American Libraries and may be purchased from World Microfilms Limited [6]
Further information is available in:
Manross, W.W. S.P.G. Papers in the Lambeth Palace Library. Calendar and Indexes, (Oxford, 1974).
The archives of SPG records are held at the Bodleian Library of Commonwealth and African Studies at Rhodes House [7].
The Society was instituted in 1788 for the relief of country clergy, 'the tenor of whose preaching is according to the doctrinal articles of the Church of England'. The records comprise minute books and registers, 1788-1864.
A miscellaneous collection of material on the history of the Library, including obsolete catalogues, ranging from the earliest, which provides a catalogue of the books and manuscripts of the Library's founder, Archbishop Bancroft, in 1612 and includes an account of the Library's foundation (F1), to those of previous Librarians (Paul Colomiès, David Wilkins, A.C. Ducarel, S.R. Maitland and S.W. Kershaw).
Also included are letter-books of Claude Jenkins, Lambeth Librarian, correspondence, mainly 20th century, a few visitors' books, and annual reports. Refer also to the source guide on the history of the Library.
Links:
[1] http://www.microworld.uk.com/
[2] http://www.microworld.uk.com/
[3] http://ihr.sas.ac.uk/gh/
[4] http://www.microworld.uk.com/
[5] http://www.churchplansonline.org
[6] http://www.microworld.uk.com/
[7] http://www.ouls.ox.ac.uk/rhodes