Phillips Papers

IDENTITY STATEMENT
Reference code(s): GB 1835 PHP
Held at: Henry Martyn Centre
Domain: archival
Title: Phillips Papers
Date(s) of contents: 1902-1997
Level of description: Fonds
Extent and medium: 5 boxes of correspondence, newsletters, articles, diaries and photographs.

CONTEXT

Name of creator(s): Phillips, Anne Phillips, John

Administrative/Biographical history: John and Anne Phillips served with the Church Missionary Society (CMS) in Nigeria, arriving there in 1954. John became tutor at the Dennis Memorial Grammar School at Onitsha and, later, principal of the James Welch Grammar School, Emevor. Anne practised as a doctor. They then moved to Sierra Leone and back home to Liverpool before being invited back to the Diocese of Niger where John was appointed as Vice Principal of the Dennis Grammar School and Religious Education Advisor to the diocese. Their stay in Nigeria bred an abiding interest in the history of Christianity and missionary activity in the region and they became collectors of diaries and other papers written by their predecessors as missionaries with the CMS.

Custodial history:

Immediate source of acquisition: Anne Phillips donated some papers to the Henry Martyn Centre in 1997. A further donation was made in 2002.

CONTENT AND STRUCTURE

Scope and content/abstract: The papers reflect the researches of the Phillips into the history of the Niger Mission, which was established in Onitsha in 1857 by Bishop Samuel Adjai Crowther (an indigenous mission teacher who was created Bishop of "the Countries of Western Africa beyond the Queen's dominions" in 1964, thus becoming the first bishop of African descent). In particular there are many documents on the life and work of Bishop Bertram Lasbery, who became the first Bishop on the Niger in 1922 where he stayed until 1945. He was instrumental in the foundation of the Dennis Memorial Grammar School (the first grammar school in Onitsha, Igboland, named after Thomas John Dennis, a CMS missionary who served for 24 years in Sierra Leone and in Nigeria).

The detailed descriptions of the missionaries of the people, culture and landscapes in which they worked paint a vivid portrait of the lives and achievements of the Niger Mission; papers of other missionaries include:
Miss Frances Dennis, Asaba (1902-1909)
Canon Charles Foster, CMS missionary in Onitsha, Nigeria (1920s to the 1950s) and Principal of the Dennis Memorial Grammar School, Onitsha.
Bishop Morris Gelsthorpe, Eha (1920s)
Margaret and John Hubbard, Isoko (1920s)
Edith Warner, CMS missionary at Onitsha, Nigeria, and founder of St. Monica's College (1892-1924)
James Welch, CMS missionary at Isoko, Nigeria (1929-1935 and the 1950s), Director of Religious Broadcasting at the BBC (1939-1946), lecturer at Ibadan University (1950s) and director of the CMS Training Board (1960s).
Elizabeth Wilkinson, (née Macdonald), CMS missionary at Akwa, near Onitsha in Nigeria (1920s and 1930s)

System of arrangement:

PHP 1-3 - Papers relating to the life of Bertram Lasbery
PHP 4 - Papers relating to the life of James Welch
PHP 5 - Diaries of Miss Frances Dennis
PHP 6 - Diary of Bishop Gelsthorpe
PHP 7 - Writings of and papers relating to Elizabeth Wilkinson
PHP 8 - Papers of Margaret and John Hubbard
PHP 9 - Biography of Edith Warner
PHP 10 - Canon Foster's photographs

ACCESS AND USE

Language: English.

Conditions governing access: Refer to repository.

Conditions governing reproduction:

Finding aids: A handlist is available.

ALLIED MATERIALS

Related material: The Henry Martyn Centre also holds the Walker Papers and Papers relating to the Diocese of Northern Nigeria.

Copies: Can be provided

DESCRIPTION NOTES

Note: Compiled using the collection itself, and:
Biographical dictionary of Christian missions, ed. by Gerald H. Anderson (New York: Simon & Schuster Macmillan, 1998).

Date(s) of descriptions: April 2002

INDEX ENTRIES

Subjects

Africa

African cultures

Anglican missionary societies

Christianity

Climate

Colonial administration

Customs and traditions

Diaries

Education

Educational missionaries

Educational missionary work

Female circumcision (Nigeria)

Medical missionaries

Mission schools

Missionary work

Missions

Non-Christian religions

Photographs

Religion

Religious activities

Rural missionary work

Schools

Witchcraft

Wives of missionaries

Women missionaries

Personal names

Crowther | Samuel Adjai | c 1807-1891 | first bishop of African descent

Dennis | Thomas John | 1869-1917 | Church Missionary Society missionary in Sierra Leone and Nigeria

Foster | Canon Charles | 1904-1987 | Canon and Church Missionary Society missionary in Onitsha, Nigeria

Lasbery | Bishop Bertram | 1881-1976 | Bishop on the Niger 1922-1945

Warner | Edith | 1867-1925 | Church Missionary Society missionary at Onitsha, Nigeria, 1893-1924

Welch | James | 1900-1967 | Church Missionary Society missionary at Isoko, Nigeria 1929-1935 and director of Church Missionary Society Training Board

Wilkinson | Elizabeth | 1901-1991 | née MacDonald | Church Missionary Society missionary at Akwa, Nigeria, 1920s and 1930s.

Corporate names

Church Missionary Society

Dennis Memorial Grammar School

Diocese of the Niger

Ibadan University

Niger Mission

Places

Africa

Nigeria

Sierra Leone

West Africa