Trust Society for the Furtherance of the Gospel

IDENTITY STATEMENT
Reference code(s): GB 2160
Held at: Moravian Church Archive and Library
Domain: archival
Title: Trust Society for the Furtherance of the Gospel
Date(s) of contents: 1745 -
Level of description: Fonds
Extent and medium: Archival material including minute books, diaries, letters; visual material including glass negatives and photographs

CONTEXT

Name of creator(s):

Brethren's Society for the Furtherance of the Gospel among the Heathen
Society for the Furtherance of the Gospel
Latrobe, Christian Ignatius (1758-1836)

Trust Society for the Furtherance of the Gospel

Administrative/Biographical history: The Society for the Furtherance of the Gospel (S.F.G.) was founded by the Moravian Church in 1741 in order to undertake missionary activities around the world. On 17 September 1921 it was incorporated to become the Trust Society for the Furtherance of the Gospel (T.S.F.G.).

See also:
Samuel Baudert, The advance guard: 200 years of Moravian missions 1732-1932 (London: Moravian Book Room, c1932).
John Taylor Hamilton, A history of the missions of the Moravian Church, during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries (Bethlehem: 1901).
Joseph Edmund Hutton, A history of Moravian missions (London: Moravian Publication Office,1923).
B. La Trobe, The Moravian missions: a galnce at 164 years of unbroken missionary labours , London: G. Norman and sons, printers, (1896).
J. C. S. Mason, The Moravian Church and the missionary awakening in England, 1760-1800 (Rochester: Royal Historical Society/Boydell, 2001).

Custodial history: The T.S.F.G. material has always been held in the archive at the Provincial Offices, originally at Fetter Lane in London, now at 5 Muswell Hill, London.

Immediate source of acquisition:

CONTENT AND STRUCTURE

Scope and content/abstract: The material covers the period 1745 to the present day. Amongst the collection are: Minutes of the Society for the Furtherance of the Gospel 1768-1922. Letters from the 18th century relating to the Society for the Furtherance of the Gospel. Various correspondence, deeds and visual material (glass negatives and photographs), from the 18th century onwards, for mission work in Labrador, Canada; West Indies (Jamaica, Antigua, Tobago, St. Kitts, Barbados) Nicaragua; Jerusalem; North America (Native Americans); Egypt; Africa (South Africa and Tanzania); India and Tibet. Of particular note is the correspondence of the Secretary of the Society for the Furtherance of the Gospel, Christian Ignatius Latrobe (1758-1836).

System of arrangement: Uncatalogued. Individual box lists available in some cases.

ACCESS AND USE

Language: Most of the material is in English and German.

Conditions governing access: General access up to 1930. Later material can be viewed on consultation with the archivist.

Conditions governing reproduction: Reproduction in any form is subject to the permission of the archivist and/or the Moravian Church. Copyright restrictions may also apply.

Physical characteristics: Some fragile material.

Finding aids: Handlists available for certain boxes of material, including glass plates.

ALLIED MATERIALS

Related material:

Moravian Church Manuscripts, held at the John Rylands Library, University of Manchester, include the journal of Christian Ignatius Latrobe (1758-1836) on Moravian missionary work.

University of Bristol Special Collections holds reports of Moravian congregations and memoirs of individuals (1728-1944) relating mainly to the Caribbean (reference DM 1538).

The central archives of the worldwide Moravian church (including an ethnographic museum of objects collected by Moravian missionaries) are held at the Unity Archives in Herrnhut, Germany.

Copies:

S.F.G. minute books from 1768 - 1831 available on microfilm.

The Society's journal Periodical Accounts (1790-1961) contains printed extracts of manuscript material (see separate Mundus entry).

DESCRIPTION NOTES

Date(s) of descriptions: 20th March 2002

INDEX ENTRIES

Subjects

Personal names

Latrobe | Christian Ignatius | 1758-1836 | secretary of the Society for the Furtherance of the Gospel

Corporate names

Brethren's Society for the Furtherance of the Gospel among the Heathen

Society for the Furtherance of the Gospel

Trust Society for the Furtherance of the Gospel

Places

Africa

Americas

Antigua and Barbuda

Asia

Barbados

Canada

Caribbean

Central America

China

East Africa

East Asia

Egypt

India

Israel

Jamaica

Jerusalem

Labrador

Middle East

Newfoundland

Nicaragua

North Africa

North America

Saint Christopher and Nevis

South Africa

South Asia

Tanzania UR

Tibet

Trinidad and Tobago