Overseas Bishoprics' Fund

Records concerning foundation and activities of the Colonial and from 1958 Overseas Bishopric Fund.

These records relate to and illustrate particular functions of the central bodies of the Fund as well as foundation and the Fund's financial support for the Church of England overseas dioceses.

The archive consists of the following:

- records relating to the Fund's creation and its administration; Council and Standing Committee meeting minutes and correspondence and Fund's reports

- records relating to the financial activities of the Fund; ledgers, cashbooks, financial reports, accounts, investments, payments and related correspondence

- records relating to the legal activities of the Fund; deeds, letters patent and particular case papers

- correspondence relating to particular dioceses; usually illustrating creation and endowment of overseas dioceses

The Colonial Bishoprics' Fund was created in 1841 to provide ' for the endowment of bishoprics in such of the foreign possessions of Great Britain as shall be determined upon by the Archbishops and Bishops of the United Church of England and Ireland '. Creation of the Colonial Bishoprics' Fund was a consequence of the legal changes in the British constitution between 1828 and 1832, which caused the demise of the legal monopoly of Anglican representation in parliament. Another factor was growth of the British Empire and increase of emigration from Britain to her colonies. From the start the Fund was an official enterprise of the Church of England backed by Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, Society for the Propagation of the Gospel and Church Mission Society as well as private donors.

The Archbishop of Canterbury acted as a chairman and it was the Archbishops' and bishops' responsibility to determine on new dioceses and to support them.

By 1891 the Fund had endowed or provided for the support of 82 bishoprics and in 1906 a world wide enquiry about the needs of new dioceses was undertaken leading to 1944 review of the Fund's work by the Archbishops Commission. In 1958 the name of the Fund was changed and it became Overseas Bishoprics' Fund.

In 1959 the administration of the Fund was transferred to the Central Board of Finance, before being transferred once more on the 1st January 1965 to the Missionary and Ecumenical Council of Church Assembly. Beyond that date records of the Fund also form part of archives of the Missionary and Ecumenical Council of Church Assembly and its successor bodies.

Largely following arrangement created by a cataloguer in 1990s. The collection is arranged into six main series: Council Meetings Minutes, Fund's Reports, Finance, Legal, Correspondence and Archbishop Commission.

Open

Incomplete card index with former reference numbers located at 98/E/3 and attached scans of notes created by a cataloguer in 1990s. PDF scans of the previous cataloguer's notes have been attached to some relevant file level entries.

Records of the Missionary Council and its successor bodies (The Missionary and Ecumenical Council of the Church Assembly, The Board for Mission and Unity)