Papers of Walter Richard Samuel Miller

This collection comprises papers of and relating to Walter Richard Samuel Miller as a CMS missionary in Sierra Leone 1897-1897 and Northern Nigeria 1899-1935. It also includes a few papers of his sister Ethel Pady Miller, also a CMS missionary in Northern Nigeria, 1908-1918. The papers of Walter Miller include letter and diary extracts to family and friends, some of his articles, essays and sermons and printed papers including copies of articles he wrote, together with some correspondence with missionary colleagues. The papers of Ethel Miller comprise extracts of some letters to family and friends and letters of condolence on the death of her brother in 1952.

Administrative/Biographical History

Walter Richard Samuel Miller (1873-1952) MRCS, LRCP, was educated at University College, Bristol and St Bartholomew's Hospital. He was a travelling secretary of the Student Volunteer Missionary Union. He was accepted as a Church Missionary Society (CMS) missionary in 1897 and left for Sierra Leone as a member of a pioneer party to Hausaland under the leadership of Bishop Tugwell. In 1898 he went to Tripoli to study Hausa and after a spell in England returned to West Africa. He served variously at Zaria, Kano and Gierku. He was the author of a grammar, Hausa Notes and compiled Labarim Allah, Bible Stories in Hausa . He also did translation work. Miller's sister, Ethel Pady Miller, (b. 1878), was educated at London University, gaining her B.A. in 1900. She was accepted as a CMS missionary in 1908 initially serving as a teacher at Ibadan Girls School, Yoruba Mission and then in 1910 she moved to the North Nigeria Mission to re-open women's work at Zaria.

Reference: Register of missionaries (clerical, lay & female) and native clergy from 1804 to 1904 ( Church Missionary Society, 1905 ). ; and unpublished additions to this register in the CMS archives.

This collection forms part of the Church Missionary Society Unofficial Papers. It is arranged into one series: Family Papers

Access Conditions

Open. Access to all registered researchers.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Deposited with the CMS in 1970; transferred on permanent loan to the Special Collections Department by the CMS in the 1980s.

See full catalogue for more information.

Permission to make any published use of any material from the collection must be sought in advance in writing from the University Archivist, Special Collections. Identification of copyright holders of unpublished material is often difficult. Special Collections will assist where possible with identifying copyright owners, but responsibility for ensuring copyright clearance rests with the user of the material.

The Special Collections Department holds the Church Missionary Society Archive, the official archive of the society (GB 150 CMS), which includes papers relating to Walter and Ethel Miller's service as CMS missionaries.

The University of Birmingham, Special Collections Department and the Orchard Learning Resources Centre hold a rich collection of archives relating to missions, charities and other religious and ecclesiastical organisations and individuals.