Account of a Journey Made by Archibald Downes-Shaw

Manuscript account of a journey from Hong Kong to Canton, China made by Archibald Downes-Shaw as a trainee missionary for the Church Missionary Society in 1877 and associated papers.

Archibald Downes-Shaw (circa 1856 -circa 1937), Anglican clergyman and missionary of Clifton, Bristol was accepted by the Church Missionary Society (CMS) in 1876 when he was sent to St Paul's College, Hong Kong as a missionary student. He subsequently attended the Church Missionary College in Islington. In 1881 he was ordained deacon and then priest and served briefly as curate of Doddington, Cambridgeshire. Later the same year he went to East Africa as a CMS missionary first at Kisulitini (1881-87) and then at Frere Town (1887-88). In 1889 he transferred to Mauritius where he was appointed as chaplain of Vacoas and Black River. In 1890 he was invalided back to England and his connection with the CMS then ceased.

His subsequent career involved many moves: 1890-93, Curate, Littleton, Middlesex; 1893, Organising Secretary, Church Army; 1894, Chaplain, Dr Barnardo's Homes; 1898-1902, Curate, Church of King Charles Martyr, Tunbridge Wells; 1902-11, Rector of Kettlestone, Norfolk; 1911-15, Vicar, Great Horton, Bradford; and 1915-24, Rector, Scotton, Lincolnshire. He then retired to Cornwall.

He was married firstly in 1882 to Amy Havergal (niece of Frances Ridley Havergal) who died in Mauritius in 1890 and secondly Alice Montagu in 1893.

Reference: University of Birmingham, Special Collections Department, Online Archive Catalogue ( http://calmview.bham.ac.uk/ ). Accessed May 2002.

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The official archive of the Church Mission Society (GB 150 CMS) are held in the Special Collections Department and include records of Downes-Shaw's service with the Society. It also includes a report of the same journey made by John Jepson, one of Downes-Shaw's companions (see CMS/C/CH/052/2).In addition, there are other personal papers of Downes-Shaw and his family in the Church Missionary Society Unofficial Papers (CMS/ACC36 and ACC207).