Church of Scotland Slide and Visual Collection

The collection contains:

• Lantern slides covering the work of London Missionary Society missionary Charles Somerville in Hangkou, China (1904-1914)
• Lantern slides on the work of Dugald Christie in Moukden, China
• Lantern slides covering the work of Walter Angus Elmslie with the Ngoni people in British Central Africa
• Lantern slides on the work of Donald Fraser in Malawi
• Lantern slides on the work of Robert Laws of the Livingstonia Mission in Malawi
• Lantern slides showing the King's African Rifles in Malawi during the First World War
• Lantern slides on boyhood in Zambia (Lubwa)
• Lantern slides on the Kenya mission of the Church of Scotland
• Lantern slides on the pioneer missionary, Mary Mitchell Slessor, southeast Nigeria
• Lantern slides on church, people and industry in Calabar, southeast Nigeria
• Lantern slides on the Indian missions of the Church of Scotland
• Lantern slides on the Christian church in Jamaica
• Indexes for certain lantern slide sets
• 35mm colour and black and white slides covering Africa, the Far East, the Holy Land, the Middle East, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, India, the West Indies, and Nepal
• 35mm slides on general mission work
• A small number of glass plate negatives
• Display photographs on India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Church of Scotland general mission work

The Foreign Mission Committee (later Overseas Council then Board of World Mission and Unity) of the Church of Scotland was responsible for the Church's mission work around the world. In 1824 the Church's General Assembly resolved to send its first missionary to India and appointed Alexander Duff who arrived in Bombay in 1830. Other missionaries were sent to Calcutta (1830), Poona (1834), and Madras (1837). The Disruption of 1843 which saw the separation of the Free Church of Scotland from the main Church caused the loss of most missionaries and the missionary spirit, as the work continued but under the umbrella of the Free Church. The United Presbyterian Church, formed in 1847, inherited some existing missionaries in the West Indies and in Calabar, Nigeria and by the 1870s was active in Jamaica, India, South Africa, Japan and Manchuria, China.

The Church of Scotland resumed its missionary work in 1857 in the Punjab and in the 1870s established its first stations in Nyasaland (Malawi, 1876) and China (1878). In 1900 the Free Church joined with the United Presbyterians to form the United Free Church but remained separate from the Church of Scotland. Co-operation between the two Churches was secured in some areas, in India, for example, joint colleges were formed in Madras and Calcutta. However it was not until 1929 that the Free Church and the Church of Scotland joined as the Church of Scotland.

Open to researchers. It is essential to arrange an appointment in advance to view the archive in order that someone can be available to help. Please contact us by email at is-crc@ed.ac.uk . Telephone the Centre on: 0131 650 8900. Postal address: Centre for the Study of World Christianity, University of Edinburgh School of Divinity, New College, Mound Place, Edinburgh, EH1 2LX.

A paper catalogue to the collection is available at the Centre. Lantern slides from this collection have also been submitted to the International Mission Photography Archive.

Description originally written and researched by Caroline Brown in August 2001. This was added to Archives Hub in August 2012 by Louise Williams.

Reproduction of materials (for example by digital camera) is free for private research and educational use, although we ask researchers to sign an agreement. Please contact us for enquiries on using the material in a commercial setting, for which there will be a fee. Contact us by email at is-crc@ed.ac.uk . Telephone the Centre on: 0131 650 8900. Postal address: Centre for the Study of World Christianity, University of Edinburgh School of Divinity, New College, Mound Place, Edinburgh, EH1 2LX.

No further additions to the collection are expected.

The Church of Scotland archives can be found in the collections of the National Library of Scotland. Most of the materials in this collection are duplicates of those held by the National Library of Scotland.