Archive of the Church Pastoral Aid Society

The collection comprises papers of the CPAS as well as papers of a number of Auxiliaries and other societies carrying out related activities:

Church Pastoral Aid Society: minute books, registers of legacies, 1849-1946 and grants, 1836-1953; accounts, 1934-1936; minutes of General Committee and Sub-Committee/Executive Committee, 1840-1949; minutes of other committees, 1889-1936; press cuttings, 1884-1962; notebooks, 1836-1974; correspondence, 1886-1936; miscellanea, 1923-1961; printed material, 1836-1982.

Church Pastoral Aid Society Auxiliaries: (or local associations of the CPAS) mainly minutes and accounts, 1836-1976 of Bradford, Eastbourne, Newcastle and Durham, and York auxiliaries.

Church Pastoral Aid Trust: a body established to acquire and hold property on behalf of the CPAS, minutes, 1894-1937; particulars of property and other assets, 1929-1935.

Church of England Scripture Readers' Association: Minutes, 1872-1884.

Clerical Education Aid Fund: Minutes, 1845-1876; printed material, 1845-1875.

London Clerical Education Society: Accounts, 1871-1877

London Clerical Education Aid Society: Accounts, 1893-1939; stocks and securities, 1915; minutes, 1876-1985; correspondence, 1916-1939; printed materials including reports, 1878-1915, miscellanea, 1876.

Society for the Relief of Poor Pious Clergymen: Stocks and securities, 1811-1820; accounts, other financial documents, 1963-1966; minutes, 1849-1884; printed material, 1949-1958,

Liverpool Junior Clergy Bible and Prayer Union: Correspondence, 1981; printed miscellanea, 1891.

Churches' Committee on Gambling: Printed miscellanea, c.1950

The Church Pastoral-Aid Society (CPAS) was founded in the Committee Room of the Church Missionary Society 19 February 1836 for "the purpose of benefiting the population of our own country by increasing the number of working clergymen in the Church of England, and encouraging the appointment of pious and discreet laymen as helpers to the clergy in duties not ministerial". In about 1974 the Society dropped the hyphen from the name.

Reference: G. R. Balleine, A History of the Evangelical Party in the Church of England ( London, 1908 ).

The papers arranged by organisation and by document type within.

Open. Access to all registered researchers.

This collection was deposited in 1991 by the Society.

See full catalogue for further details

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.

Further deposits are not expected.

A limited archive mainly of modern material has been retained by the Society at its headquarters in Leamington Spa.

University of Birmingham Information Services, Special Collections Department holds a rich collection of archives of missions, charities and other religious and ecclesiastic organisations and individuals. These include the papers of the Church Missionary Society and the papers of the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA).