Missionaries Archives

Indoda Ebisithanda (“The Man Who Loved Us”) – The Reverend James Laing among the amaXhosa, 1831-1836

Indoda Ebisithanda (“The Man Who Loved Us”) – The Reverend James Laing among the amaXhosa, 1831-1836

admin2022-07-19T09:19:20+00:00September 4th, 2019|

This study is a critical edition of a section of the journals of the Reverend James Laing of the Glasgow Missionary Society. The first scholarly study of the Laing journals, this thesis seeks to contribute towards a new understanding of the early days of transcultural interchange on the Eastern Cape frontier. The only previous published work on Laing is William Govan's hagiographical Memorials of the Missionary Career of the Rev. James Laing, Missionary of the Free Church of Scotland in Kaffraria published in Glasgow by David Bryce and Son in 1875. This study attempts to make Laing's text as accessible to today's readers as possible. To this end, the text is a faithful transcription of the original, augmented by a contextual introduction, detailed footnotes and a comprehensive index

Moravians in the Eastern Cape 1828-1928

Moravians in the Eastern Cape 1828-1928

admin2021-02-25T15:34:33+00:00July 24th, 2004|

The four missionary texts which make up this volume reveal the little-known range of Moravian missionary work in the Eastern Cape, from its inception in 1828 to 1928. Vivid and subjective in character, they illuminate this field of Moravian mission activity in South Africa, which extended to the Xhosa the pioneering work done at Genadendal and its family of stations in the Western Cape. The narratives paint a graphic picture of the commitment of the missionaries and their families, the success and failure of their evangelical mission work and also provide rare insights into the thinking and conduct of those who converted to Christianity. As such, they offer a window onto cultural and social interaction in South Africa's longest-enduring and most volatile frontier zone, adding richly to an understanding of how this process played out on the ground at both a personal and institutional level.

Norwegian missionaries in Natal and Zululand: selected correspondence (1844-1900)

Norwegian missionaries in Natal and Zululand: selected correspondence (1844-1900)

admin2021-02-24T14:31:56+00:00July 24th, 1996|

The Norwegian Missionary Society established its first permanent stations north of the Tugela in the 1840s. The Zulu Lutheran Church which developed from conversions in the 1860s only really developed after the conquest of Zululand in 1879. The Norwegian missionaries were strategically located to view changes in Zulu culture and civilisation and their letters and reports comprise a rich and detailed historical source.

Griqua Records, the Philippolis Captaincy, 1825-1861

Griqua Records, the Philippolis Captaincy, 1825-1861

admin2021-02-23T21:35:13+00:00July 24th, 1994|

In the Transorange in the early part of the 19th century, there were four small, semi-independent Griqua polities, each ruled by its own Chief or Kaptyn. They of were of considerable importance to the British authorities at the Cape, and to the London Missionary Society. This volume comprises of a collection of official and semi-official documents relating he Captaincy which existed at Philippolis in the modern Free State from 1826 to 1861, when it was transferred to Kokstad, Griqualand East. They provide a comprehensive picture of a poorly-documented aspect of the history of the Northern Frontier.

Lawrence Richardson. Selected correspondence (1902-1903)

Lawrence Richardson. Selected correspondence (1902-1903)

admin2021-07-26T09:10:33+00:00July 24th, 1977|

Lawrence Richardson (c.1869-1953), a member of the Society of Friends (Quakers), was involved in two fact-finding and humanitarian missions to South Africa in the wake of the South African War. His meticulous diaries detail his interviews and draw a perceptive picture of a society devastated by war.

David Livingstone South African Papers (1849-1853)

David Livingstone South African Papers (1849-1853)

admin2019-08-02T12:19:52+00:00July 24th, 1974|

This volume of Livingstone's writings, which predates his travels, is concerned primarily with South African racial and missionary affairs as well as comments on traders. His bitter prejudice against the Boers emerges clearly, as do his conflicts with other missionaries., but his insights into local societies are nonetheless revealing.

The Journal of Joseph Tindall, missionary in South-West Africa, 1839-55

The Journal of Joseph Tindall, missionary in South-West Africa, 1839-55

admin2021-10-26T12:56:18+00:00July 25th, 1959|

Joseph Tindall, a Wesleyan missionary, worked in South-West Africa, initially with Jonker Afrikaner in Damaraland. His journal includes much information about local customs and conflicts between Damara groups. This work lacks the usual historical introduction.

Maleo en Sekoekoeni

Maleo en Sekoekoeni

admin2022-07-17T11:11:01+00:00July 25th, 1957|

Dr Theodor Wangemann was a director of the Berlin Missionary Society who came out to South Africa in 1866 to visit the mission stations throughout the country. This work, one of several which Wangemann wrote and a typical example of nineteenth-century German missionary literature, describes mission work in the Lydenburg district of the northern Transvaal.

The Cape Journals of Archdeacon N.J. Merriman, 1848-55

The Cape Journals of Archdeacon N.J. Merriman, 1848-55

admin2022-06-05T09:43:21+00:00July 25th, 1956|

Archdeacon Merriman was appointed Archdeacon of Grahamstown by Bishop Robert Gray in 1848. his instructions were to expand the church in the Eastern Cape by establishing new congregations and building churches in the small townships. He was to 'awaken 'religious instincts long dormant through lack of opportunity' and to 'preach to barbarous people the saving grace of Christianity.' In accomplishing these goals he travelled widely throughout the eastern frontier regions of the Cape Colony, commenting on Dutch and British settlers and meeting many of the Xhosa leaders.

Letters of the American Missionaries, 1835-1838

Letters of the American Missionaries, 1835-1838

admin2020-10-06T05:54:29+00:00July 25th, 1950|

The American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions was one of the last missionary societies to begin work in South Africa. Since the Cape Colony was well-populated with missionaries, the Americans concentrated initially on the Matabele in the Transvaal, and on Natal. Their arrival coincided with the Great Trek and Boer expansion north and east so they were well placed to observed developments in Voortrekker society and its impact on indigenous societies.

Indoda Ebisithanda (“The Man Who Loved Us”) – The Reverend James Laing among the amaXhosa, 1831-1836

Moravians in the Eastern Cape 1828-1928

Norwegian missionaries in Natal and Zululand: selected correspondence (1844-1900)

Griqua Records, the Philippolis Captaincy, 1825-1861

Lawrence Richardson. Selected correspondence (1902-1903)

David Livingstone South African Papers (1849-1853)

The Journal of Joseph Tindall, missionary in South-West Africa, 1839-55

Maleo en Sekoekoeni

The Cape Journals of Archdeacon N.J. Merriman, 1848-55

Letters of the American Missionaries, 1835-1838

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