Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1840 - 1982 (Creation)
Level of description
Fonds
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Name of creator
Administrative history
The Anglican Church of Southern Africa, previously known as the Church of the Province of Southern Africa, is the province of the Anglican Communion in Southern Africa. Its primate is the Archbishop of Cape Town. The church includes dioceses in present day South Africa, Mozambique, Namibia, Angola, Lesotho, Swaziland and St. Helena.
An agreement was signed in 1937 between the Church of the Province of South Africa (CPSA) - now known as the Anglican Church of Southern Africa (ACSA) - and the University of the Witwatersrand, whereby the church's central record library was places on loan with the University. The library consisted of books, pamphlets, periodicals and manuscripts. The richness of the Anglican Church's manuscript collection is due to the efforts of the provincial archivists appointed by the church to collect material and transfer it to the university. The first, 1937-1957, was Father Osmund Victor, followed by Canon Cecil Thomas Wood from 1958-1979. Mrs AR Kotze then took over from 1979-2000, until Carol Archibald was appointed as Provincial Archivist in 2001.
Archival history
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Content and structure area
Scope and content
The first part of the collection of the records of the Archbishop of Cape Town was transferred to the University of the Witwatersrand Library in 1974 to be added to the central Record Library of the C.P.S.A. which, since 1937, had been in the care of the University Library. It was described in 'Selected Records of the Archbishops of Cape Town', No. 6 in the Library's series of Historical and Literary Inventories of Collections,.
This present inventory, 'Selected Records of the Archbishops of Cape Town Part II', describes records transferred to the Library in instalments from 1980 to 1990 from Bishopscourt, the home of the Archbishop of Cape Town, by Mrs. A.R. 14o-tee. Provincial Archivist. The records in Part II relate, in general, to the years 1940 to 1982, later period then those in Part I but there is some overlap, there being several items from as far back as 1840.
It in a large collection in 288 pamphlet boxes and follows the alphabetical arrangement by subject used at Bishopscourt. A condensed description of each subject file is given in the inventory together with an index of personal names, churches, parishes and selected subject fields. For the benefit of researchers a list of the names of bishops in each diocese, from the origin of the diocese to date, has been provided together with a map showing the dioceses or the C.P.S.A. in existence in 1991.
The records relate to the whole of the C.P.S.A. but there is a heavy preponderance of Cape documentation because of the Archbishop's residing in Cape Town and his dual role as head of The Diocese of Cape Town as well as being Metropolitan, for the Province. They include the Archbishop's correspondence with bishops of the various dioceses and with individual members of the clergy. Not only do the records show the inspiration of the C.P.S.A. and its work, particularly in the fields education, health and social services, but they also reflect the Church's attitude to social and political problems in South Africa,.
There is much about the Church's confrontation with the State over the issue of apartheid, notably the effects of the Group Areas Act on black churches in white areas and the admission or all races to church schools. Other topics are conscientious objection and the refusal of young Anglicans, both lay and clerical, to serve in the South African Defence Force and the question of Namibia's independence and the expulsion of Bishops Mize and Winter for promoting it.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
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Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Conditions governing reproduction
Copyright Historical Papers Research Archive, The Library, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
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Finding aids
Allied materials area
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Notes area
Note
Biographical and administrative history: The Anglican Church in South Africa was founded in 1847 with the creation of the Diocese of Cape Town and the arrival of Robert Gray, its first bishop. It was called Church of the Province of South Africa, amended in 1983 to Church of the Province of Southern Africa (C.P.S.A.). Its titular head is the Archbishop of Cape Town, known as Archbishop and Metropolitan. Today it comprises South Africa (including the Homelands and Independent States), Mozambique, Namibia and St. Helena. The Diocese of Mashonaland (Southern Rhodesia), previously part of the C.P.S.A., has since 1955 been part of the Church of the Province of Central Africa.