Many of the letters received have been used in A Father in God the official life by M.H.W. Wood (Macmillan, 1913). The page reference is given.

The records of the Archbishops of Cape Town relate to the activities of the Church of the Province of South Africa (Anglican) in Southern Africa, comprising South Africa, Mozambique, the Rhodesias, the former protectorates of Basutoland, Bechuanaland and Swaziland and also St. Helena, which falls under the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of Cape Town. These records cover the years 1835 to 1968 with the preponderance between 1848 and 1938.

The primary interest of the records is in the description they provide of the foundation and progress of the various dioceses, together with the development of a synodical form of government for the church. Also described is the work of the church in its missionary aspect. The researcher will also find material relating to the controversies between Bishop Gray of Cape Town and Bishop Colenso of Natal, which threatened to split the Anglican Church in Africa; issues relating to race relations; black nationalism; and the rivalry between Boer and Briton.

The Bishops and Archbishops of Cape Town accumulated these records in the course of their ecclesiastical duties. They are primarily concerned with the activities of the first two bishops, Robert Gray (1847-1872) and William West Jones (Bishop 1874-1897, Archbishop 1897-1908).

List of documents presented to the Archives of the Muniment Room.

Numbers 1-33.

This is interesting material giving the outline of a life purely from official documents, supplemented by references to Crockford (? Orford).

It gives some insight into the legal requirements of a licensed clergyman in the Church of England 1874-1893.

First papers added in 1974; addition in 1990.

Calendar.

The letters are interesting, not only giving a good picture of the work of the Anglican church in various parts of Africa but also fore-shadowing some of the political problems which have arisen in Africa such as the racial friction between black and white, the colour bar in South Africa and the church's attitude to it and the question of the native franchise. From the letters it appears that there were problems common to the various dioceses such as the shortage of clergy, need for more money, the importance of educating the African and training African priests and the difficulties of working in vast areas where parishes were scattered.

The Knight-Bruce papers consist of 40 items spanning the years 1836-1950 with the greatest number being on the Bishop's work in Africa, (1886-1894). Perhaps the most interesting item is a polyglot bible, given to the bishop by his wife and carried by him on his African journeys, which contains manuscript notes on the Knight-Bruce family and marginal notes in the Bishop's hand. Another interesting item is a notebook, alphabetically arranged, with the Bishop's bible references.

There are miscellaneous papers e.g, print, but to other members of the Knight-Bruce family such as Sir James Lewis Knight-Bruce, Judge, Gordon Kennett Knight-Bruce, Judge and Acting Chief Justice, Tanganyika and John Horace Wyndham Knight-Bruce, author. The papers were purchased from Peter Eaton.

Consist mainly of notebooks embodying his researches in various fields, mainly history and theology and include 9 notebooks containing extracts from the House of Commons Debates for 1621. There are also letters of Bishop Talbot to his son, probably used by Brabant in the compilation of "N. S. Talbot 1879-1943: a memoir",published in 1949. The papers were donated by the Rev. Brabant just prior to his leaving Africa for retirement in England.

Included are diary extracts, correspondence, personal and family documents, notes and miscellaneous papers, press clippings and printed works.

The papers are predominantly of family interest but there are occasional comments of a social or political nature, pertaining to South Africa, and a some concern the Anglican Church in South Africa, including the controversies which nearly split the church asunder such as the Gray - Colenso and Meaman - Williams disputes and the Third Proviso Agitation, all of which played their part in determining the relationship between the Church of the Province of South Africa and the Church of England.

There are a number of interesting documents relating to Badnall's ecclesiastical offices, containing the seals of Bishops Gray and West Jones of Cape Town.