Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1961 - 2002 (Creation)
Level of description
Fonds
Extent and medium
162 boxes
Context area
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
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Records relating to Provincial and Episcopal synods, Provincial Standing Committee, Provincial Commissions, other church organisations, relations with other churches and bodies, with the Anglican Church overseas and the Lambeth Conference, dealings with the media and with the various Dioceses. This collection has no final date as further additions will be made.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
These records have been listed alphabetically but not numbered (in order that additional subjects can be added where necessary). Brief descriptions of the contents of certain files have been included but many have been left without descriptions as the subject titles are fairly self-explanatory. Dates reflect the original file contents but material of later dates will be added to this collection, which will be available for a wide range of church enquiries.