Churches and missions reading list

• Crockford's clerical directory : a directory of the clergy of the Church of England, the Church of Wales, the Scottish Episcopal Church, the Church of Ireland. London: Church House Publishing, 1858 -

This is the first source to check for information on Anglican ministers, chaplains, and ordained missionaries in India and related territories. For over 150 years this directory has been the authoritative alphabetical listing of clergymen in the Anglican and related British episcopalian churches. Each edition provides the person's address at the time, plus a concise account of their education and career wherever in the world they served. Note that it does not include information on Anglican or Episcopalian ministers who were ordained outside of the United Kingdom unless they held office in the UK. The directory also includes a section listing the bishops of dioceses for the worldwide Anglican Communion.

Research libraries and larger public libraries will hold back issues of this invaluable directory, whether as printed volumes, microfiche or on CD-ROM. The 1861, 1865, 1868 and 1930 editions are available online at Google Books

For clergy active prior to 1835 check The Clergy of the Church of England Database (CCEd)

If you require information on a person active between 1835 and 1858, or are unable to access Crockford's locally for the years you require, the Lambeth Palace Library will carry out lookups for specific individuals on request. Contact: The Librarian, Lambeth Palace Library, Lambeth Palace, London SE1 7JU, United Kingdom E-mail: lpl.staff@c-of-e.org.uk Tel: +44 (0)20 7898 1400 Fax: +44 (0)20 7928 7932

Selected editions of Crockfords for years between 1868 and 1932 can be searched at Ancestry .co.uk.

• Fasti ecclesiae Scoticanae : The succession of ministers in the Church of Scotland from the reformation / edited by Macdonald Scott, Finlay A.J. Macdonald, & D. F. Macdonald. Edinburgh: Oliver and Boyd, 1915-.

This multi-volume work is the Church of Scotland’s equivalent to the Church of England’s Crockfords (see above). It contains biographical information for ordained Presbyterian ministers, grouped by the synod of their last place of service.

Volume 7 contains the data for those Scottish ministers who were serving overseas at time of publication, but all who had connections to India from 1822 have been added to the FIBIS database, where they can be searched by name.

The National Library of Scotland has a digital version of the Fasti available.

Note that those who broke away from this established (national) church at the schism in 1843 became part of the Free Church of Scotland and thereafter would not be included in the Fasti until union in 1900. In 1843 this included all India missionaries bar one. Ecclegen contains an index of all Presbyterian ministers including information from The Annals of the Free Church of Scotland 1843-1900.

• Hewson, Eileen

Moravian graveyards in India and Jamaica, 1755-1971. Wem: Kabristan Archives, 2007

This contains transcripts of memorials to Moravian missionaries who travelled from Herrnhut in Germany and settled in the remote Himalayan areas of Ladakh and Lahoul. The inscriptions for colleagues who went to Jamaica to establish schools and clinics for the slaves on that island are also included.

• Hough, James

The history of Christianity in India: from the commencement of the Christian Era. 5 vols. [Online version] London: Seeley and Burnside, 1839-1860

The Church of England minister James Hough was at one time a HEIC chaplain at Madras. His stated intention is to provide a purely factual account of the spread of Christianity in India. Hough's bias against Roman Catholics (having been criticized for calling them 'papists' he refers to them as 'romanists') is rather intrusive in the earlier volumes. Volume 1 and Volume 2 cover the history of the Syrian (founded by Thomas) and Roman Catholic churches up to 1800 in India. Volume 4 published in 1845 and Volume 5, which was edited by his son and released in 1860, cover the history of Protestant churches in India. As the endeavours of missionaries and church organisations included establishing orphanages and schools this title will be of much more general interest to the researcher than may at first be thought.

• Sykes, Marjorie

Quakers in India : a forgotten century. London: Allen & Unwin, 1980

A useful and readable introduction to the history of Friends involvement in India. The extent of their influence in so many spheres may surprise some readers. Quaker beliefs brought a different perspective to areas such as commerce (the first Friends-owned merchant ship to reach Calcutta in 1815 was 'armed' against the French with wooden, replica guns), journalism, education and politics. In covering the lives of these men and women (expatriate, Anglo-Indian and Indian), Sykes includes "missed opportunities and mis-steps", as well as the positives.

• Tatford, Fredk. A.

That the world may know. Vol. 3 : the challenge of India. Bath, England: Echoes of Service, 1983

This book details the contribution made by over 600 Christian brethren missionaries in the sub-continent of India and Sri Lanka since 1833, when Anthony Norris Groves responded to the need expressed by General Sir Arthur Cotton. They came from the British Isles, America, Canada, Australia and New Zealand; each one commissioned by their local assembly and serving without a guaranteed income. With a focus on evangelisation, they travelled on foot, by bicycle, buffalo cart and canal boat to preach and teach. Literacy as well as care of the sick and needy were priorities, and schools such as Clarence High in Bangalore are a noteworthy part of their legacy. As independent workers, these non-conformists present particular challenges to researchers. They are unlikely to appear in directories, did not baptise children, and marriages prior to 1910 will only appear in the Returns of registrar marriages in Bengal, Madras, Bombay and Burma (IOR/N/11), if at all. (Check Register Office Marriage Index 1852-1911) All of which makes Tatford's work particularly useful. Includes an index, an alphabetical record of missionaries' service since 1872, and information on the missionary service groups.