The majority of this collection consists of letters received by Samuel Wilberforce while he served as Bishop of Oxford, and tend to relate to missionary activities of the Church of England in East Africa and various British colonies in the mid-nineteenth century. Letters from the 1830s document Wilberforce’s role in coordinating the Society for Propagation of the Gospel with the Church Missionary Society. Additional correspondence from 1857 through 1864 describes other Anglican Church missions and clergy in Sarawak (Malaysia), Tasmania, New Zealand, and the West Indies. Notable correspondents include Sir James Brooke, Rajah of Sarawak (whose memorandum dates from Apr. 2, 1860) and Sir Samuel White, whose letter from 1869 describes his expedition on the White Nile in Egypt and Sudan.
East Africa is the subject of several letters to Wilberforce between 1853 and 1863. Two letters from John William Colenso, Bishop of Natal, discuss the status of the Anglican Church in Natal, his attempts to acquire financial aid, the refusal of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel to provide aid for white residents, difficulties between Natal’s governor and his council, and injustices to the Kaffirs. A letter (dated Aug. 23, 1860) from Christopher Palmer Rigby, British veteran officer, describes economic and social conditions of Zanzibar, including the extent of the slave trade there and French activities on the island. Rigby also writes about the depopulation of the African coast due to slave expeditions, British naval actions against slavers, and recent ventures into the African interior. A batch of ten letters from Charles Frederick Mackenzie, Bishop of Central Africa, date between 1859 and 1861. Mackenzie’s letters describe the preparations for his trip to the Shire River region, his consecration of the mission in Cape Town, South Africa, and his work and discussions with Daniel Livingstone, who assisted in founding the mission in Nyasaland (Malawi). He describes their journey to the mission site, including Livingstone’s freeing of slaves they encountered being transported to markets, and also writes about relations between the local Manganja and Ajawa tribes.
The collection also includes contemporary copies of letters describing David Livingstone’s activities in the Zambezi River area, including a letter from Mar. 15, 1862, which describes Mackenzie’s destruction of a hostile village and his death from fever and dysentery. A related letter (unsigned) from Apr. 27, 1862, describes Mackenzie’s activities in the Shire region, as well as the political landscape between various tribes and the role of slave traders in fermenting war between various groups. A letter from Feb. 2, 1863, from British Foreign Secretary Lord John Russell informs Wilberforce that Livingstone’s expedition has been withdrawn from the mission.
