IDENTITY STATEMENT
Reference code(s): GB 0074 CLC/383
Held at: London Metropolitan Archives
Title: SMYRNA ANGLICAN CHAPLAINCY
Date(s): 1800-1944
Level of description: Collection
Extent: 31 production units.
Name of creator(s): Smyrna Anglican Chaplaincy | Turkey
CONTEXT
Administrative/Biographical history:
The Bishop of London was held to exercise responsibility for Anglican churches overseas where no other bishop had been appointed. He retained responsibility for churches in northern and central Europe until 1980, but his jurisdiction in southern Europe ceased in 1842 on the creation of the diocese of Gibraltar. In 1980, the Bishop of London divested himself of all overseas jurisdiction and a new diocese of 'Gibraltar in Europe' was established.
The English community in Smyrna (now Izmir in Turkey) has been attended by an Anglican priest since 1638, for many years provided by the Levant Company who had an important factory (trading post) there. Services were held in rooms at the consul's house and in 1797 a fire in that house destroyed the existing registers.
The church at Smyrna was consecrated by the Bishop of Gibraltar in 1843 as St John the Evangelist, rebuilt in 1898-9 and reconsecrated in 1902.
There are two other chapels in nearby areas associated with the Smyrna chaplaincy. The church at Boudjah (Buca) opened in 1838 and was consecrated in 1843 as the Chapel of All Saints. The church at Bournabat (Bornova) was built in 1857 and consecrated as St Mary Magdalene in 1864.
In 1922 the Smyrna and Boudjah churches survived a period of political instability with only minor damage, but the church at Bournabat was looted and some of its registers may have disappeared.
CONTENT
Scope and content/abstract:
Records of the Smyrna Anglican Chaplaincy, Turkey, comprising registers and notes of baptisms, marriages and burials, registers of services, minutes and accounts. They have been catalogued by various members of staff over many years.
ACCESS AND USE
Language/scripts of material: English
System of arrangement:
Records arranged by MS number, assigned during cataloguing at the Guildhall Library Manuscripts Section.
Conditions governing access:
These records are available for public inspection, although records containing personal information may be subject to access restrictions.
Conditions governing reproduction:
Copyright to this collection rests with the depositor.
Finding aids:
Please see online catalogues at: http://search.lma.gov.uk/opac_lma/index.htm
ARCHIVAL INFORMATION
Archival history:
Immediate source of acquisition:
These volumes and papers were deposited in Guildhall Library Manuscripts Section in 1995-6 and 2001 by the chaplaincy and by the Diocese, except for Ms 30582, which was a gift from a private individual. The Guildhall Library Manuscripts Section merged with the London Metropolitan Archives in 2009.
ALLIED MATERIALS
Related material:
See also DL/E/A to DL/E/E for papers relating to the Diocese of London Overseas Jurisdiction; CLC/318 for the Diocese in Europe and CLC/319 for the Diocese of Gibraltar.
DESCRIPTION NOTES
Date(s) of descriptions: August to October 2010.