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Women's Library

Women in the Church: (Autograph Letter Collection)

IDENTITY STATEMENT

Reference code(s): GB 106 9/06

Held at: Women's Library

Title: Women in the Church: (Autograph Letter Collection)

Date(s): 1913-1963

Level of description: Collection

Extent: 1 A box (1 volume)

Name of creator(s): Various

CONTEXT

Administrative/Biographical history:

The issue of women in the Church in Great Britain was one that had its origins in the Reformation. Convents were included in the abolition of the English monasteries and with their disappearance women lost the only ecclesiastical role open to them until the twentieth century. In the nineteenth century women in the Church of England began to campaign for women's work in the church to be acknowledged by allowing them to hold positions in its hierarchy.

CONTENT

Scope and content/abstract:

The collection contains letters written to members of the Church League for Women's Suffrage, principally Ursula Roberts, connected with fact-finding and the organisation of a conference on the role of women in the Church and the general issue of women's ordination. Letters to Ursula Roberts in 1913 regarding reply to circular questionnaire from: Isabel Basnett (2 letters), Gertrude Francis, Ethel M Davis (2 letters), Miss Clare Portsmouth, William Temple, Edith Clarence, Dr Maude Royden, Mabel Day, Jessie C Barton, Janet B Allen, Ruth Cavendish Bentinck, Irene Batty, GM Gunter, Ethel Fennings, MEJ Taylor, Florence Canning, Mother Gertrude, Miss RL Taylor, Dorothea Layton, MB Alder, Edith de Burgh, EM Griffiths. Papers and letters to Ursula Roberts in 1914 regarding arrangements for a conference in Sep 1914, later postponed until 1917: from Ruth Cavendish Bentinck, Edith Picton Turberville, the Rector of Rampton College Cambridge, Isabel Basnett, Miss Z Fairfield, Janet B Allen (2 letters), GM Gunter, Ethel M Davis (2 letters), Miss Clare Portsmouth, Dr Maude Royden, Jessie C Barton, Janet B Allen, Ruth Cavendish Bentinck, MEJ Taylor, Florence Canning, MB Alder, E Maude Griffiths, Miss IB O'Malley, Agnes Aubrey Hilton, G Tollemache, Dr Jane Walker, Sister Ethel (2 letters), Mabel Fitzroy Hecht, Dorothea Jordan, Mrs Anne Warner Marsh. Papers and letters to Miss Corben in 1914 regarding arrangements for the same conference: Bishop of Kensington (2 letters), Board of Trade (in reply to letter from her also in the collection), Bishop of London. Letters in 1915: to Miss Corben from William Temple, Archbishop of Canterbury (and reply); to Mrs Roberts from Anne Gilchrist, Rev. TB Allworthy. Letters in 1916: to Miss Corben from Bishop of Kensington, Bishop of Willesden, Dr Maude Royden; to Ursula Roberts from Anne Gilchrist (3 letters), Arthur W Robinson, JC Squire, Dr Jane Walker (2 letters), MEJ Taylor (2 letters), Maude Royden (2 letters), Miss Edith Picton Turberville; to Anne Gilchrist from Maude Royden; to Miss Corben from Maude Royden; Ursula Roberts to the Bishop of London, Lady Willoughby de Broke to Dr Maude Royden; paper by Miss MEJ Taylor. Letters in 1917: to Miss Corben from the Archbishop of Canterbury, Bishop of London and Miss GE Hodgeson; to Miss Picton Turberville from the following - Bishop of Southwark, Bishop of Wakefield, Bishop of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich, Bishop of Lichfield (2 letters), Bishop of Newcastle, Bishop of Sheffield, Bishop of Oxford, Bishop of Gloucester (2 letters), Bishop of Ripon, Bishop of Norwich, Bishop of Lincoln, Bishop of St David's, Archbishop of Canterbury, Bishop of Salisbury, Bishop of Ely, Millicent Garrett Fawcett; letters to the Church league for Women's Suffrage from Mr Athelstan Riley and the Earl of Halifax; letters to Ursula Roberts from Rev. FM Green and Edith Picton Turberville; Alfred Fawkes to the Rev Roberts, Lady Montgomery to Miss Glichrist, J Outram Marshall to Rev. CG Langdon and reply, circular letter to all bishops from the Bishop of Willesden and timetable of Quiet Day and conference conducted by Agnes Maude Royden. Letters in 1918: to Church League for Women's Suffrage from Dean Inge of St Paul's (2 letters), Rev HJ Hall, Rev V Holt, Rev. AM Bolland; to Miss Corben from Millicent Garrett Fawcett, Bishop of Lincoln, Maude Royden. Letters in 1919: to Miss Corben from Maude Royden, the Bishop of Kensington, Rev HRL Sheppard, Bishop of Lincoln, Bishop of Oxford; to Miss Picton Turbeville from Rev S Proudfoot (6 letters) and Mrs Knox; to Ursula Roberts from Maude Royden. Letters in 1920: to Miss Corben from the Bishop of Winchester, the secretary of the Bishop of Lincoln, the bishop of Ely, the archbishop of Canterbury and Edward A Welch, the Rector of Southchurch; to Miss Picton Turberville from Rev JEC Welldon, and the Rev. Gage S Green; M Dorothea Jordan to Mrs Roberts, the Bishop of Norwich to the League (2 letters) and the Archbishop of Canterbury to the Bishop of London. Letters in 1921: Secretary of King's College London to the League, Dr Maude Royden to Miss Corben, the Rev. GKA Bell to Miss Corben and Miss Abadam to Mrs Acres. Letters in 1922: Rev GKA Bell to Mrs Acres (2 letters), Lawrence Housman to the CLWS, AG Robinson Archdeacon of Surrey to Mrs Acres. Letters in 1924: Rev Edward Paget to Mrs Acres, Mary Scharlib to Mrs Acres Letters in 1926: Father Lacey to Mrs Acres (2 letters). Letters in 1927: Rev Dick Sheppard to Mrs Acres. Letters in 1928: Sybil Thorndyke to Mrs Acres, Archbishop of Canterbury to Mrs Acres Letters in 1931: John Carl Flugel to Ursula Roberts, Helen Ward to Viscount Cecil, Rev. Alfred Fawkes to Ursula Roberts. Letters in 1932: JK Mozley, Cannon Matthews and SM Payne to Ursula Roberts. Letters in 1933: Marjorie Brierly, Evelyn Underhill, Canon Grensted and Leonard Hodgson to Ursula Roberts.

ACCESS AND USE

Language/scripts of material: English

System of arrangement:

Chronological

Conditions governing access:

This collection is available for research. Readers are advised to contact The Women's Library in advance of their first visit. Available on microfiche only.

Conditions governing reproduction:

Physical characteristics:

Finding aids:

Abstracts of individual letters in the autograph letters collection were written and held alongside the letters. This work was done from the 1960s by volunteers including Nan Taylor. In 2004 Jean Holder completed a 3 year project to list the letters, copy-type the abstracts, and repackage the letters to meet preservation needs. In 2005 Vicky Wylde and Teresa Doherty proof read and imported the entries to the Special Collections Catalogue.

The original card index of all correspondents, including date of letter & volume reference, is available on the microfiche.

Detailed catalogue

ARCHIVAL INFORMATION

Appraisal, destruction and scheduling information:

Accruals:

Archival history:

Immediate source of acquisition:

ALLIED MATERIALS

Existence and location of originals:

Existence and location of copies:

A copy of this archive is available on microfilm held at The Women's Library.

Related material:

Personal papers of Ursula Robers (7URO), Agnes Maude Royden (7AMR), Ruth Cavendish-Bentinck (7RCB) and the records of the Anglican Group for the Ordination of Women (5AGO) are also held at The Women's Library. Other Collections within Strand 9 which may be of interest include 9/02 General Women's Movement, 9/03 Emancipation of Women, 9/04 Female Education.

Publication note:

DESCRIPTION NOTES

Note:

Archivist's note: Finding aid created by export from CALM v7.2.14 Archives Hub EAD2002. Edited for AIM25 by Sarah Drewery.