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School of Oriental and African Studies

Palmer, Samuel and Sarah

IDENTITY STATEMENT

Reference code(s): GB 0102 MMS/Special Series/Biographical/South Africa/FBN 9 (Box 603)

Held at: School of Oriental and African Studies

Title: Palmer, Samuel and Sarah

Date(s): 1828-[1933]

Level of description: Collection (fonds)

Extent: 0.5 box

Name of creator(s): Palmer | Samuel | d 1846 | missionary
Palmer | Sarah Ann | fl 1829-1853 | née Dunman | missionary

CONTEXT

Administrative/Biographical history:

Samuel Palmer: Wesleyan Methodist minister in Weymouth, England, 1826-1827; Melton Mowbray, 1827-1828; Oakham, 1828-1829; married Sarah Ann (née Dunman) in Dewlish, Dorset, 1829; ordained in Islington chapel, London, 1829; Wesleyan Methodist Missionary Society missionary in Salem, South Africa, 1829-1832; in Morley, South Africa, from 1832; died when suddenly taken ill while leading people away from fighting towards his mission station at Buntingville, 1846.

Following her husband's death, Mrs Palmer founded a girls' school at Butterworth, South Africa, in 1849-1850, where local girls could learn to read the Scriptures and were catechised and taught other elementary subjects. Owing to wars in the region which hindered travel, she did not return to England until 1853.

CONTENT

Scope and content/abstract:

Papers, 1828-[1933], of Samuel Palmer and his wife Sarah, comprising memo book, dated 1828, including diary entries on the journey to South Africa, 1829, various accounts, lists of equipment, and other notes, many entries undated; letter from Samuel Palmer to John Dunman concerning his wife, preparations for the voyage to Africa, and ordination, 1829; account of travels in southern Africa [by Mrs Palmer], 1830; letter from Mrs Palmer to her family following her husband's death, 1846; manuscript copy of an obituary notice of Samuel Palmer from the Watchman [1846]; account of journey from South Africa to St Helena [by Mrs Palmer], 1853, with a short inventory of children's clothes appended; typescript copy [1933] of the couple's marriage certificate (1829); manuscript notes on the lives of Samuel and Sarah Palmer [early 20th century].

ACCESS AND USE

Language/scripts of material: English

System of arrangement:

Conditions governing access:

Unrestricted, but only to be viewed on microfiche.

Conditions governing reproduction:

No publication without written permission. Apply to archivist in the first instance.

Physical characteristics:

Finding aids:

Unpublished handlist.

ARCHIVAL INFORMATION

Appraisal, destruction and scheduling information:

Accruals:

Archival history:

The papers were deposited with the Methodist Missionary Society and form part of the special series of biographical papers of individual missionaries.

Immediate source of acquisition:

Deposited on permanent loan with the records of the Methodist Missionary Society from 1978.

ALLIED MATERIALS

Existence and location of originals:

Existence and location of copies:

Published on microfiche by IDC Publishers.

Related material:

The School of Oriental and African Studies holds the records of the Wesleyan Methodist Missionary Society (Ref: MMS/WMMS), including letters from individual missionaries, among them Samuel Palmer (Ref: WMMS/MMS South Africa Correspondence).

Publication note:

DESCRIPTION NOTES

Note:

Archivist's note: Compiled by Rachel Kemsley as part of the RSLP AIM25 project. Sources: Alphabetical Arrangement of Wesleyan Methodist Ministers (1841); Wesleyan Missionary Notices, Nov 1846, p 182, May 1847, p 84, Jul/Jul 1847, pp 97, 100; WMMS Annual Report (1850), p 55; WMMS Annual Report (1851), p 57.