Secretaries'/Officers' Meetings minutes

Initially entries are for an event or task on a given day but this quickly develops into brief summaries of the Secretaries' Meetings (although lapsing occasionally back to the initial format). The minutes up to 1912 are often written very informally with little consistency of structure, simply outl...

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Date(s) of creation: 1837-1971
Level: Sub-series
Format: Archive           

Summary: Initially entries are for an event or task on a given day but this quickly develops into brief summaries of the Secretaries' Meetings (although lapsing occasionally back to the initial format). The minutes up to 1912 are often written very informally with little consistency of structure, simply outlining the work to be undertaken by the secretaries (e.g. meetings to attend, letters to be composed, etc), matters resolved and some recommendations made to committees (usually the General Committee). However, these minutes do, on occasion, discuss in more detail matters occupying the secretaries' time. With the restructuring of 1912 the minutes become more structured, expansive and directly connected to the work of the General Committee (from the summer of 1928 the sectional committees), occasionally being more detailed in their minutes then the committees whom they support.
Extent: 27 volumes
Note: There is no indication that any minutes were written before 1837: if they were they are not extant.
Admin history: With the establishment of the Wesleyan Methodist Missionary Society in 1818 three secretaries were appointed. Each secretary had to be a minister and was required to reside in London. Their duties, to be organised between themselves, included reading and replying to correspondence, keeping track of expenditure and producing an annual plan for the stationing of missionaries (which would then be presented to Conference for approval). As the number of missions and missionaries increased an additional secretary was appointed, subsequently with spec ... View more
Access status: Restrictions
Access conditions: Two of these minute books are only available for consultation on microfiche. Data Protection declaration forms need to be completed and signed when consulting some of these minutes.
Copyright: Copyright held by Trustees for Methodist Church Purposes
User restrictions: For permission to publish, please contact Archives & Special Collections, SOAS Library in the first instance
Language: English
Format: Archive