Papers of Agnes Lees

This collection comprises an unbroken sequence of personal diaries of Agnes Lees as a CMS missionary teacher in India from 1916 up to 1947. These diaries are maintained as a daily record of her life. During her service as a missionary, she returned regularly to England on furlough in 1921-22, 1927-28, 1934-35, 1939-40 and in 1946; she continued to maintain these diaries in her retirement living in Cambridgeshire and Kent.

Agnes Jane Lees (1882-1971) was born in Birmingham and educated at King Edward's High School for Girls, Birmingham. She was employed as a clerk. She was accepted as a CMS missionary in 1915 and sailed for service in West India on S.S. Persia which was torpedoed by an enemy submarine in the Mediterranean on 30 December. She landed in Alexandria after rescue and proceeded to Biladia. She served at Biladia from 1916, Kotra from 1928, and Lusadia from 1935. She retired to England in 1947.

Reference: Manuscript register of missionaries (Women 1915-1918) in the CMS archive.

This collection forms part of the Church Missionary Society Unofficial Papers. It is arranged into one series: Family Papers.

Open. Access to all registered researchers.

Deposited with the CMS in 1969; transferred on permanent loan to the Special Collections Department by the CMS in the 1980s.

Please see online catalogue for further information.

Permission to make any published use of any material from the collection must be sought in advance in writing from the University Archivist, Special Collections. Identification of copyright holders of unpublished material is often difficult. Special Collections will assist where possible with identifying copyright owners, but responsibility for ensuring copyright clearance rests with the user of the material.

The University of Birmingham, Special Collections Department and the Orchard Learning Resources Centre hold a rich collection of archives relating to missions, charities and other religious and ecclesiastical organisations and individuals. These include the official archive of the Church Missionary Society Archive (GB150 CMS)