Coleção ORR - Owsley Robert Rowley Anglican episcopal correspondence collection

• The collection consists of 2 m of textual records. In addition, during the course of the arrangement and description project, each letter was photocopied and the copies placed in three-ring binders. About 90 per cent of the letters are handwritten, many of them on diocesan letterhead. Ninety-five letters are typed. Most of the letters are short, one or two pages, although a few extend to five or six pages.
• Some letters are fragile, ripped and torn. Many are difficult to read due to handwriting style. Morse applied his “Ex libris” rubber stamp to every document in the collection, obscuring handwriting in some instances.

Dr. William Inglis Morse, who acquired the letters either directly from Owsley Robert Rowley or another source, donated the collection to the University of Kings College on August 17, 1939. Before this arrangement and description project, the letters were known in the University Library and Archives as ANG 43. Pamphlet Box. Episcopal letters (754), 1785-1938. MSS. The collection arrived at Kings College in 19 manila envelopes (31 cm x 24 cm), each stamped with Morses Ex libris rubber stamp. Morse labeled the envelopes by diocese and also listed the names of the bishops whose letters were in each envelope. The entire collection had been stored in one small file box for the past several decades.

Rowleys arrangement scheme for the letters is unknown. His book, Anglican Bishops of Canada and Newfoundland, is organized by date of the bishops consecrations. However, after Rowleys book was published, some bishops moved to other dioceses, thus making it difficult to organize the letters according to consecration dates. Morse sorted the letters by diocese, presenting them to Kings in large manila envelopes on which he had written the diocese, bishops names and signatures, and number of letters from each bishop in the envelope.

The bishops' letters are signed using the long-standing practice of a bishop's first name or initials plus his diocese name as his signature, e.g., Charles Nova Scotia.

• All of the letters are originals, with the exception of one letter by Rowley to Bishop Matheson.* ORR.[series no.].[item number]

Eighty-nine of the letters were transcribed during the arrangement and description project and are available in digital format from the University Librarian and Archivist. All of the Nova Scotia bishops' letters were transcribed, as were all the letters of John Dart, Jacob Mountain and John Strachan. Some letters of John Medley and George Jehoshaphat Mountain were transcribed. All of the letters have been photocopied. The binders of photocopies may be consulted in the University Library.

There are no restrictions on access.

• The most recent letters may be under copyright. Permission of the University Librarian and Archivist is required to reproduce any of the materials.
• Written permission of the University Librarian and Archivist is required for publication of any of the materials.

A hard copy finding aid with series and item lists is available in the University of King's College Library and Archives.

Correspondence from or to bishops represented in this collection may be available in other institutions, such as diocesan archives.

No further accruals expected.

William Inglis Morse referred to the collection as “Episcopal Letters” on a list he sent to Dr. Stanley Walker, President of the University of King's College, on August 19, 1939, shortly after donating the letters to King's.

2014-12-09

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