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Handley Bird Papers

Date range: 1866-1950s

Medium: Archive

(Herbert) Handley Bird (1865-1938) was a Christian missionary who was part of the Open Brethren movement and was active from 1888 until his death in 1938. He worked predominantly in Tamil Nadu, India and is credited as being instrumental in the spread of Christianity in Tamil Nadu. He also spent time in Bombay, Singapore, China, Sri Lanka and Malaysia.

The collection consists of archive material relating to his life and work, including diaries and notebooks, photographs, articles published by Handley Bird and papers relating to missionary work more generally. It also comprises papers collected together for a proposed biography, including personal letters, accounts from people who knew and encountered him, and details of his missionary work, family and travels around India and beyond. There are also a small number of papers relating to Robert Stanes, a philanthropist who worked with Handley Bird in Coimbatore, and some published tributes to Handley Bird containing details of his life as a missionary.

The archive would be of interest to those studying Christian mission in general and missionary activity abroad, particularly in India; the role of British missionaries in the British Empire; and the significance of missionary activity within the Brethren tradition.

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Further information:

Catalogue available online via ELGAR

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