Jaffna Bishop’s House Collection

This collection contains diverse types of documents; handwritten, bound registers and account books; letters and correspondence; and printed books and paper clippings. They cover the period between 1775 and 1948. They consist of rare documents like personal memoirs; chronicles; account books; correspondence; registers of marriage, baptism and birth; newspaper clippings; a few printed books; pastoral letters; biographies of the local bishops; and some religious books. Chronologically, these documents fall under three phases: 1. The first phase ranges from 1775 to 1850. This period provides us with the oldest records of Baptism in Tamil and Portuguese. 2. The second phase ranges from 1850 to 1930. This is considered as the main period of the O.M.I. (The Oblates of Mary Immaculate). We have already digitised many of the French memoirs. 3. The third phase ranges from 1930 to 1948; the pre-independent period (when the clergy was deliberately indigenised). These manuscripts are mostly in French, whereas the other languages follow in descending order, such as English, Latin, Tamil, Sinhalese, and finally Portuguese. We have digitised 412 documents containing a total number of 111,196 images.

Owner(s) of original material: Jaffna Bishop's House.

This collection contains the following 15 series.

  • EAP981/1/1: Letters and Correspondence, 1857-1947
  • EAP981/1/2: Sermons Documents, 1868-1934
  • EAP981/1/3: Register (Marriages and Baptisms), 1847-1934
  • EAP981/1/4: Account Books, 1868-1940
  • EAP981/1/5: Attendance Registers, 1879-1955
  • EAP981/1/6: Missionary Journals, 1845-1978
  • EAP981/1/7: Aerarium [Treasury Records], 1882-1930
  • EAP981/1/8: Tamil Register [Baptisms and Marriages], 1875-1884
  • EAP981/1/9: Books, Maps and Genealogy Tree, 1760-1783
  • EAP981/1/10: Nomination and Appointment of Church Officers, 1868-1938
  • EAP981/1/11: Diary, 1879-1920
  • EAP981/1/12: Correspondence and Printed Pamphlets, 1873-1893
  • EAP981/1/13: Vicarial and Diocesian Reports, 1852-1927
  • EAP981/1/14: Printed Books in Tamil, 1876-1880
  • EAP981/1/15: Printed Documents and Books, 1860-1970.