Scope and Content
The Cowley Fathers Archive contains the records of the Cowley Fathers’ Oxford society house prior to its closure in 1980. It includes correspondence, sermons, addresses, notes, and papers relating to retreats, dating from the c.1890 to c.1970. The majority of records were created by Father George Congreve.
The ‘Cowley Fathers’ is the colloquial name for the Society of St John the Evangelist (SSJE), an Anglican religious order for men founded at Cowley, Oxford in 1866. The founder was Richard Meux Benson (1824-1915).
Members make monastic vows of poverty, celibacy and obedience. For many years the society operated worldwide, with houses in the UK, India, South Africa and Canada. In 1980, the original Oxford society house closed, and since 2012 the society no longer operates in England. The current headquarters is located in Boston, Massachusetts.
The records are paper-based and held in 4 boxes.
The Cowley Fathers Archive was deposited at Gladstone’s Library in 1980, when the original Oxford society house closed.
At the same time, the Library of the Cowley Fathers was deposited – a collection of approximately 10,000 16th – 19th Century books relating to French Counter-Reformation spirituality. The library also contains the ‘Benson Judaica’, a collection of approximately 70 rare books which emphasise the important of the Jewish contribution to study of the Bible.
The records are believed to be in the order that they were deposited at Gladstone’s Library.
The archive is currently being catalogued and is not available to be viewed.
The archive is currently being catalogued and reprographics requests cannot be accepted.