The University of Manitoba Archives & Special Collections contains 17 letters from Reverend Henry Budd to the Reverend John Smithhurst within the John Smithurst fonds. The 17 letters were artificially separated from the rest of the Smithurst fonds. Reverend Henry Budd was the first native minister in North America to be ordained by the Church of England. Reverend John Smithurst (1801-1867) was appointed by the Church Missionary Society of England to its North West America Mission, and was later appointed as company chaplain at the Red River Settlement by the Hudson's Bay Company. The letters discuss the conditions in Cumberland and The Pas in Northern Manitoba during the period 1841 to 1851. Budd discusses conditions of the mission, relating information about supplies, the weather, the response of the natives to religious instruction and other daily details of missionary life. Listed below are links to 2 of the letters.
The University of Manitoba Archives & Special Collections gratefully acknowledges the support of the Anglican Foundation.
View a typescript of the Henry Budd letters (temporarily unavailable online; please email archives@umanitoba.ca for a copy of the typescript).
Henry Budd to Reverend Smithurst, January 6, 1841
Henry Budd to Reverend Smithurst, February 11, 1851