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Adrian Hastings, correspondence and papers

Archive Collection: MS 1710

Details

Type of record: Archive

Title: Adrian Hastings, correspondence and papers

Level: Collection

Classmark: MS 1710

Creator(s): Hastings, Adrian (1929-2001)(); Hastings, Ann (1940-2008)()

Date(s): c.1943-2001

Language: English; French; German; Italian; Latin; Portuguese; Spanish

Size and medium: 23 boxes; manuscript papers; typescript papers; photographs; newspaper cuttings; maps; brochures; photocopies

Persistent link: https://explore.library.leeds.ac.uk/special-collections-explore/8138

Description

Comprises:

(1) Boxes 1-4: his published writings;

(2) Boxes 5-8: writings, press-cuttings, papers, and correspondence relating to his involvement in Bosnian affairs;

(3) Boxes 9-18: miscellaneous archives, including personal correspondence dated from 1945 onwards from family, friends, academic and ecclesiastical contacts, papers relating to his publications, lectures, and sermons on various topics, reviews of some of his books, early articles and sermons, school essays on historical subjects, material relating to celibacy and the priesthood, and papers relating to his engagements and writing commitments during the later years of his life;

(4) Boxes 19-22: Additional material relating to his work in retirement up to his death, including publications, examining, lectures, correspondence, book reviews, and reviews of his books;

(5) Box 23: typescript papers by different authors relating to the history of the Church in various African countries including Uganda and Malawi in the early to mid twentieth century. Some are conference papers. There are 6 maps of parts of Southern Africa, some press-cuttings, and two printed guides to Norwich Cathedral.

Biography or history

Adrian Christopher Hastings (1929-2001) was a theologian, church historian, and priest. Born on 29 June 1929 in Kuala Lumpur, where his father practised law, he was brought up in Great Malvern, Worcestershire as a Roman Catholic and educated at Douai Abbey, from where, in 1946, he went up to Worcester College, Oxford. There he read history, but felt a growing call to go to Africa as a missionary. He was trained for the priesthood in Rome, where he was ordained in 1955, before going to Africa to work for the church in Uganda, Tanzania and Zambia. In 1972 he returned to Britain to take academic posts in Selly Oak College, Birmingham, then (1973-1976) the School of Oriental and African Studies, London, and later (1976-1982) Aberdeen University. Between 1982 and 1985 he was professor of religious studies at the University of Zimbabwe, before taking up the professorship of theology at the University of Leeds, which he held until his retirement in 1994. His best-known writings include 'The
Church in Africa 1450-1950' and 'A History of English Christianity 1920-1985', and he edited 'The Oxford Companion to Christian Thought' and the respected 'Journal of Religion in Africa'. Throughout his life he was a forthright commentator on the contemporary church and its leaders and also involved himself with political causes both in Africa, such as the Wiriyamu massacre in Mozambique, and in Europe, most recently Bosnia and Kosovo. Rejecting the church dogma of compulsory celibacy for the priesthood, he married Ann Spence in 1979. He died on 30 May 2001.

Access and usage

Access

Some parts of this collection have not been listed in detail and the content may be protected under the Data Protection Act and other relevant legislation. Please consult the relevant part of the catalogue for specific details. Where a detailed record does not exist, please contact Special Collections. Upon receipt of your request, a member of the team will discuss your requirements with you and review relevant material accordingly

This collection contains material that is less than 30 years old and may contain sensitive information.


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