Longley, Charles Thomas (1794-1868)

Volume one contains papers concerning Longley's early years and his appointment to Ripon. Volume two concerns his career at Ripon and his appointments to Durham and York. It reflects some of his activities at Ripon, but the papers concerning Durham and York are mainly letters of congratulation. Volume three concerns colonial bishoprics, and particularly the dispute between Bishop Gray of Capetown and J. W. Colenso, Bishop of Natal. Volume four includes correspondence relating to the Revd. Joseph Leycester Lyne (Father Ignatius), and a quantity of prayers composed by Longley. Volume five is devoted to ritualism, and volume six to the preparation of the first Lambeth Conference in 1867 and the signing of the Encyclical Letter. Volume seven contains papers on a variety of subjects, amongst which are Essays and Reviews, education, the appointment of the Royal Commission on Ritual, and the exercise of his visitorial powers. The Royal Commission on Ritual continues into volume eight, but the bulk of the volume is occupied by letters of condolence on Longley's death.

These form part of the Archbishops' Papers. These in turn form part of the archives of the Archbishops of Canterbury, which also comprise: Bishops' Meetings records (BM), Cartae Antiquae et Miscellaneae (Lambeth Charters) (CM), Convocation records (Conv), Court of Arches records (Arches), Faculty Office records (F), Lambeth Conference papers (LC), Temporalities records (ED and T), including correspondence on the Archbishops' estates (TR 8-36), and Vicar General records (V).\r\n\r\nAlthough a general indication has been given of the contents of each volume, it should be noted that the separate deposits have caused some disruption of the original arrangement of the papers, and it is often necessary to seek papers on a particular subject in more than one volume. This difficulty is greatly compounded in volumes three to six by the totally haphazard and capricious manner in which they were bound by S. W. Kershaw. The volumes are as follows: Longley 1: Letters and papers, 1811-45; Longley 2: Letters and papers, 1846-62; Longley 3: Letters and papers (Colonial Bishoprics), 1861-68; Longley 4: Letters and papers (Father Ignatius, prayers, etc.), 1860-68; Longley 5: Letters and papers (Ritualism), 1848-68; Longley 6: Letters and papers (Lambeth Conference), 1867; Longley 7: Letters and papers, 1862-67; Longley 8: Letters and papers, 1867-1956; Longley 9: Photograph album of the Lambeth Conference.

Charles Thomas Longley (1794-1868) was appointed by Viscount Melbourne to the newly created diocese of Ripon in 1836. He was translated to Durham in 1856, to York in 1860, and to Canterbury in 1862.