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Walter Cockerill, George Shepperson and others, 1951-1983

 File — Box: CLX-A-24
Identifier: Coll-490/22/COR

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

Walter Cockerill, George Shepperson and others (including Dr Thomas Price):
1951 (numbered A1–7)
1952 (numbered B1–17)
1953 (numbered C1–12)
1954 (numbered D1–31. D3 is a Warrant for the arrest of W. B. Cockerill, Esq Signed by the District Resident, Blantyre. 16 April 1915)
1955 (numbered E1–4)
1956 (numbered F1–11. F10 is an envelope containing 6 cards (USA) and F11 is a group photograph)

Many letters concern the Chilembwe Rising of 1915, and Joseph Booth.

Additional letters:
1958-83 (numbered G1-9 Some notes on these follow.)
1915 (numbered H1-3. Letters printed in The Sabbath Recorder).

Notes on Additional Correspondence 1958-1983 (numbered G):

  1. Walter Cockerill, Milton Junction, Wisconsin, to George Shepperson. He has found some letters that he had forgotten about. They are ones that he wrote from Africa to his mother and sister in 1914 and 1915. Gives the 'gist' of five of them. Edinburgh, 20 April 1958.
  2. Leslie H. Fischel, Jr Director, The State Historical Society of Wisconsin, to Professor Shepperson. The Society would be glad to receive the papers of Walter Cockerill. 9 December 1963.
  3. Walter Cockerill to George Shepperson. He has got on the track of Harry W. Langworthy and he has sent Cockerill the manuscript of This Africa was Mine by Emily Langworthy. Cockerill has had a student copy, and there was a lot that wasn't in the book. 18 January 1964.
  4. Walter Cockerill to George Shepperson. He has found a list of men who were executed by the British at the time of the Rising. Enclosed a copy. 30 August 1967.
  5. Walter Cockerill to George Shepperson. Cockerill has heard that George Shepperson plans to produce an abridged version of Independent African for young people. The coloured people would like it. Mentions other publications. 1 February 1968.
  6. George Shepperson to Dr Leslie Fischel, Jnr. He has found a copy of Walter Cockerill's passport issued when he went to Nyasaland in 1915. Professor Shepperson hopes to see to Cockerill's correspondence, and take out letters which refer particularly to African affairs in due course. 2 October 1972.
  7. George Shepperson to Dr Leslie Fischel, Jnr. He has sent Mr Cockerill's passport which he thinks the State Historical Society of Wisconsin would like to have [copy enclosed]. 21 May 1980.
  8. Jack K. Jallings, Reference Archivist, The State Historical Society of Wisconsin, to George Shepperson. Concerns the repair of Mr Cockerill's passport. 5 February 1981.
  9. Walter Cockerill to George Shepperson. Following a fall, he has been in hospital. Recovering at home. 20 December - ?1983. Copies of three letters printed in The Sabbath Recorder under the titles 'A Message from Africa', 'A Letter from Africa' and 'Trouble in Africa'.

Notes on letters printed in <title>The Sabbath Recorder</title> (numbered H):

  1. To the Rev Edwin Shaw, Plainfield, NJ. The writer has been suspected of being connected with Joseph Booth and with the Ethiopian movement. He has been deported from Nyasaland and warned not to return. Describes conflict among the various missions and explains Ethiopian movement's 'hold'. 11 January 1915.
  2. To the Rev E. B. Saunders. References to growing of coffee and chillies and the uncertainty of crops. Rubber and tobacco have enjoyed a boom but this, too, was short-lived. Planters were unlikely to become wealthy and they would always depend upon native workers. ND (Incomplete).
  3. To the Editor and Recorder Readers. Description of the Rising and the attack engineered by John Chilembwe. Natives were tried and shot and others captured.10 February 1915.

Dates

  • Creation: 1951-1983

Creator

Language of Materials

English

Conditions Governing Access

Open. Please contact the repository in advance.

Biographical / Historical

Cockerill was born in 1886 near the small county town of Berlin, Wisconsin. He joined the Seventh Day Baptist Church on 7 June 1898, aged twelve.

In December 1913, he was admitted to the Seventh Day Baptist Church at Plainfield, New Jersey, and granted a preacher's licence on 3 January 1914. Within three weeks, he had set sail for Nyasaland travelling of his own volition, and receiving no financial assistance from the American Seventh Day Baptists.

He arrived in time to witness events leading up to the 1915 Uprising, and his letters recall the circumstances and throw light upon the characters and intentions of the people involved – information of considertable importance to researchers.

Full Extent

2 folders