Society for the Religious Improvement of the Poor of Belfast, and its neighbourhood; or, Belfast Town Mission, which later changed its name to Belfast City Mission:

10 bound volumes of yearly annual reports

1829

1865

1886

1887

1875

1890

1892-1990 (4 volumes)

The annual reports include testimonies from women who were visited by the Mission and contain lists of names and addresses of subscribers to the organisation, which include the names of numerous women and the amount subscribed as well as lists of Sunday School teachers, many of whom were female. From 1924 the annual reports of Belfast City Mission include photographs of women being addressed by the Mission's door to door missionaries, group photographs which include women, photographs of the Mission's bible classes, photographs of Sunday School teachers and Sunday School outings, photographs of women's outings and Mother's Meetings, photographs of women being visited in the Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast and photographs of women attending open-air Mission meetings. The following is an example of some of the material which is available:

The annual report for 1829 states that the organisation was established 'to promote the religious teaching of the people ... By renting Rooms, called Stations, as places for worship; and ... By the visiting of agents, who read the Scriptures daily, from house to house'.

The annual report for 1886 cites a case of direct blessing as a result of the Mission's work, 'Not long since in visiting a poor woman who is greatly afflicted, I asked after her spiritual state: she replied that she had peace with God; and that the words I had spoken when visiting hear few months before had, under God's blessing, been the means of her salvation ... Mrs. McC-----lives in-----Street. She is a good woman, 60 years of age, quite blind. She desired me to call and read to her the sacred Scriptures. I read and pray with her regularly. Her inner eyes are getting clearer, and she finds God's grace sufficient for her. She is trusting Jesus'.

The annual report for 1928 states, 'In my house to house visitation I often meet with wives and mothers who, in a quiet way, have been endeavouring to live for God in their homes, struggling against tremendous odds, and receiving little sympathy from their friends'.

The annual report for 1929 includes a report of a Mother's Meeting which states, 'In all the mission districts there is a great number of women who find it difficult to leave their children to attend a night meeting, but are glad to come to an afternoon meeting for women only ... It is a touching sight to see two hundred or more of these women, most of them in their working clothes, listening to the Gospel message, and singing so heartily the hymns and psalms they sang in their girlhood days. These meetings awaken past memories, and help many to a better life'.

The annual report for 1936 includes a report from an individual missionary which states, 'As I go round the homes and see young mothers who are addicted to the use of 'toney' wine ... the result of this curse is that lives are being blasted and ruined: many are going insane, others are suffering intense pain, wives and children are badly treated'.

The annual report for 1967 states that the Mission's most beneficial meeting was the 'Women's Bright Hour'.

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A useful publication is Robert M. Sibbert, For Christ and Crown: The Story of a Mission (Belfast, 1926).