The records deposited in 1934 included two major groups, the 'Trevecka Group' and the 'Bala College Group'. The former, which represents the largely autonomous 18th-century development of Methodism in Wales, beginning in the 1730s, is centred on the archives of the founding father of Welsh Methodism, Howell Harris, and of the religious community which he established, the 'Trevecka Family'. Besides the 290 volumes of Howell Harris's diaries (for 1735-73), it comprises some 3000 letters, accounts of Societies (individual groups of adherents) and records of Associations. The 'Bala College Group' represents the development of Methodism during the 19th century, its spread in North Wales, the separation from the Established Church in 1811 and the formation of the Confession of Faith in 1823. The accessions of the years 1934 to 1974 include the records of the Sasiwn [the Association], district meetings, colleges, some individual chapels and churches, personal archives (both those of ministers and laymen), and those of the Foreign Mission. In content, the accessions of the years 1974-83 are distinguished from those of the earlier period by the high proportion of records of individual churches, many of them deposited because of the closure of the church. A third series, following a classification similar to that of the second, lists accessions from July 1983 onwards. The records of the North Cardiganshire Presbytery, detailed in a schedule [c.1940], have been withdrawn. Particular mention should be made of the archives of the Foreign Mission, which cover the missionary work of the Church in North East India from its beginning in the 1840s.
