The Society originated in a bequest by Robert Boyle in 1691 for advancing religion amongst infidels. Until the American War of Independence, the rents of an estate at Brafferton, Yorks were remitted to William and Mary College, Virginia. In 1794, the charity was reconstituted as "The Society for the Conversion and Religious Instruction and Education of the Negro Slaves in the British West-India Islands," and in 1836, after the abolition of slavery, as "The Society for Advancing the Christian Faith in the British West-India Islands, and elsewhere, in the Dioceses of Jamaica, and of the Barbadoes and the Leeward Islands, and in the Mauritius." A supplemental charter was issued on 29 October 1962.
From the description of Papers of the Christian Faith Society, 17th-20th centuries, from Lambeth Palace Library [microform]. (Yale University). WorldCat record id: 702690368
