Mary Moffat Livingstone (1821-1862)

Mary Moffat Livingstone was the wife of David Livingstone the missionary and explorer.
In the history books she has been forgotten They said he had three wives - the river Nile,the struggle against slavery and religion.

In the article in the Daily Mail Mrs Livingstone i Presume written by Jane Fryer she looks at the life of his real wife.

She was strong, educated, fearless and spoke 6 African languages. She was the daughter of missionaries and was renowned in South Africa. . It was Mary who opened doors in remote parts of Africa for her singularly driven husband with her languages and connections. Tribal leaders would insist on addressing her first.

Together they crossed the Kalshari desert surviving on biscuit and beans. They survived an entire week without water.

She endured appalling hardship, long separations, a sporadic paralysis caused by a post natal stroke after her fourth child Elizabeth was born in the bush and the final battle aged 41 with malaria.

Mary and David met when he was recovering from being bitten by a lion. Within weeks his life long vow to marry ‘went up in smoke’. They married in 1845. In 7 years they built their own house, created 3 mission stations from scratch and weathered 2 years of drought. In 1849, with 3 children and Mary pregnant they started a 1,500 mile trek across the Kalahari desert.

Read the full article by Jane Fryer.

Visit in July (2021) the revamped (9.1 million) David Livingstone museum In Lanarkshire where finally Mary’s contribution will finally be given due credit

They obviously loved each other. He just loved exploration and adventure a bit more.

Sources
Daily Mail
Wikipedia