Malawi Travel Blog

Early Medical Missionaries from Scotland - in Malawi

The picture above shows the group of missionaries at Blantyre Mission in November 1888. The occassion was the laying of the foundation of the St. Michael and All Angels Church. Rev. Scott is in the front row holding the scroll possibly with some of the plans for the church. Dr. Bowie is the one standing on the left with a hat. His sister Harriet Bowie, the wife of Henderson, is also in the picture possibly the one sitting holding a little boy and her face hidden by her hat. She and her child died on the Mission. Alfred Scott may not be in the picture as he only arrived at the mission in 1889. We will talk more about this picture in another blog! (Source of the picture: UCL Libraries.)

It is hard to overstate the influence and sacrifice that Scottish missionaries have given to Malawi. They were some of the most brilliant minds of their time. Greatly influenced by Dr. David Livingstone, they heard God's call, left...

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We start today with four books covering the history of Malawi. Starting from the early pre-missionary times to the foundation of the first missions, through the times when the country was called Nyasaland, and finally, to the independent Malawi.

1. The Early History of Malawi, edited by B. Pachai. Longman, 1972. This book contains twenty-four articles on the environment, life, culture, politics and the economics of Malawi. Nine articles deal with the period prior to 1800, the remainder focus on the years 1800-1920. A particularly valuable contribution from the pre-1800 works is the discussion on Malawi's physical and early human environment. Knowledge of both of these is sadly lacking for other parts of Africa. The post-1800 papers study the politics of the Tumbuka, Chewa and Ngoni, also the mission entry and its impact, and the European intervention and the results of that.
2. The Beginnings of Nyasaland and North-eastern Rhodesia 1859-1895 by A. J. Hanna. Hanna's...

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