Resignation, Zambian style

This little letter has been doing the rounds. I don't know who originally shared it, but it is good enough to share again.

Dear Sir, Re Letter of resignation

Bye Bye Sir.

Yours faithfully...

That's what I call a letter of resignation 😀 Zambian style.

Happy independence day everybody!

 

A Treasure of Darkness (Mabel Shaw)

Subtitled 'An idyll of African life', this is another fine and often poetic book by Mabel Shaw, headmistress of the Livingstone Memorial Shaw at Mbereshi in Northern Zambia.  This one is intended for children, published in 1936 and told in the style of a story, but relating true events.

Notice the words Bashilikale ba mfumu around the logo on the dustcover, Bemba for 'the children of the chief'. (See my previous postings on the school for an explanation.)

Photos in the book were taken by 'Ma Sabin', who some googling suggests must be Margaret Sabin.  ('Ma' and 'Ba' are used as honorifics for seniors in this book'.)

Although many children from the school and some of the male staff are mentioned, the story mostly concerns Mary Livingstone, who was adopted by the school as a baby in about 1928, based on Mary being 8 in 1936, when the account ends.

Glaxo!

We begin with the story of Joseph and Mary travelling to Bethlehem, as a parallel of sorts with the story of Shambuluma and his wife Mwansa who have been travelling from the mines in the south (though we are not told where exactly). They had been travelling 10 days already on foot and still had 6 or more to go. Mwansa was carrying a sewing machine, a bowl and cloth, while Shambuluma had a spear to protect them and not much else it seems.  Mwansa is pregnant, and exhausted, and dies shortly after giving birth to their baby girl, saying only to take the baby to their village.  Shambuluma buries Mwansa nearby, and carries on with the baby, leaving the sewing machine behind. He considers leaving the baby behind as a lost cause, particularly as he meets people in villages on the way who mock him and tell him the child will never live.  The baby's head is misshapen from being carried on one side for so long. He feeds the child with fruit juice and water, with some watery porridge, but she is getting weaker all the time.

Greeting Bole-Bole

After some days of travelling like this Shambuluma meets a man who tells him to take the child to the people 'of the way of God' at Mbereshi, as they will have milk and he decides to do this rather than to his own village of Kakonde (in the Congo?)  He meets Mapoma from Mbereshi and Ana who call Mabel Shaw ('Mama') and the child is taken in.  The children tell Shaw that she has to keep the baby, and Shambuluma says he will work in the village while they look after it.  However, the baby does not thrive on the powdered milk they have and their cows are nearly dry.

Shaw wonders if the child will do better with a product she has seen advertised on a bus in London, which 'builds bonnie babies', Glaxo, but they have none. Then Solo is dispatched to Elizabethville by bicycle, a 6 day round-trip, and there is a tense wait for him to return. Finally he is seen returning on the 6th day, with 6 tins of Glaxo.

Mary holding Ba Honor's baby

The baby gets stronger and is eventually named Mary, after the mother of Jesus. Shambuluma returns to his village, now having the name Shi-Mary (father of mary). At 10 months, when Mary is baptised the name Livingstone is added, after David Livingstone.

Mary's grandmother comes on foot to visit from 130 miles away, saying only 'you have given her life', and 'my daughter's little baby' before returning to her village. Shambuluma also visits again, bringing gifts of food and news of a half sister to Mary called Dinah, at Kambole. The grandmother dies at this time.

There is a big scare when Mary falls 16 feet from a verandah, but miraculously she is found unharmed.

The rest of the book tells us about Mary's childhood in some detail, including how fond she was of little animals (especially frogs) and her favourite phrases. She seems to have been a lovely little girl and was a favourite with the older children, as we can imagine. 

Mary holding 'Bunny'

We hear many other tales of school life, the subjects the girls are studying and their chores around the school, also about Mary's friends as well as the older children at the school, in their yellow uniforms.

The children say that Mary must only be taught good things, and they must set a good example for her.

As in the other books often only first names are given, and older people are often not named in full, but here is a further list of names. If you look at the three postings I've done on Mbereshi you can also piece together some more of the detail of who is who and get some idea of ages in some cases by comparison with Mary.

We hear that Nellie Lombe, Ana and Betty went to Bulawayo for 2 years teacher training.

Names

Ba Agnes - nurse
Ba Chali - teacher
Ba Honor - nurse, 5 children
Ba Jennifer
Ba Leah Kabanda (headmistress)
Ba Mary Duncan
Ba Mapoma
Ba Rosalia
Ba Solo
Ba William (carpenter)
Bole-Bole
Ma Bishop
Mama Doctor
Ma Sabin
Mama Gorton

Annette
Betty

Charity (twin of Felicity)
Chanda
Chewe, Mercy (5)
Chililalila
Chiluba
Chola
Chungu (the cook, who was one of the first girls at the school)
Clarissa (dau of Ba Chali)
Daisy (5)
Dinah (Mary's sister, Kambole)

Eshnati
Fanny
Felicity (twin of Charity)

George, Bonaventure David Chileshe Washington 'Bunny' (Roman Catholic father clerk in town; mother died at birth) came from 400 miles away in Congo

Huldah (child of older girl at school)

John - son of Ba Honor

Jairus
Jeanne - 'little white Jeanne  at Kawambwa who came to see 'Murry' as she called Mary
Jennifer
Jess
Joy
Kabanda
Kabula, Hilda
Kapanga
Kasampa
Kathleen
Lombe, Nellie
Ludiya
Lupupa
Luse

Maggie
Margaret
Miriam
Monica
Mpongwe
Mukamba, Mary (big)
Mulenga, Rachel (teacher)
Mwaba
Mwila, Ana

Ponde
Pule, Ada

Ruthie

Sumaili
Susan - teacher of baby class

Tessie, Margaraet (head girl)

The Search for Patrick Kerr Dixon's family

The Times Newspaper obituary in 1955

This is just a quick post to mention an interesting contact received this week from the archive development officer for the Belfast Charitable Society linked to Clifton House, Belfast.

Clifton House recently uncovered a wonderful trove of over 180 letters dating from World War I, written by Lt Patrick Kerr Dixon, later Dr Dixon FRCSI (Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland).

Dixon spent time in the Belgian Congo with the Garenganze Evangelical Mission and later worked for many years in Zambia at Chibambo, Mbereshi, and Lusaka.

He was a friend of Charles Fisher and the book 'Nswana' records that Fisher hoped to travel up the Nile to Palestine with Patrick 'a surgeon from Dublin whose mission hospital at Chibambo was many miles further south [from Kalene Hill] on the Luapula River. They gave up these plans when Patrick was called suddenly to another hospital vacant on account of a serious scandal, and Charles also received disturbing news of his father's increasing ill-health'.  Monica and Charles visited Dixon a few days after they were married.

We are told that the population at Chibambo provided plenty of patients for the hospital where Dixon operated and that he was 'the first doctor in Northern Rhodesia to recognize the cause of the very high incidence of blindness among the children in the Luapula Valley, writing a short paper describing the cases he'd seen.'  He also wrote a handbook for medical assistants, used in missions on the Congo side of the Luapula river.

Dixon's first marriage was to Olive Arther, fom Dublin. 'Nswana' records Olive died in childbirth. Dixon was conducting the delivery himself as no one else was available.

In 1934 he married Isabella H. Russell, of Mbereshi Mission, and had a daughter from his second marriage.

In 1953 he went to work at the African Medical Hospital in Lusaka as a surgeon, and taught at the African Medical School.

He died on April 21, 1955 and was buried at Aylmer May Cemetery, although their website register misrecords his name as Dion and his middle initial as R. They have his burial date as the 23rd of April.

I was pleased to be able to find his gravestone amongst my photos.

Patrick Kerr Dixon

1898 - 1955

I believe that the memorial reads "Whosoever shall lose his life for my sake shall find it", which is Matthew 16 verse 25.

Can you help find Patrick Dixon's descendants? If so, please contact the Belfast Charitable Society archivist - the email address is archive@cliftonbelfast.org.uk.

Spark in the stubble - Colin Morris of Zambia

Leslie Charlton's book (Epworth Press, 1969) is focussed on the independence struggle and the early years afterwards, and tells us about Morris and his influence at that time from the pulpit of the Methodist Chingola Free Church, and during his brief political career. The title is taken from a verse in the book of Wisdom: "In the time of their visitation, they shall shine and run to and fro like sparks in the stubble".  Apt.

Morris had arrived in Zambia in 1956, when the independence movement was taking off. At Oxford University he had met African political activists, and had already formed strong opinions before he arrived in South Africa, as we are told, clutching Trevor Huddleston's banned book, "Naught for your comfort". But his preconceptions were quickly shattered as he found most of the white people he associated with moderate and reasonable. It was some time before his anger was reawakened by inequalities in treatment of African miners and he fully committed to a political stand on the need for independence.

'Turbulent priests': Michael Scott, Colin Morris and Merfyn Temple

Morris seems to have picked up many nicknames that highlight his influence at the time: "the fighting parson", "Rhodesia's Trevor Huddleston",  "the turbulent priest", "the best hated man in central Africa". We are left in no doubt of his commitment to the cause of African self government, although he stopped short of standing for UNIP (which Kenneth Kaunda offered to him), as he alternately emptied and filled his church, dealt with hecklers and fended off attacks on the church itself.

The book includes a good account of the Lenshina uprising, including a personal account from Revd Paul Mushindo on the birth of the Lumpa sect.  He says:

It was on 18th September 1953. Alice Lenshina Mulenga Lubusha of Kasomo Village, Chief Nkula's area, gave birth to a child and became fainted, which shows immorality according to Bemba custom.

The news went abroad that she was dead. In three days time she rose up again. This untrue rumour attracted many people to her. For about two to five days Alice was being treated for her fainting by people who know the African medicine for such occasions. Then she came to Lubwa to look for [me] for advice as to how to rejoin the United Church of Central Africa in Rhodesia.

... being a full church member she had the right to hold church services. But being an illiterate woman she preached what she had been taught.... but with it she emphasized that she rose up from the dead; and God has sent her to save people from their sins.... Then in her preachings she used their superstitions. She said that God had sent her to save people from dying the death caused by buloshi. (witchcraft)

Lumpa 'Passport' with a Chinsali District stamp

Although initially the Lumpa church was not an issue for UNIP, in fact it was 'regarded as a spiritual arm of nationalism', Alice made a political error in telling her people to support the ANC. This, combined with her breaking away to form her own villages without permission and assaults on local people (who also attacked Lumpa members), eventually led to the catastrophic attack on the church. The impressive structure they built (without any European assistance) now lies in ruins.

Morris and other ministers were involved in trying to resolve the issue before the attack took place. Officially, 704 were killed, according to BBC documentary 'The Reckoning'.  Many carried 'passports' promising to turn bullets to water. (See also here for an article by John Hannah, District Officer of the area at the time.)

It is notable also that Colin Morris insists we just don't know whether Alice rose from the dead or not. We must assume it could have happened, he says.

There are many interesting stories in this book, but I will end with a quote about Morris: 'He tore up the rule book and put his foot through the stained-glass windows to let into his church the harsh light of an underprivileged world'. I wonder if the day of the turbulent priests has gone. I would like to think not.

Colin Morris passed away on May 22nd, 2018.  He was awarded the Companion Order of Freedom by Kenneth Kaunda.

Names in the book 'spark in the stubble'

Acheson, Dennis
Barnes, Jonathan (church treasurer)
Barton, Frank
Benson, Arthur (Sir)
Bolink, Peter
Bulawayo, Fines
Burton, Lillian
Castle, Barbara (UK labour party)
Catto, Charles (Revd; Chingola FC; president UCZ)
Chabukasanshya, Clement (RC)
Chembe, Francis
Chitambala, Frank
Clayton, Eric (Bancroft Mine chairman)
Collins, John (Canon)
ffoulkes, Maurice (church secretary)
Fleming, James (mayor)
Foy, Whitfield, Rev (Salisbury, Rhodesia)
Franklin, Harry
Frazer, Donald (Dr)
Frazer, George
Gilchrist, Tom
Gondwe, Alfred
Gray, Douglas, Chipembi Girls School founder, and Chingola Free Church minister
Greenfield, Julian (Salisbury)
Hanna, John (District Officer during Lumpa crisis)
Hess, Ian (editor Central African Examiner)
Hewitt, George (Canon)
Hincks, William
Ibiam, Francis (Sir; Nigerian doctor)
Kapwepwe, Simon
Katilungu, Lawrence
Lehmann, Dorothea
MacCleod (colonial secretary; Lancaster House conference)
Macpherson, F. (Revd)
Magnus, Val (UFP Party; defeated Morris in election)
Mataka, Filemon
Matthews, J.L. (Revd) Len
McKenzie, William (Bill)
Moffat, John (Sir; Central Africa Party)
Mukondo, Samson
Mulenga, Alice Lenshina
Mulford, David
Musakala, G. (Revd)
Mushindo, Paul (Revd)
Musunsa, Doyce (UCZ)
Mutemba, Andrew
Mwape, Jackson (president UCZ)
Nightingale, Edward G. (Revd)
Nkumbula, Harry
Reeves, Ambrose
Rogers, Edward (Revd)
Scott, Alexander (Constitution Party)
Short, Arthur
Soper, Lord
Taylor, John
Temple, Merfyn
Todd, Garfield
Welensky, Roy
Whelan (Justice)
Wilkinson, Oliver Green
Williams, Thomas (Sir)
Wina, Arthur
Wina, Sikota

Oh Lord, won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz?

I have to love this fellow for trying...

This is a copy of an actual letter received by my mother when she worked in car sales at Star Motors in Lusaka, in the 1970s.

13th April 1977

 Rabson C. Mukoko

Miseshi School

PO Box 2392

Kitwe, Zambia

Dear Sir please Mrs Wendy.

Please send me mercedes-Benz car?

I repeat again send me mercedes Benz

car home delivery scheme. I am

interesting  please trust me

you see    Don't forced (fooled? forget?)

yours faithfully

my name is

R. C. mukoko

Send fast agent please BY AIR 

mail  OK

We spent a long time laughing over this. Thank you Rabson, wherever you are. It seems like he doesn't have an internet presence now.

I wonder whether Rabson had an English lesson in which he decided to write this letter, and whether he discussed it with his classmates at Miseshi School. Perhaps he dreamed of the day that shiny new Mercedes Benz would arrive by airmail outside the school gates. "Rabson Mukoko? Special air mail delivery for you via the car home delivery scheme. Sign here please." Perhaps he waited by the gates for weeks afterwards, watching the Mercedes cars drive by...

Ah, bless.

Chuma and Susi in Northamptonshire

Most people will have heard of David Livingstone's companions James Chuma and Abdullah Susi, who in 1873 along with Matthew Wellington found Livingstone dead and helped to carry his preserved body from Chitambo's village in North Western Zambia, wrapped in bark, 1500 kilometres to Bagamoyo in Tanzania. Chuma and Susi are rightly remembered for this loyalty and effort, but little is known or said of their time before or after Livingstone. I was surprised to discover then that both of them had traveled to England. Apparently neither was with Livingstone when he was buried at Westminster Abbey, although Jacob Wainwright, who carved the famous memorial in a tree at Chitambo's was.

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons - the original memorial
Livingstone_Memorial_at_Chitambo,_Africa,_ca.1873-ca.1900_(imp-cswc-GB-237-CSWC47-LS16-056).jpg

Wainwright, who had been part of Stanley's famous expedition to find Livingstone, was one of the pall bearers at the funeral, along with the Revd Horace Waller, who edited Livingstone's last diaries.

Chuma and Susi must have traveled around England quite a lot, having apparently spent time in Leytonstone (north London) and also in Twywell, Northamptonshire, where they are remembered in the local church of St Nicholas. They helped Waller to decipher Livingstone's notes and fill in gaps in his story. I am not sure where they spent the greater amount of their time, but they were in Leytonstone long enough to build a replica of the hut in which Livingstone died, which must have been viewed by many visitors. Since I live nearby, I like to think that Chuma and Susi must have visited Northampton, and to imagine them walking about. Anita McCullough [2] reports that Susi and Chuma probably returned to Africa before the year was out and it is reported elsewhere that they were not treated very well, and although feted were housed and fed with servants [3]. Both received bronze medals from the Royal Geographical Society.

Stranger still, in Twywell rumour has it that one of the two remained in England and married a French girl, with whom he had two sons, one of whom married a Twywell girl [4]. This seemed very unlikely to me in light of other evidence that both Chuma and Susi returned to Africa and died quite young. Chuma and Susi both returned to work with the UMCA [5, 6, 7]. Chuma died in Zanzibar aged about 32 in 1882, and Susi also in Zanzibar in 1891 [7]. So where did this story come from? It seems that one day a 'dark stranger' was seen crossing a field, who later claimed to be a son of either Chuma or Susi and eloped with a local girl, named Polly Abbot [8]. According to Jeffrey Green the man was actually George Henry Watteau, son of a well-known gardener in Chislehurst, Kent, also called George. The elder George claimed to have been part of Livingstone's party and to have helped bring his body from Africa, but this does not seem possible. According to another source [9] his name may have been derived from his habitual greeting of 'What ho!', but his original name may have been Makepo (Makipo?) and it is possible he was born in South Africa.

It seems clear that George Watteau senior cultivated the idea that he had worked with David Livingstone, which must have given him a celebrity status and possibly an income (his portrait appears to have been taken on many occasions). Did George say that he worked at Livingstone House in Kent, and go along with the idea that it was David Livingstone's house? Did the villagers of Twywell transfer George's parentage to Chuma and Susi, or was that George junior's ruse?

St Nicholas Church is worth a visit if you are interested in David Livingstone and this history. They have a few interesting artefacts as well as two beautifully carved pews depicting the work of the UMCA and African animals. On examining the photos carefully I see that one is actually of George Watteau. At first I thought this was a Rhodesian newspaper, but now I'm wondering if it is a UK paper with the headline 'Livingstone Echo'. There is again the claim that Watteau was involved with Livingstone's expeditions and was a servant to Livingstone - but I've not seen any evidence of this elsewhere. I suspect that the newspaper fell for this story, as apparently did many other people.

Artefacts at Twywell, including pincers for removing slave shackles, and bark in which Livingstone's body was wrapped.

Mr Watteau, I presume?

 

St Nicholas Church, Twywell, Northamptonshire

A watercolour of the spot where Bishop Mackenzie was buried, present day Malawi

 

Slaves - on the right of the panel

Chuma and Susi working for the UMCA. The UMCA leads the slaves out from slavery, to the cross on the left of the panel

O all ye beasts and cattle bless ye the Lord. Praise him and magnify him for ever. O ye children of men, bless ye the Lord. Praise him and magnify him for ever. (Inscription on the carved panels in the choir pews.)

The Old Rectory, Twywell in 2015 - Livingstone's last journals were at least in part edited here

A letter to Horace Waller from General Gordon

References

[1] Bombay Africans, Royal Geographical Society https://www.rgs.org/NR/rdonlyres/831B3822-2330-4773-8B53-A2E3328D2FBD/0/BombayAfricansPartTwo.pdf

[2] "Rev Horace Waller: Dr David Livingstone's friend in Leytonstone", Anita McCullough, Leyton History Society  http://www.leytonhistorysociety.org.uk/horace_waller_in_leytonstone_anita_mccullough.pdf

[3] Heroes of Livingstone's last trek revealed, The Scotsman, 20 May 2007 http://www.scotsman.com/news/heroes-of-livingstone-s-last-trek-revealed-1-1419404

[4] Tales of Old Northamptonshire, Marian Pipe, Countryside books, 1990; also personal communication with the church-warden at St Nicholas, Twywell in 2015.

[5] Chuma+Susi fact file, Royal Geographical Society resources http://www.unlockingthearchives.rgs.org/resources/documents/Chuma+Susi%20fact%20file.pdf

[6] James Chuma, Royal Geographical Society https://www.rgs.org/NR/rdonlyres/09D74CA0-F32A-45BD-A9AC-DD2AAFE53897/0/HHAfrica_JamesChuma.pdf

[7] Abdullah Susi, Royal Geographical Society https://www.rgs.org/NR/rdonlyres/247D40E7-0280-42AD-8BA5-33D51B6DD3CE/0/HHAfrica_AbdullahSusi.pdf

[8] George Watteau, the African gardener of Chislehurst, Jeffrey Green, http://www.jeffreygreen.co.uk/155-george-watteau-the-african-gardener-of-chislehurst

[9] David Stuart-Mogg, Letters to the Daily Telegraph, 2nd December 2006 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/letters/3634849/Letters-to-The-Daily-Telegraph.html

Christians of the Copperbelt

Here is a surprising find -- a recent book on the internet archive, in full: Christians of the Copperbelt. For the purposes of this blog, the bonus is that the book has an index including a list of names of people who were influential in the early church on the Copperbelt of Northern Rhodesia.

This account by John V. Taylor and Dorothea A. Lehmann was published in 1961 as part of the World Mission Study series. The book is based on an eight and a half month study undertaken in 1958 and particularly at Nchanga Mine in Chingola and in the township of Kansuswa near Mufulira. Although mainly about the Copperbelt, the authors also worked in rural areas elsewhere in the country, including Northern and Luapula Provinces. The authors say that the time they allowed for their work was too little and that suspicion of political motive hampered their success in interviewing local people. Nevertheless, there will be much of interest here to anyone with missionary roots, to help understand the story of the growth of the Christian church in Zambia, particularly at the time of the transition to independence, and to help understand the impacts of urbanisation. Also of interest is the study of Alice Lenshina's Lumpa Church before its bloody clash with UNIP just before independence in 1964.

One of the more interesting tables for me is this one showing where and when various missions were operating in the territory:

Missionary organisations in Northern Rhodesia

I tried to read this book on-line and failed, then made a Kindle version, but still failed... at least, trying to read it and
make notes on a tablet has not worked for me, so I am just going to skip the analysis and post the names in the index.

My frustration in trying to read on a tablet whilst making notes also led me to write some software to generate my own index of sorts. I am sure I have made some mistakes, but I think the software-generated index may still be useful, so I offer it (without page numbers, I haven't worked on that yet) here. The software-generated index contains OCR errors, which I have not tried to fix, as knowing what these errors are may actually help you to find a reference in the book you would otherwise miss. (I'd have posted the actual index here, but blogger can't cope with this amount of text, so it's at dropbox.)

I hope to return to that code one of these days and see how I might refine it. All it is trying to find is proper nouns, in fact. For example, here is a software-generated index by relevance, with the most frequently occurring words identified as proper nouns at the bottom of the list.

And here is the index (minus page numbers) given in the book itself, with some corrections for OCR errors and with a few cross references added:

Persons, churches, organisations and places in the index

Abercorn

Actio's

Adamson, Mr

African Holy Spiritual Church

African Mineworkers' Union
African National Congress
African Reformed Church

AME Church
Anglican Church (see also UMCA)
Arnot, F.
Attwater, D.

Bamulonda 

Bana ba Mutima

Banda, J. 

Bancroft

Bedford, F.

Bell, Bishop G. K. A. 

Blood, A. G.

Booth, J.

Bradley, K. 

Brethren in Christ 

Broken Hill
Buell, R. L.
Bwana Mkubwa

Capricorn Africa Society 

Carson, Dr 

CCAR (Church of Central Africa in Rhodesia)

Childs, S. H. 

Chilembwe, J. 

Chingola 

Chinsali

Chintankwa, P.

Chipili

Chisanga

Chisholm, Dr J. 

Chitimukulu

Christian Council of Northern Rhodesia

Christian Missions in Many Lands See Plymouth Brethren
Church Missionary Society
Church of Christ
Church of Scotland Mission 

Coillard, F.
Comrie, W.
Copperbelt Christian Service Council

Cripps, A. S.
Cross, A. J. 

Cunnison

Dalgleish, A. 

Daly, Mr 

Davis, J. Merle 

Deerr, W. 

Dewar, A. 

Doke, C. M. and Miss O. C. 

Doke, J. J.
Dougall, J. W. C.

Draper, W. 

Dube, J. L. 

Dupont, Pere J. 

Dutch Reformed Church

Ellis, W. 

Epstein, A. L.

Fastness

Fisher, W., and family

Fison, J. E.

Forster, Sir John

Fort Jameson

Fort Rosebery

Franciscan Tertiaries

Fraser, Dr Agnes
Fraser, D. 

Fraser, George
Free Church of Scotland Mission

Gann, L. H. 

General Missionary Conference of Northern Rhodesia

Goodall N. 

Gore-Browne, Sir Stewart 

Graham-Harrison, Miss 

Greig, 

Griffiths, A. J. 

Griffiths, J.

Groves, C. P. 

Guillebaud, C. G.

Hailey, Lord 

Harris, C. 

Hawkins, D. 

Hewitt, G. 

Hine, Bishop J. E.

Icely, B. 

Ilondola

Jehovah's Witnesses
Jesuit Fathers 

Johnston, Sir Harry 

Jones, Picton 

Jourdain, Fr 

'Jesus Fanoily'

Kafulafuta, 16, 34

Kalene Hill

Kamungu, L.

Kamwana, E.

Kansuswa

Kasama
Kasenga, B.
Kashinda
Kasomo('s)
Katilungu, L.
Kaunda, K.
Kawambwa
Kazenibe(s')
Kitwe

Laws, Dr R.
Lenshina, Alice

Lewanika, King
Lewanika, G.
Lewin, J.
Lisulo, G.
Livingstone, David
Livingstonia
Lobengula
London Missionary Society 

Luanshya
Lubwa
Lumpa Church
Lusaka

MacLennan, Mr
MacPherson, F.
Marwick, M. G.
Mason, Philip
May, Bishop A.
Mbereshi 

McCulloch
Methodist Missions (see also AME Church)
Mindolo
Mines African Staffs' Association 

Mitchell, J. C.
Mitchell, Sir Phillip
Moffat, Sir John
Moffat, Mr and Mrs Malcolm
Moffat, Mr
Morris, Colin
Moore, R. J. B.
Mott, John R.
Mporokoso
Msidi
Mufulira 

Mulima
Mulolani
Murray, A.
Mushindo, P.
Mwanalesa (Mwana lesa)
Mwenzo
Mweru, Lake

Nchanga
Ndola 

New Apostolic Church 

Nielsen, E. 

Nightingale, Mr 

Nkana

Nkimibula, H. 

Nsensema('s)
Ntara, S. 

Nutter, H. C. 

Nyasa Industrial Mission

Oliver R.

Paris Evangelical Mission

Parr, M. 

Peng, Wang Shih 

Philips, Mr
Price, T. - see Shepperson G.

Plymouth Brethren 

Prain, Sir Ronald
Purves, A. D.

Quick, G.

Rain, S. 

Rhodes, Cecil 

Richards, Dr A. I. 

Richmond, A. H. 

Roman Catholic Church (see also Jesuit Fathers and White Fathers)

Ross, Mr and Mrs

Salisbury, Lord

Saluki 

Salvation Army 

Scott, Dr A.

Seventh Day Adventists 

Sharpe, A.
Shepperson, G., and Price, T. 

Smith, Edwin
Society for the Propagation of the Gospel
Soulsby, J. G. 

South Africa General Mission 

South African Baptist Mission
South African Presbyterian Church

Spillett, H. W.
Sundkler, B. C. M. 

Syrier, Mrs M. B.

Taylor, Bishop Selby
Thompson, C. H.
Thompson, J.
Thompson, Wardlow

UCCAR (United Church of Central Africa in Rhodesia)

UMCA (Universities' Mission to Central Africa)

UMCB (United Missions in the Copperbelt)

UNIP 

USCL (United Society for Christian Literature)

Van der Post, L.
van Doom, C. L.
Vlek, T. C. B.

Watchtower Society - See Jehovah's Witnesses
Watt, J. A. R.
Welensky, Sir Roy
White Fathers (see also Ilondola)
Wilberforce Institute 

Wilson, G. and M.
Wood, Miss E. A.
Woodruff, H. W.
Wright, S.

Yamba, D.
Young, C.
Young, W. P.

Zambia Congress

INDEX OF SUBJECTS

Adolescents
Adultery, mystical danger of
Amalgamation

Baptism

Beerhalls

Bible

Bridewealth

Charms

Chiefs, ritual position of

Childhood, rural, urban
Choirs

Church attendance  collections, co-operation, finance, statistics, political participation by
Cizaa

Concession treaties
Co-operatives
Copper deposits

Discarding death (ukupose mfzoa)

Discipline

Divorce
Dreams

Education fear of

Family structure
Federation

Funerals

Grandparents

Hymns

Industrial advancement of Africans

Industrial disturbances

Initiation

Laity

Land alienation

Magic
Marriage, inter-tribal, rural, urban

Marriage laws
Materialism
Medicine (muti)

Middle class

Ministry, indigenous, training

Multi-racial clubs

Nalume

Names

Ng'anga (doctor)

Ngulu (spirits)

Nostalgia for rural life
Nyasalanders, as leaders

Partnership

Pietism

Polyandry

Polygyny

Prophet movements

Railway
Responsibility of Africans in the Church
Responsible government

Segregation, in society, in the Church
Sermons

Suicide

Sunday schools

Taxation

Tribal elders

Tribal representatives

Tribes, matrilineal, patrilineal,religious affiliation of

Twins

University of Salisbury

Value judgments
Vocation

Welfare societies
White collar workers
White man's religion
Witchcraft
Witchfinding
Women's organizations

Loosing the chains of injustice in 1906

Many visitors to Zambia would be surprised to hear that slave raids (carried out mainly by Arabs and people of mixed African and Portuguese parentage) extended this far into the interior of Africa, that slavery was practiced locally, and to discover that it is a mere hundred years since slavery was more or less extinguished. The history of slavery is complex, with many heroes and villains, and with many systems prevailing in different areas, and it is therefore dangerous to generalise. Here is just one small piece of that story.

In western Zambia extending east to Batoka (at the Victoria Falls) was the territory known as Barotseland, the home of the Lozi people, famous today for the amazing and colourful ceremony of Kuomboka. The Lozi were a powerful tribe who held sway over the region and who therefore had to be reckoned with by the British South Africa Company as they made their forays into the territory. The paramount chief, known as the Litunga, or 'guardian of the earth', was responsible for the law governing his people. So it was to the Litunga at the time, Lewanika, that Cecil Rhodes went to sign the first treaty north of the Zambezi River. This brought the region under British influence in 1890. This influence, combined with that of missionaries such as Frederick Arnot and Coillard, persuaded Lewanika that the system of slavery practiced by his people was wrong. In the beginning the treatment of slaves, whose lives were completely in the hands of their owners, was improved, but in 1894 Lewanika declared that all who were of Barotse descent could not be slaves and a system of ransoming slaves was determined.

The Barotse people would not give up their slaves easily, however. According to Gelfand [1]

"No Barotse submitted himself to what he regarded as the indignity of manual labour. All his work was done by his slaves and the slaves could be forfeited for very little reason. A slave's wife and children were also the property of his master and could be sold. The slave could not participate in his master's pleasures and, if he killed an animal, the meat belonged to the master. He was not allowed to eat certain fishes and dared not touch honey."

The slaves, who were raided from Batoka and elswhere, and who were paid as tribute to the Lozi by vassal tribes, expected the British to liberate them, but the British governor Coryndon feared a revolution and so merely ruled (in 1897) that slave raiding and tribute should end. Raiding was much reduced through the introduction of a local police depot at Kalomo in 1899. When a hut tax was introduced in 1903, it was another blow against domestic slavery, as slaves were also liable to be taxed and this would have to be paid by their owners. Alongside this, the British administration paid Lewanika compensation for his lost tributes, 10% of the tax they collected, or about £1,200.

At this point, Lewanika himself recognised the evils of domestic slavery and when Worthington, the secretary for native affairs, visited in 1906, the hut tax was extended to the Barotse valley by agreement. Slave marriages were now recognised (a familiar story to anyone who has read the history of slavery in other regions) and slaves could buy their freedom for £2.

Here is a photo of a proclamation from 1906, I believe recording Lewanika's support for the abolition of slavery in Barotseland. This picture was taken in May 1970 by my father, Revd Pierre Dil, when we visited Mongu. (My father met the then Litunga and sisters at the convent to provide advice on setting up of a nutrition project in the region, along the lines of the then successful Lusaka Nutrition Group.) Unfortunately the old slides have not lasted well.

This text, dated July 16, 1906 quotes Isaiah Chapter 58 (v 6, 8, 9, 11, 12, 14). Lewanika is at the bottom left and Edward the VII is on the right. One translation of the verses (KJV) reads

“Is not this the kind of fast I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?

Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the LORD shall be thy reward.

Then shalt thou call, and the LORD shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am. If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity;

And the LORD shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.

And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in.

Then shalt thou delight thyself in the LORD; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it."

One could read into this quotation that Lewanika is also telling his people that they will not be destitute, that God will reward them for freeing their slaves.

The beginning of the proclamation refers to Lewanika as Morena, meaning 'ruler'.  I'm hoping someone will be able to explain the rest of the text.

Of course, the story does not end there. Gelfand reports that In 1913 there were twenty five convictions recorded amongst the Barotse for the buying and selling of slaves, but Lewanika's support for the aboliton of slavery meant that, at least for this part of the world, slavery had nearly been eradicated.

Barotseland was incorporated into the new nation of Zambia just prior to independence in 1964 by agreement of the Litunga and Kenneth Kaunda.

Here you can also see the royal barge, and the Litunga in 1970 (Mwanawina Lewanika III), outside his palace in Mongu.

 Here are my brother and I at the airport in Mongu in 1970.


[1] Gelfand "Northern Rhodesia in the days of the Charter", 1961

A find in a drawer - Hadden, White, Johnstone and others

You never know what will turn up in a drawer. In a desk bought by our family the following papers were found. The first is a letter from Canada written by a grateful lady in Winnipeg, the wife of a soldier cared for by Miss White, written in 1917.

 The letter reads:

15 Fawcett Avenue, Winnipeg, Canada

My dear Miss White, 

Ever since my husband Corp. Edwin B. Johnstone, told me of your goodness towards him and your splendid nursing, I have intended writing to thank you for all your kindness, but owing to illness in our home and the death of my father I have been kept pretty busy, with not much time for letter writing, so I hope you will forgive my tardy appreciation, which is none the less sincere on that account.

As you perhaps know, I have a sister in the Q.A's, and on that account have great sympathy with all nurses - especially the conscientious ones, such as I know you are, for my husband tells me the boys all call you "Sunshine", and really from your photo (which I have and shall always prize) I do not blame them - indeed heartily endorse their sentiment. In the weariness and sadness you are bound to experience in the course of fulfilling your duty, I assure you, you can take heart and go on, when you remember how thankful the poor boys all are for your cheerfullness and kindness. Such a disposition as yours cannot be anything but a blessing, and I do indeed wish you success in your work.

Perhaps you know that Mr. Johnstone is now at Folkstone seeing what can be done in the way of getting an artificial eye; I don't suppose they will return him to Canada, but give him light duty of some sort in England, and I am content it should be so, as I am proud to say there is not a man in our family who is not in khaki, and my only wish for them if they get wounded is that they should all be as fortunate as Edwin and fall into the tender care of a nurse who is not in the army for the sake of the uniform or what can be got out of it, but is in it for the sake of humanity and love of the Master who said "that in as much as ye have done it unto one of the least of my brethren ye have done it unto me."

Sincerely and gratefully yours, 
Ruby B. Johnstone.

P.S. I have sent you a book of views of Winnipeg, but whether or not the postal authorities will permit it to go through remains to be seen. RBJ.

My mother writes:

After the first world war, Miss White came to live and work in Zambia in an African hospital. Here she met and married a lawyer, Mr James Haddon. They had only one son - James Haddon Jnr, known as Jimmy, whose name is in the register of the old school near the Boma. He also became a lawyer, and later Justice Haddon. He did not marry until after his mother's death (in the 1970s?), to a divorcee. Their house, which was in one of the roads off the Great East Road, running towards the Roman Catholic Church, was sold, with most of the furniture. 

I am not sure if this should be Hadden or Haddon, however, the drawer held more surprises: two newspaper clippings from 1936. The first mentions the sale of a property, (perhaps the house in which these papers were found?) to a Mrs Morton for £450, Plot no 62 Fairview, sold by auction by Samuel Haslett at Counsell's Hotel, Lusaka, "lately occupied by Mr. Hadden", with conditions of sale available from Mr John Barklie, solicitor.

Also dated 1936, an article on work being done by members of the Women's Institute, mentioning Mrs Haddon, sister-in-charge at the Native Welfare Clinic, presumably the Miss White mentioned earlier.

The party were met by Mr Kirk, the manager, who gave them a guided tour.

Before leaving, Mrs H. Rich expressed the thanks of the members to Mrs Haddon and Mr Kirk for affording them such an interesting and enlightening morning.
(The reverse side of this clipping has a fragment of an article about Hitler and the Nazis.)

The auction clipping also has the following fragment mentioning Mr and Mrs Susman and their daughter Ella's marriage to Mr Harry Robinson, as well as some news of the Connaught Cup golf tournament, won by Mrs Morgans and Jack Davidson, playing against Mrs Moore and Mr Misplon. A local team plans a trip to Bulawayo, to include Messrs Jager, Burgess and Maxwell.

And to round things out, I would guess that these links refer to the Johnstones in this post:

http://newspaperarchive.com/winnipeg-free-press/1984-09-10/page-33
http://www.winnipeg.ca/ppd/cemeteries/Brookside/BrooksideJO_JO.html
http://passages.winnipegfreepress.com/passage-details/id-77075/name-Barbara_Johnstone/