The Reckoning - Colin Morris

I first came to know about Colin Morris when he interviewed my father for a BBC programme in 1993. I wasn't in Zambia at the time, and was lying half-awake in the small hours of the morning listening to the world service on my earphones, so it was a bit of a shock when my father's voice was suddenly in my ear. I'm including some excerpts from that radio programme, The Reckoning, in this post.

The programme came in three parts, of about 40 minutes each.  It starts at Lubwa Mission, founded by the Church of Scotland at the turn of the century, near Chinsali. Here Morris reminisces about his time there. He speaks to an aging Noah Chulu, visits the burial site where Dr Brown, David Kaunda and Paul Mushindu are buried. We are told that Mushindu never wore shoes because a missionary once told him to take his shoes off before coming into their house, and he decided then that he would thereafter go barefoot. Mr Moywa shows Morris around the decaying Lubwa hospital. He also speaks to Kenneth Kaunda, graduate of Lubwa school, who laughs about David Brown telling a Roman Catholic priest off for straying into a Church of Scotland area.

Morris was closely associated with Merfyn Temple, who was one of the first people my parents met when they arrived in Zambia in 1967. In fact Merfyn immediately told my parents they should leave, as he intended to do, and as all missionaries should do, he felt. Morris revisits this question in The Reckoning as he returns to Zambia to ask what the impact of missionaries was in Zambia before independence and after.

Here is a selection of recordings from the programmes, including several mentioning the Lumpa Church affair.

Here also is a footnote on Lenshina from Ryszard  Kapuscinski's book 'The Shadow of the Sun'.  According to him, Alice had an old hand-cranked phonograph (where would she have acquired this, I wonder?) and just one worn out record to play on it. This was 'a recording of Winston Churchill's 1940 speech', although he does not make clear which one. Perhaps it was the famous 'We shall fight them on the beaches'. He says that Alice would crank up her phonograph and play this record to her followers. As the record was very scratched and degraded, not much could be made out apart from the emotion and drama. Lenshina explained that this was 'God's voice anointing her his emissary and commanding absolute obeisance.'  This recording was played at the start of each mass, when it would work up the congregation into a state of ecstasy.... And then he suggests that the political leaders were ashamed of such cults, and the fine temple that they had built in the bush was reduced to rubble by tanks.


1 Godfrey Sikazwe talking about Lubwa Mission

2 Merfyn Temple on why missionaries should leave

3 Flexson Muzinga (Livingstone Museum)

4 Jack Kyle

5 Sikota and Arthur Wina

6 Kenneth Kaunda

7 Margaret Senogles on an attack on the Chingola Free Church

8 Lumpa Church (Alice Lenshina)

9 Robert Kaunda on Alice Lenshina

10 Fergus Macpherson on Alice Lenshina


In concluding this thoughts, Morris says 'I received from Africa much more than I gave and learned much more than I taught'. It is interesting to contrast his humility, together with the warmth of Kenneth Kaunda in speaking about him, with Sikota Wina's combative stance in the interview above.

Names in The Reckoning (BBC radio programme)

 Some of the following are mentioned in passing. Others (*) are interviewed.

Baker, Colonel (fired red cartridge, Lumpa)
Brown, Dr David (Lubwa)
Burton, Lillian (assaulted during riots)
Chikani, Frank
Chulu, Noah (Revd)*
Dandala, Mvumi (Methodist, South Africa)
De Jong, Dennis (RC bishop of Ndola)
Dil, Pierre (Revd; Dean of Anglican cathedral at the time) *
Gore-Brown, Stewart
Hannah, John (megaphone, tried to get Lumpa to put down arms) *
Kaunda, David  (one of the founders of Lubwa)
Kaunda, Kenneth *
Kaunda, Robert (elder brother of KK, deacon in Lumpa church)
Kyle, Jack (Irish rugby player) *
Mason, Cedric (Methodist minister)
Mazubere, Crispin (bishop of Methodist Church, Zimbabwe)
Macpherson, Fergus  *
Milingo, Archbishop RC church
Mushindo, Paul b.1895 (graves at Lubwa)
Moywa, Mr. (Clinical officer, Lubwa hospital) *
Mulenga, Alice Lenshina
Musunsa, Doyce
Muzinga, Flexson (Livingstone Museum) *
Mwape, Jackson
Nolan, Albert (Provincial of Dominican order in South Africa)
Ogden, Val (Revd; St Andrew's Church, Ndola) *
Senogles, Howarth (?)
Senogles, Margaret
Sikazwe, John
Sikazwe, Godfrey (Revd, UCZ) *
Siwale, Donald (father of Euwan; his mother hid him in a tree to protect him from Arab slave traders)
Siwale, Euwan
Temple, Merfyn *
Todd, Garfield
Todd, Judith
Whitehead, Dennis (Revd; Livingstone) *
Wilkie, James (Africa secretary, Church of Scotland)*
Wina, Arthur *
Wina, Sikota *

The coat of arms

Here is some history of the coat of arms of Northern Rhodesia given in 'A brief guide to Northern Rhodesia', which you can read on the internet archive (p.132).



We are told that the fish eagle flying with its prey over a representation of the Victoria Falls harks back to David Livingstone's exploration as a forerunner of the European settlement here. The white lines represented the water, and the black lines the rocks of the precipice.

Discussion of designs for a coat of arms began in 1925, when one suggestion was for a representation of the constellation Orion, 'a mighty hunter who drove all the beasts of the field before him', on the basis that this was 'a prowess which distinguished most early Rhodesians.' In 1926 further design ideas rejected were a river scene (not suited to heraldry) and the sable antelope (already used by Southern Rhodesia). Any animal less than an elephant (as used by the paramount chief of Barotseland) or the buffalo (as used by Lewanika) it was said would be 'noticeable in African eyes', but a lion was not possible as that was used in Great Britain's royal arms.

In 1927, discussions between Sir Richard Goode and a heraldry expert yielded the design above. It was drawn by G. Kruger Gray to Sir Goode's design and accepted in the same year, being also approved by King George V in 1930 and granted as armorial bearings in 1939.

On this heraldry site it is pointed out that some people objected to the 'dead fish' the eagle held. There are connotations of colonial plundering in the eagle holding its prey in this way, though it seems unlikely that this was ever considered when it was drawn. More likely the fish was added to make clear that the eagle was a fish eagle and to signify the fecundity of the land.

The same design can still be seen in part in Livingstone's coat of arms, where Dr David Livingstone is one of two figures holding on to the shield. Here there is also an African man with a paddle, probably a royal paddler from the Lozi tribe, as would paddle the royal barge during Kuomboka.

The image above appears to be taken from a fairly recent stamp issue depicting the coats of arms of the 'four most important Zambian cities' - Kitwe, Ndola, Lusaka and Livingstone. It has also been pointed out that, of course, fish eagles are black and white, and not gold, as the eagle has later been interpreted. Now there is also no longer a fish in its talons.  (However, the fish eagle is the national bird of Zambia and Zimbabwe, and its call is used as the calling signal on at least one Zambian radio station.)

The legend says Procedens Floreo, that is, proceeding to flourish or prosper.

I am stumped by the circular cog at the bottom - could it be a paddle wheel? (I was very tempted to go into a long discussion of Livingstone's famous phrase 'I am prepared to go anywhere, so long as it is forward.')

It seems though that there is another interpretation, in which Livingstone's head emerges weirdly from the river and a man and a woman hold the shield, as on the national coat of arms.

The same design of water falling is also seen in the more familiar Zambian coat of arms. I well remember learning the meanings of the various parts of this when I was in primary school. Here again we have the golden eagle, or at least an eagle coloured gold, given that golden eagles don't occur in Zambia. This is also said to represent the abilities of the country to rise above its problems, as for the eagle on the Zambian flag.

A man and a woman, equally important, hold the shield, above the motto created by Kenneth Kaunda: One Zambia, one nation. We also see symbols of agriculture (the hoe, a maize cob), mining (a pick), also a mine shaft (near the man's leg) and a zebra (wildlife, tourism).  The prominence of the waterfall feature probably dates back to the time when Livingstone was the capital of the country, but also is important because Zambia takes its name from the Zambezi river, which flows over the falls.

As I was leaving Lusaka airport recently I suddenly realised I had all the coats of arms right in front of me on the wall! However, at the last minute I contrived to take lousy photos of them. I include a couple more below that weren't so bad:

Kitwe's says 'Let us build a city', Chingola's says 'Servire Creare Et', and Kabwe's 'The eagle carries us on high'.

I also made a point of trying to get Lusaka's ('Prospice') coat of arms and found it at the civic centre on a copper plaque, and also high on the outer wall, hence the odd angle (and again my airport shot was a disaster).

It is interesting that on the Livingstone coat of arms there actually appears to be something more like a river flowing over the falls! It is tempting to think that the bars across the falls are the railway bridge, but they do not resemble the bridge, which you can see below:
If you look closely, you will see some bungee jumping going on! This is taken from the 'boiling pot', the part of the gorge below the falls where the water is funneled through from the main cataracts. Here you can also start white water rafting trips, depending on the time of year.

It will probably take someone familiar with heraldry to demystify the Livingstone coat of arms further.

More people of all nations

I thought I might as well post a few more pictures from that interesting magazine "People of all Nations", published in 1922.  I trawled through another volume that has many photos from Nigeria, Ghana, the Belgian Congo, Kenya, Ruanda and other countries. These books are always full of pictures showing you "native types", with captions like "statueseque water carrier", "black beauty" or "shy maiden".

Here also we read about the British Empire at a time when it was proud and sure of itself. Sir Sidney Low, lecturer on Imperial History at King's College, London University, tells us:

"The mood of mind which is called 'Imperialism' is not deeply rooted in the English character. Of all the great Western peoples, the British are the most imperial and the least imperialist. The idea of conquest, of ruling subjugated races and nationalities, has never appealed to the nation as a whole, though it may sometimes have fascinated classes and individuals and for brief periods has swept the country with a wave of emotion".

You see, we don't really want to rule you, it's just that we have to, for your own good. Of course, there was much good that came out of the empire, but such language does seem a tad disingenuous given the extent of the British Empire at this time

I don't normally do Southern Rhodesia, or other countries, but on this occasion I decided to make an exception, particularly since scanning an old large volume like this is quite tricky and (sigh) this time I've damaged the thing. Skipping past all the half clothed or shy maidens, I look for the buildings, streets, organisations and occasions. There are a some more Northern Rhodesian ones here as well.

 Here we see villagers in remotest Africa; Akano (Nigeria), that is, "listening to the High commissioner's proclamation.  It is a cardinal principle of British government in Africa to support native authority and to rule through native rulers in accordance with their own ideas and customs. Under the Pax Brittanica respect for authority is inculcated, the villagers are contented with their lot in settled and secure conditions and the townsmen are becoming public-spirited citizens of the British Empire". (Photo by Major Claud Percival.)  The excellent TV series "Empire", with Jeremy Paxman, made a good point about this, quoting the line that the British Empire was ruled by bluff. In some cases the native ruler was appointed by the British, and had no previous authority, however.

 Here are canoes on Lake Tanganyika (top) and Lake Bangwelu (bottom).  "Tall reeds stud wide expanses of Lake Bangweolo, greatly impeding the progress of canoes. Passengers squat in the bottom of the dug-out and trust to the balancing agility of the crew, who flourish their paddles as rope-walkers do their pole, and use them at once to propel and trim the boat."

 This is the drum and bugle band of the Barotse Police in Northern Rhodesia, whose headquarters are near the Victoria Falls (railway) station. "This force formed partly of natives, with white officers and non-commissioned officers, has the responsibility of maintaining good order...." The bandsmen are Barotse, coming from what was formerly known as North-Western Rhodesia.
 Here is a picture of the Fort Jameson police, in their uniforms of "fez and jacket", with their musical instrument, a marimba, as I know it. We had one of these xylophones for years in our living room. The dried gourds provide the resonating chamber for wooden slats fixed above them. The gourds had small holes in them, and these were covered with spider nest material. I don't know what you call that stuff - but our house wall spiders make a little white compartment to hatch their spiderlings, and that can be glued to the gourd to cover the hole. The slats are hit with sticks dampened with some material, in modern times probably car tyre or other rubber. The size of the gourd determines the note. Lovely things to hear, particularly when you get a few of them going together in poly-rhythm.

"The North Rhodesian natives in the neighbourhood of the capital, Livingstone, compete eagerly for the honour of being employed as canoe-boys to Government House. They make an exceedingly workmanlike appearance in the white jumpers, white shorts and sailor collars that form the official uniform".

 And so to Southern Rhodesia... "For those with a taste for the out-of-doors, a little capital, a little patience, the settler's life in Rhodesia bears comparison with that in any of the world's pleasant places.... Agriculture is well rewarded".

This photo from the BSA shows "successful settlers".

 And here is the photo I mentioned in an earlier posting of the Grand Hotel in Bulawayo with motorists "about to make the eighteen-mile excursion to the National Park in the Matopos. This is one of the popular trips from the town, which is Southern Rhodesia's commercial capital and has some six thousand white inhabitants."

Then another street scene, this time Freetown, Sierra Leone. "Trade is the one goal in life of the Sierra Leonean; he is taught its secrets in the cradle". 

 This street scene is in Zanzibar. Note the sign for the apothecary / chemist W. Richter and Co.

Liberia's president (under the umbrella) passes by with full military honours in Monrovia, outside the 'executive mansion' or 'white house', near the Mesurado Lagoon.

These troops are Liberian Frontier Force, apparently maintaining order in the wild interior.

'Sections are stationed at various points as need may require. The officers of the regiment have been drawn from among the coloured portions of the United States army.'

People of all nations...

Years ago I bought a stack of pictorial magazines in a series called "People of all Nations" (published 1922) from a second-hand shop in Coventry. They are typical of their time: romantic, risque, patronising and quaint. Occasionally there are really surprising photos, such as one of a man in Portugal wearing a raincoat apparently made out of sheaves of grass layered over one another, or of someone walking along barefoot carrying their shoes on their head, to keep them clean. From country to country one sees the traditional costumes worn and gets a sense of a slower life. Cars are mercifully rare.

On getting them out again today I noticed a section on the Rhodesias. We are told that game in Southern Rhodesia is already rare, but is plentiful up north. There is the old nonsense about the Arab kingdoms that built the stone houses whose ruins can be seen in Zimbabwe. And there is lots of colonial superiority about the indigence of the natives and their lack of ambition, as well as admiration for qualities such as honesty and intelligence.

Here is a map including some of the old place names of that time, including Elizabethville (Congo's Lubumbashi), Fort Jameson (Chipata), Abercorn (Mbala) and so on.

There was a photo of Livingstone town I hadn't remembered, which I feel I must share. The town is described as being North Rhodesia's embryo capital, replacing Fort Jameson (Chipata) as the administrative headquarters. Besides the government buildings it provides a hospital and a hotel -- the hotel is on the left in the photo below. The other buildings are apparently houses, although the one on the right looks like a store to me. I can't make out the name on the top.

Amongst the other photos (courtesy of the British South Africa Company, whose territory this was at the time) is this one of people outside the boma at Fort Jameson.

There is also this one of people getting ready to set off for the Matopos from Bulawayo in their jalopies outside the Grand Hotel.

You can see some more photos from this series here.

Georges Mercier - Old Drift

I've been doing a lot of scanning of old photos and negatives for the past few years, trying to save them from the white ants... In the latest batch I came across this photo, probably from the 1980s, of Georges Mercier's grave at the Old Drift, Livingstone. I am pretty sure that this grave marker was not there on my more recent visit, so I am glad to have uncovered it.

It adds some information to the plaque I posted earlier. The text seems to be:

Born 1874, Georges Mercier, Died of black water fever, 18th Nov. 1900, Aged 26. (He was a Paris Missionary.)

Plaque from Old Drift

Hadn't noticed I had this image from a recent trip back to the Old Drift.

I think the names are the same as on my previous posting

Georges Mercier, Paris Missionary d.1900

John Neil Wilson d. 11 Jan 1903 aged 45

Alexander W. Findlay d. 9th January 1904 aged 35

Ernest Collins d. 25th March 1904 aged 34

Miss E. Elliot d. 8th August 1904

Samuel Taylor Alexander d. 11 Sept 1904 aged 68

David Smith d. 7th April 1905

and others whose names are not known

A handbook to the Victoria Falls

Mosi-oa-Tunya: A Handbook to the Victoria Falls Region Edited by D.W. Phillipson - Longman, Rhodesia, 1975

Nice mix of information on Livingstone area, including some history and wildlife. Here is the information of genealogical interest. Some nice old photos of Old Drift / Livingstone / Railway bridge.

1851, LIVINGSTONE and William Cotton OSWELL were in the area, but did not visit.

Notes that W.D. Cooley's map of 1852 already shows the falls in about the right place.

1857 LIVINGSTONE visits what is today known as Livingstone Island, but it is suggested that the "tree bearing indecipherable marks commonly thought to be the initials carved by the missionary cannot be the original".

William BALDWIN is the next European to visit the falls on 2 August 1860. Livingstone arrives 9th August with his brother Charles and Dr John Kirk. David and Charles remain to make a more detailed observation of the falls.

1862 James CHAPMAN and Thomas BAINES, Edward BARRY

1871 George WESTBEECH, English trader

1875 Emil HOLUB, followed by Francois COILLARD

1880 Jesuit mission at Mwemba's

1889 Harry WARE - South African mining syndicate - obtains concession from Lewanika, later bought by Cecil Rhodes for the BSA

1890 Frank LOCHNER (Lealui) concession

1890 Caprivi strip established to give German South-West Africa access to the Zambezi

1897 Robert CORYNDON (British) dispatched to Lealui; territory north of Zambezi becomes known as Northwestern Rhodesia, new concession 1900

1898 more settlers and traders arrive, BSA administrative post 'Victoria Falls station' is 5km above the falls.

1901 Administration moves offices to present site of Livingstone to avoid fever; plans to move town are not far behind

1903 there are 68 Europeans - including 17 women and 6 children

1905 Bridge officialy opened by Prof George DARWIN, old drift falls into disuse,
IMBAULT bridge engineer

1907 Livingstone is the capital of Northwestern Rhodesia (remains so until 1935)

1911 territory amalgamated with Northeastern Rhodesia (capital Chipata), population has reached 2000

BARAGWANATH, Orland, prospector, 1911 (BSA) find copper in Kafue Hook area
CHAPMAN, nurse with Wilson, 1902
CLARK, Percy M. lives at Old Drift but moves to south bank near present hotel, 1903, V. CLARK his son continues business
CLARKE, F.J. 'Mopane', has taken up residence in 1898
CODRINGTON, Robert has a motor bike, 1908
COISSON, Rev Giovanni Daniele Augusto and wife (Italian missionaries at Old Drift, 9km above falls). "For almost two years, Mrs Coisson was the only European woman in the settlement", 1898
FINDLAY, chemist 1902
FOLEY, (Constable) W.T.B.G. (Irish) - tombstone at Sijoba in Gwembe Valley, flooded by Lake Kariba (William Thompson Barron Galway are his names), 1902
GUTHRIE, chemist 1902
GIESE's ferry, map p.96
GRAETZ, Paul, drives a car into town, the first for many years, 1908
GREY, George, prospector, 1911
HUNT, B.L, works for government, 1906
KASAA, Petrose, Lesotho-trained, Lozi evangelist establishes a school at the Old Drift, 1898
LEWIS, Frank, prospector, 1911
MILLS, Fred, hotel, 1902, 1907 there are two hotels, one owned by Fred MILLS;
MOORE, Leopold arrives 1904 (from Bulwayo 1898, from Mafeking) nice photo of Moore's chemists...1906 Livingstone Mail - Moore's rival paper
PAULING, George railway contractor, 1904
POWELL, Miss Gladys opens private kindergarten, 1906
RANGELEY, Henry, appoined magistrate NW Rhodesia administration, comes once a month to the Old Drift, 1902
SOUTHURST, chemist, 1902
STONES,Rev T. 1904 Methodist missionary, leaves 8 months later due to ill health
SUSMAN, Harry and Elie from Lithuania,
SWEETLOVE, map, p.96
TRAYNER, William (employee of Mopane Clarke) establishes newspaper; 1904
TULLOCH, Mr and Mrs, attempt fruit growing, 1902
WHITE, J.W.B. visiting hunter, 1904
WILSON, Dr J.N. clinic, 1902
ZEEDERBERG, Doel,1898, coach service

References

'Autobiography of an Old Drifter' (see elsewhere on this blog'),

RANGELEY's memoirs (Northern Rhodesia Journal, 1965)

TRAYNER's memoirs (NRJ 1964),

WATT unpublished MS at Livingstone Musuem

Northern Rhodesia Journal (1950-1965) is recommended as a good source for those wanting to find out more

Travels in North West Rhodesia

My Travels in North West Rhodesia; Or, a Missionary Journey of Sixteen Thousand Miles By Rev. G. E. Butt, Eighteen years missionary in South Africa, President of the Primitive Methodist Conference, 1905. The trip described is in 1908.

There's no index in this book, unfortunately, but it is a conventional account of travels in North Western Rhodesia - the old territory covering Zambia west of the Kafue River. They travel to and from N'Kala (or Nkala), which appears to be between Choma and Kalomo.

As is usual for this era, very few first names of people are given. Travel begins in the usual way from Cape Town, proceeding north up the rail line through Zimbabwe / Rhodesia, including Bulawayo and Victoria Falls. From there they proceed to Broken Hill (Kabwe), Nambala, and then to the Kafue "about 200 miles higher than the train station". Then on to Nkala, Nanzela, Kasanga, Kalomo and back home via Livingstone. It's not very clear what the route is.

Other place names (or versions of them) that turn up include Mumba and Kokobells Road.

Loading a train at Wankie coalfields

Livingstone station

Staff at Nanzela

Missionary graves at N'Kala, including those of Elsie Buckenham and the first Mrs Pickering

Staff at Nambala

The first mission house at N'Kala,

Some quotes:

"Kafue River trader's station... "a few huts, one for a shop; one for a store; one to live in... I think he is a German Jew"

Victoria Falls Hotel "capable of holding 200 guests... one storey iron erections, lined with wood and matting" p.43

At Broken Hill "the late postmaster... shot himself" This is about Aug 1908

At Livingstone "we passed the old seat of government... removed about 18 months since to New Livingstone. The buildings are still there but in ruins... fixtures have been removed. One cannot but feel sorry for the change... Sufficient remains to show that some of the buildings were very substantial and fine"


He has an interesting conversation with his carriers about taxes:

"Would 'Moruti' tell them why the Missionaries brought the Magistrates into the country? They were glad to have Missionaries, but did not want Magistrates... because they taxed people."

He goes on to explain the purpose of taxes. The spokesman was a Barotse man who had been sold into slavery as a boy, but ran away to Nanzela.

"that can never happen to any of your boys and girls; because the Government is against slavery... " and he explains how taxes help to protect them. Eventually they all agree that taxes are good!

The following names turn up (pages follow, approximately)

BALDWIN (N'Kala) 114, 138, 139, 144 (photo)
BROWN (Victoria Falls Hotel) 43, 51-2
BUCKENHAM (family, including Elsie, died at N'Kala) 138-9, 144, 150-51, 165
CHAPMAN 23, 68, 95, 106, 119, 126, 139
CREWE, Col. 12
DALE (magistrate) 191
DIPHOOKO (mason, bricklayer from Kimberley; Nambala) 95, 106, 109, 182
FELL 185
GILLENDER, Rev. R. 25-6
HALSE (Bulawayo) 29, 33
HARRISON (nee HALSE, Bulawayo) 33
HEATH, Rev (From midlands of UK, Vryburg) 18
HINDES (postmaster, Mumba) 86
JALLA (Brothers, French Mission near Livingstone) 51
JOSEPH (a teacher, perhaps his first name?) 161
KAKOA's village 133 (father of MONO)
KEMUEL (from Basutoland) 163, 195, 223, 225, 238, 243, 264
KERSWELL (Broken Hill) xiii, 66-7, 71, 75-6, 78, 83-5, 91, 95, 104, 109, 111-4, 117, 121-2, 125, 130, 135, 154, 163, 168, 176-8
KHAMI (King) 20
KNIGHT (Aliwal) 11,12
LEGG (Cape Town) 11
LETSEA (son of Lewanika) 234-9
LOWE (Wesleyan minister, Johannesburg) 20,23
LUSE (slave rescued from Portuguese raiders in 1908) & Husband (photo of both)
MAOLOSI, Robert 68, 95, 114, 139, 150, 163
MONO 's village 112
PRICE xiii, 136-149, 154-160, 178-192, 205-6, 211, 219, 222, 230, 235-37, 251, 258-60
RAMATHE, D. (evangelist from Aliwal) 138-40, 144-9, 162-3, 173, 176, 181, 183
SHALOBA (Chief) 191, 220
SMITH 23, 106, 119, 126, 155, 163, 185, 205, 215, 230, 261
WATSON (assistant magistrate) 196-9, 215-6
WILLOUGHBY, Rev (Tiger's Kloof) xii, 19,25,208

PICKERING - lost the reference...

The Autobiography of an Old Drifter

The autobiography of an old drifter: The life-story of Percy M. Clark of Victoria Falls is in the Rhodesiana reprint series, by Percy M. Clark "of Victoria Falls" and was originally published in 1932. No index!

The people appear in South Africa, Southern Rhodesia and North Western Rhodesia (Victoria Falls / Livingstone and west towards Mongu). North Eastern Rhodesia was a separate region at that time. Much of the action takes place at "The Old Drift", the original settlement at Livingstone, hence the book title. Clark says that another name for this was "Deadrock" in 1908. I find it curious that after five years there he refers to himself as a Rhodesian, as do other people from his home, Cambridgeshire. On the other hand...

One is left with an impression of a lion-infested, malarial frontier town with slightly mad inhabitants, liable to have fist fights at any time. Tough folks. Also racist, as evidenced by the number of racial epithets. He will often just refer to "a Jew", for example, or "a Scan" (Scandinavian), and I suppose many went by nicknames such as the "Yank" and "Mac" who turn up.

Clark eventually ran a curio shop, but was an accomplished photographer and chemist also. His main business in the earlier days was photography and he must have taken some of the earliest photos of places in the area. He sold postcards and portraits. There is a photo of Litia son of Lewanika, later Yeta III.

In 1903 he records

The Old Drift ... about a dozen white men round two or three stores right on the river bank. In the rainy season it was a swamp.... In the vast territory of North Western Rhodesia in 1903 there were no more than ... a hundred white people"

Eleven out of thirty-three died that winter...

He also states that 70% died the following year.

In 1911, Clark says, the census shows 1,497 whites. It would be nice to track this down... In 1931, 13,846 were recorded.

The following names appear, but there are some I didn't bother with, including some famous visitors and some nicknamed or pseudonymous people. They are in approximately the following order, dating from around 1900 onwards

BRANCH, George (of Cambridge / Cape Town)
SAGO (of Brabant's Horse)
SMART, Harold
ALLEN, Ellis
MARRIOT & PARKER (photo shop?)
HADDON & SLY (Bulawayo shop)
Major Charles DULY (Duly Motors)
George WALTON (comedian)
Mary WALTON
Charlie MATON (B.S.A.P)
Nurse WILLIAMS (Bulawayo)
O'CONNOR (an Irish-American)
Captain Bourchier WREY
BICKLE (manager of Lennon's store)
Major HEANY
Aaron's bar (Jewish - Manzinyama)
WERNER (Geelong Hotel)
Sir Charles METCALFE
Henry FRENCH (Kate French's father, solicitor Cambridge) p 224
Kate FRENCH (Clark's wife, married Feb 15th 1906 at Great St Andrew's Cambridge)
Victor CLARK (their son)
H.C. Marshall HOLE (Bulawayo; administrator Sesheke)
Alan WILSON
Andrew DALE
Prof. LAMPLOUGH (Cambridge?)
Arthur WEINER (Geelong) p225
"Mopani" CLARKE (the original settler, who came from Chatteris in Cambridgeshire)
Dick CARLISLE
Prof Henry BALFOUR p 238
Lord SELBORNE p 242
N'GULUBU p242
Billy BUTCHER (Sesheke); photo of Carlisle and Butcher with Clark
AITKIN (Lia Lui)
Dr WILSON (from Bulawayo; died circa 1903 at the Old Drift - probably same as recorded elsewhere on this blog d.1903)
VAN BLERK
Tom KING p172
DIPPER (mineral water plant)
ZEEDERBERG (mail service)
"Jimmy" (hippo hunter on Chobe River, came from USA)
L.F. MOORE (editor of the Livingstone Mail, previously The Pioneer paper; chemist) A previous chemist died in 1908?
"Joe", an undertaker
"Taffy", the village policeman, died there
A "Greek" who shot 9 lions one morning. Two got away. He had thought they were pigs
Charles B. FOX, working on the railway bridge in 1904
Percy WILD, a book-keeper
Colin LUNN (Bulawayo)
Miss PAULING
railway contractor brothers called Bill and Jack probably just there while working on the bridge
Frank KERRY
Arthur (Bill?) SMITH p270
"Fred" a prize fighter / bouncer
Sir Herbert STANLEY p250
Cecil RODWELL p250 (photo of these two fishing in the Zambezi)
HICKSON faith healer Bulawayo p259
Duchess d'AOSTA cousin of King of Italy p263
Leo WEINTHAL  p265

Livingstone war memorial

This plaque and memorial is located near the Victoria Falls, Livingstone and records names of Rhodesian and Northern Rhodesian soldiers and police.

Unveiled to the Glory of God
In Memory of Brave Men
by
H.R.H.Prince Arthur of Connaught
August 1923

H.G. Machell
D.S. MacKnight
P.H. McGreor
G. McKnight
D.C. McMillan
J. Merber
J. Minshall
H. Nisbet
H.F. North
E.W. Osborne
G. Palmer
K.D. Peacock
H.C. Pearce
H.S. Plant
J.M.F.C Pound
D.A.C. Russell
T.L. Russell
M. Ryan
F.G. de Satge
C.H. Saureman
T.R.L. Savory
C. Sell
N. Sinclair
C.M. Sing
H.H. Smith
A.J. Smith
A. Soames
W. Stevens
H.J.M. Stuart
H.W. Tarbutt
J.C. Taylor
R.J.F Urquhart
A. J. Warren
G.F. Watherston
W.W. Waugh
E.G. Williams
J. Wilson
D.A. Wood

Also 102 Askari whose names are recorded on the NR Police Memorial at Livingstone, also many other natives of the territory of whose names no complete record exists.

Livingstone - old drifters and more

From An Historical Guide to Livingstone Town (and Victoria Falls Town)

by Kristin Ese (Livingstone Tourism Association, 1996)

This post has been expanded with further names from a second book by Kristin Ese (see lower down).

About the Old Drift

" The death rate was extraordinarily high. If they did not die from malaria they succumbed to blackwater fever or were mauled by lions or crocodiles... There were one or two chemists, but hardly a doctor to consult, though in 1903 a nurse came up from Bulawayo. The doctor died from blackwater fever some months later, and the nurse returned to Bulawayo."

The following names turn up in this slim book which gives you a guided tour of some of the buldings in Livingstone town. See lower down for extras from a second book by Kristin Ese.

CANNON & BRADSHAW from Bulawayo erected a shop in 1910.

CLARKE
Frederick .J.Clarke was given the name Mopane by Lobengula, the Matabele king, because he was tall and straight as a Mopane tree, and his heart as hard as the Mopane wood. He was the first white to settle at the Old Drift where he started a self-named business in 1898.

Clarke erected Nanoo's Cash and Carry in 1909 and the family carried on the business until 1950.

F.J.Clarke was a prominent man in town and had several properties and farms. He played an important part in both the social and political life in town.

DAVIS
Susman Brothers & Davis Butchery, Tel Address "Davis, Livingstone".
The Pioneer Butchery. Bakers and Livestock Dealers. Empire Street & Cold Storage Depot.
(Nice photo)

DAVIDSON
Robert Davidson was the first mayor in town 1928-29, he was an old drifter and worked for Mopane Clarke for many years.

DEVALIA
Bimsinh Jiwa Devalia ran a shop in 1945, fought for social and political justice and was among the first to open (his shop and his Britannia restaurant) to Africans.

FOLKESTAD
Worked on Dimitra Saw Mill 1915/16?

GRILL
Marcus Grill, one of the Jewish pioneers, had a shop in the building on the corner of Akapelwa Street and Kuta Way.

Solomon Grill established the first cinema in Queensway in 1919. In 1921 he moved to Mainway (Rama and Bukhan today).

The Livingstone Mail reported of the large family:

" one sister sold tickets, another took them, a third played the piano. Mr Grill senior looked after the motor. Mr Solly worked the projector and the rest of the family made quite respectable audience...".

In 1922 Solomon Grill's father erected Grill's Kinema with an indoor stage, a bar, lounge and a dancing hall.

Ten years later Solly Grill and his sister Gertrude MERBER erected Capitol Theatre...

The Grills also established one of the first modern garages in town in 1919, the Livingstone Motor Works.

HAZARD
St.Andrew's Church's (1910) architect was C. Hazard... the first government architect.

HUGHES
R.Murray Hughes (The Livingstone Journal) recalls (of the railway reserve)

"I don't know exactly where the railway person fitted into the social framework of Livingstone. One never saw them except at the station or on a train... [or at] the hospital to be treated for malaria"

HUNT
John Hunt Way is named in memory of John Hunt who was a European curio trader. He was among the few Europeans in Livingstone who supported the struggle for independence, but died before the first African coalition Government in 1962-64.

ILJON
In 1972 one of the last Jews to move from town, Nickie Iljon, dispatched the torah from the Synagogue to Lusaka. 'His name is still on the hardware store in Mutelo Street (Codrington Street).'

JACOBS
Started Dimitra Saw Mill with Trombas in 1911.

JACOBSON & KIEL
Announced the opening of their store in 1907.

JALLA
Reverend Louis Jalla was in charge of the Paris Mission church at the Old Drift in 1911. The Paris Mission was the first in the area, followed by the UMCA from 1910.

(The mission was pioneered by Revd Francois Coillard in 1899; Coillard was later buried at Sefula with his wife.)

KNIGHT
Worked on Dimitra Saw Mill 1915/16?

KOSKEY & GOLDBERG
Ran the Livingstone cafe opposite the Livingstone Hotel in 1906 [my reading of the text]

MILLS
Freddie Mills, one of the pioneers from the Old Drift, started a makeshift bar for railway workers, eventually becoming the Livingstone Hotel in 1906. He also built the North Western Hotel. He also erected the building on the corner of Akapelwa Street and Kuta Way.

MOORE
In 1906 Leopold F. Moore organised a subscription library through the Livingstone Mail and in 1911 a Library Committee was formed to collect funds for a [library] building.

He also ran L.F.Moore's Chemist shop. Outside his shop he used to arrange gramophone concerts with the newest records from England.

He was a "vociferous opponent to the administration" through the Livingstone Mail newspaper.

Moore was knighted in 1937 and died in 1947.

PAULING
Mr Pauling was the railway contractor.

POWELL
'In 1906 Miss Powell started an infant school in a small room in a shop in Chimwemwe Way (Fairway). In 1908 the Government decided to support a primary school. By 1910 there were only 18 pupils - parents still choosing to send their children south to boarding schools.'  A report in 1910 concluded that the school had low discipline and that the children were below average in skills and intelligence.

STOW
Miss Stow was a matron at the Livingstone Hospital from around 1909-1915.

SELBY
The Golf Club was informally opened in May 1908. Mrs Selby (the magistrate's wife) provided tea and refreshments.

SMITH
George Smith ran a shop later taken over by the Susman brothers (& Davis Butchery).

He drowned in the Maramba river in 1909.

SOSSEN
Stanley House (1928) housed the bank for many years and was also the elegant store of Harry Sossen, another of the wealthy Jewish families.

SUSMAN
Harry and Eli Susman 'came from a small village in Lithuania, emigrated in their early teens and landed in Cape Town in 1880. They crossed the Zambezi at Kazangula in 1901. By 1906 they were established in Nalolo and Sesheke.'

Livingstone Museum - the clock was a gift from the Susman brothers in memory of their arrival in Northern Rhodesia in 1901. Harry and Eli Susman were among the first Europeans to cross the Zambezi...

The foundation stone of the Jewish Synagogue was laid by Eli Susman in 1928.

TRAYNER
William Trayner, a ferryman for Mopane Clarke, started the first newspaper in January 1906, "Trayners Rag" and partnered L.F.Moore in starting his own newspaper in March of that year.

TROMBAS
Started Dimitra Saw Mill with Jacobs in 1911. The saw mills supplied wooden sleepers to the railways.

WHITE
J.W.B White said of the railway reserve

" the most extraordinary collection of cosmopolitan toughs I have encountered anywhere".

WULFSON, Harry
Together with Susman family formed Susman Brothers & Wulfson in 1947.

From "An Historical Guide to Livingstone and Victoria Falls Town" (1996, republished 2010)

(Directory Publishers, Bulawayo)

This similarly slim volume (44 pages) adds some further history of Livingstone town, including a nice summary of David Livingstone's journeys in the area. There is a little additional information on sites of interest in Victoria Falls town, in present day Zimbabwe. There are some different photos, and places mentioned, though many descriptions are the same as those in the volume described above.  Amongst the photos is a group shot of white staff at Zambesi Saw Mills in the 1920s and people attending the Regatta in 1905.

Here are some extra names in this book. In addition, there may be further mentions of names mentioned above.

BERRINGER, Otto L., Chief Surveyor of Livingstone until 1920 (item 2 in tour of town is his house)

CHAPMAN, Nurse who came up from Bulawayo in 1903, but returned

CLARK, Percy M. - photographer, 1905, photo of his shop

CLARK, Victor, son of Percy, took over his father's business

COILLARD, Francis -  Memorial Church. Coillard d.1904 and is buried at Sefula Mission Station.

COISSON Mission station (photo)

HARRINGTON, Arthur (1930s) 'a character of notable reputation', known for shooting at the screen during cinema shows (mentioned in a book by W.V. Brelsford, 'Generation of Men')

HINE, Bishop of Northern Rhodesia, 1910  'I stirred up a wave of opposition by having a native Christian vested in cassock and surplice to carry my books at the Livingstone Centenary Commemoration Service'. He left in 1914

KERR, attacked by lions while looking after SUSMAN's cattle, 1914, Livingstone Mail

MILLS, Freddie - photo of gravestone in Livingstone Cemetery

MILLS, Enos Walter (brother of Freddie) bought Fairmount Hotel in 1928. 

MOHR, Eduard (mention of his book 'To the Victoria Falls of the Zambesi', 1876)

MOOREHEAD, Alan - mention of his book 'No Room in the Ark', 1957

SATARAS - 'the Greek has been killed and eaten by lions' - 1914, Livingstone Mail

SMITH, John - description of sundowner ritual; veterinarian; was in hospital at the end of 1914

SOPER, Jack - photo with crocodile catch, mention of curio shop

WILSON, Lady Sara - visited in 1903

WILSON, J.N. - Doctor came in 1903, died a few months later. (This sounds like a quote from another book I've commented on before.) 

Old drift - National Monuments of Zambia

From National Monuments of Zambia - an illustrated guide by D.W.Phillipson, 1983, Mission Press, Ndola

This cemetery is now almost the only surviving trace of the first European settlement of Livingstone. It is ... about one and a half kilometres upstream of the entrance to the Mosi-Oa-Tunya Zoological Park.

The presence of an urban settlement in this area owed to two major factors: the line of the main entry-route from the south into the then North-Western Rhodesia, and the proximity of the Victoria Falls. Prior to the construction of the railway all goods imported into Northwestern Rhodesia were carried by ox - or mule-drawn wagons and ferries across the Zambezi at the point, some nine kilometres upstream of the Victoria Falls, where the river is at its narrowest for some distance. The northern end of this crossing, known as the Old Drift or Sekuti's Drift, (after the Toka chief whose village was then nearby), soon became the first European settlers' town...

The first settler, F.J.Clarke, arrived in 1898 and set himself up as a trader, hotel-keeper and forwarding agent. By 1903 the European population had grown to sixty-eight, including seventeen women and six children. The British South Africa company established an administrative post nearby.

In most years some twenty percent of the settlers died and in 1903 the figure was considerably higher. Many of these early settlers were buried [here]

The railway from Bulawayo reached the south bank of the Zambezi at the Victoria Falls in April, 1904 and ... the bridge was officially opened in September 1903.

As soon as work began on the bridge it was apparent that, with the completion of the railway, the Old Drift would fall into disuse and that the only argument for retaining the Livingstone settlement in that unhealthy spot would fall away.

A detailed account ... is given in the book Mosi-Oa-Tunya: a handbook to the Victoria Falls Region, edited by D.W.Phillipson, published in 1975.

In addition to many waterfalls and other geographical features, two other sites mentioned in this book are:

Niamkolo Church, which was founded on the shore of Lake Tanganyika near Mpulungu by the LMS, the oldest survivmg church in Zambia (built 1893-96). A mission was founded here in 1880, abandoned after five years due to the disturbances caused by Arab slave raiders, but reopened in 1887. The church was founded by Alfred J. Swann and the building was undertaken by Adam Purves. The church fell into disrepair around about 1910.

Fort Monze was one of the earliest colonial police posts, founded in about 1898 near the village of Chief Monze, apparently to control activities of Europeans buying cattle after the Matabele rebelion.  It was founded by Major Harding, and demolished by F.W. Moseley in 1903. As the photo shows, only a monument remains.

 The cross (below) commemorates William Harding, but I can't make out the text altogether, which presumably mentions other officers of the BSA buried in the cemetery here.

Old drift cemetery, Livingstone - Findlay

Erected
in memory of
'ALEC'
Alexr W. Findlay
Merchant
Who died at
The drift, Livingstone
9th Jan 1904 Aged 35 years

Old drift cemetery, Livingstone - Collins

ERNEST COLLINS

Died
25th March 1904
Aged
34 years

Old drift Cemetry (plaque) Livingstone, Zambia

The Old Drift Cemetery

This cemetery forms the last
resting place of a number of the
early settlers who died at the old
drift between the year 1898 and the
time of the removal to Livingstone.
Amongst those known to be
buried here are :








Georges Mercier, Paris Missionary
Died 1900
John Neil Wilson, aged 45
Died 11th January 1903
Alexander W Findlay aged 35
Died 9th January 1904
Ernest Collins, aged 34
Died 35th March, 1904
Miss E. Elliot, died 8th August 1904
Samuel Taylor Alexander , aged 68
Died 11th September 1904
David Smith, Died 7th April 1905
And fourteen others whose names are not known

Old drift gravestones, Livingstone - Alexander

Samuel Thomas Alexander

Born of American Missionary
Parentage
In the Hawaiian Islands
October 29 1836

??
Struck by
a falling rock at
Victoria Falls and died
September 10 1904

"For now we see through a glass
darkly, but then face to face;

Now I know in part, but then
shall I know even as also I
am known"

J.Sheriff
Bulawayo