On Wednesday 6th March 1958, the last man to have seen David Livingstone died.
Mr Alexander Sommerville Scott of Cantislaw Farm, East Kilbride was 99 when he passed away and was a Blantyre man originally. He was a month away from his 100th birthday.
Born in High Blantyre in 1859, he was educated at High Blantyre School in School Lane. It was as a small boy around the age of 10, in 1869, standing at Kirkton Cross near his school with his friends, that he saw the great man, David Livingstone,the Explorer pass by.
(This year may be inaccurate, as my friend Robert Stewart pointed out Livingstone was in Africa in 1969)
With his friends, he touched David’s cap, getting a smile back from him in return.
In 1953, as an elderly man, Alexander was introduced to Livingstone’s grandson Dr Hubert Wilson at the Livingstone Memorial, where the story was retold.
A farmer all his days, Alexander had moved from Blantyre to East Kilbride around the age of 30, where he classed himself as a farmer for 70 years. He was a member of East Kilbride Parish Council and chairman of it for 9 years. When that Council disbanded he became a member of the District Council for a short time. Session clerk of Moncrieff Church for 36 years, he did not drink, smoke, go to the cinema or attend a football match, ever during his whole life.
With thanks to Robert Stewart who obtained Alexander’s grave photo for this record.
From “Blantyre Explained” by Paul Veverka (c) 2017
Featuring Blantyre Project Social Media with permission. Strictly not for use by others on or offline, our visitors said,
John Breen He was died 3 years before I was born. But when u put it into perspective the legacy of Livingstone and my Blantyre generation is not distant . U think of Livy u imagine a million years ago. Clearly this timeline photo and story disproves this