In April 1944, the Dundee Courier reported “Blantyre police are making extensive inquiries regarding a burglary at the Livingstone National Memorial. Articles which had belonged Livingstone were stolen, including his revolver, two amputating knives and a small dagger and leather sheath, all carried by the famous missionary-explorer throughout his journeys across Africa. Knives were in […]
Tag: david livingstone
Mrs Janet Maxwell’s Legacy
You may be forgiven if you don’t know who Blantyre woman Janet Maxwell was. She was however, a woman with a passion for Blantyre and community wellbeing. A feeling she had until her death in 1935. At a monthly meeting in 1935, of the Fifth Lanark County Council the Clerk Mr J.W Welsh read a […]
The Livingstone Tree
This is the site at Chitambo, Lake Bangweulu, Zambia, where Scottish explorer Dr David Livingstone’s heart lay buried. The photo was taken around 1900 and shows the portion of the tree carrying an inscription. It was later cut down and the inscription is now deposited with the Royal Geographical Society in London. Featuring Blantyre Project Social […]
The World Fountain
Pictured here in 1990 is a view of the fountain in the grounds at the David Livingstone Centre near Blantyre. The sculptor Pilkington Jackson created it in 1929 and it was officially handed over on Saturday 14th September 1935. Charles d’Orville Pilkington Jackson was born at Garlennick, Cornwall in 1887. He studies sculpture at the […]
Residents of Shuttle Row 1901
The residents of Shuttle Row are researched by Elaine Grieve, a list provided to me by email on 27th Dec 2013 to help track down an ancestry query. These are researched from the 1901 census. William & Martha Brownlie Hugh & Ellen Bussell, 2 sons aged 1yr and 3 mths Barbara & Hugh Collins, one […]
Founding of the Livingstone Centre
At the end of the 1890’s changed business conditions made the working of the old fashioned Blantyre Mills quite unprofitable. Around the same time that the Mills closed down in 1904, most of the dilapidated buildings around the Village area were pulled down. Several houses however remained. Waterloo Row, some miners cottages and the famous […]
Royal Visit to Livingstone’s Centre 1929
In 1929, Blantyre received a royal visit when the Queen Mother, then known as the Duchess of York, came to the town. The purpose of her visit was to open the new David Livingstone Centre. We’re pleased to say we’ve obtained footage of this event where you’ll see the crowds gathered at Blantyre’s New Attraction! […]