Mary Kingsley

Mary Henrietta Kingsley (October 13, 1862 - June 3, 1900) was an English writer and explorer who greatly influenced European ideas about Africa and African people.

Related Topics:
October 13 - 1862 - June 3 - 1900 - English - Writer - Explorer - Europe - Africa

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Kingsley was born in Islington. She was the daughter of George Kingsley (himself a travel writer) and Mary Bailey, and the niece of Charles Kingsley. Her father was a doctor and worked for the 13th Earl of Pembroke. Her mother was an invalid and Mary was expected to stay at home and look after her. Mary had little formal schooling but she did have access to her father's large library and loved to hear her father's stories of foreign countries.

Related Topics:
Islington - George Kingsley - Charles Kingsley - 13th Earl of Pembroke

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Her father died in February 1892. Her mother also passed away just five weeks later. Freed from her family responsibilities, and with a income of £500 a year, Mary was now able to travel. Mary decided to visit Africa to collect the material she would need to finish off a book that her father had started on the culture of the people of Africa.

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Mary arrived in Luanda in Angola in August 1893. She lived with local people who taught her necessary skills for surviving in the African jungles, and often went into dangerous areas alone.

Related Topics:
Luanda - Angola

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She returned to Africa in 1895 in order to study cannibal tribes. She traveled by canoe up the Ogowe River where she collected specimens of previously unknown fish. After meeting the Fang tribe she climbed the 13,760 feet Mount Cameroon by a route unconquered by any other European.

Related Topics:
Cannibal - Canoe - Ogowe River - Fang - Mount Cameroon

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News of her adventures reached England and when she returned home in October 1895 she was greeted by journalists who were eager to interview her. She was now famous and over the next three years she toured the country, giving lectures about life in Africa.

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Mary Kingsley upset the Church of England when she criticized missionaries for attempting to change the people of Africa. She talked about many aspects of African life that had shocked many English people, including polygamy. She argued that a "black man is no more an undeveloped white man than a rabbit is an undeveloped hare." She was, however, fairly conservative on other issues and did not support the women's suffrage movement.

Related Topics:
Church of England - Missionaries - Polygamy - Women's suffrage

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Kingsley wrote two books about her experiences: Travels in West Africa (1897), which was an immediate best-seller, and West African Studies (1899).

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In the Boer War, Kingsley volunteered as a nurse. She died of typhoid at Simon's Town, where she was treating Boer prisoners. In accordance with her wishes, she was buried at sea.

Related Topics:
Boer War - Typhoid

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