Meet the Boss Mary Kingsley was a writer and explorer who traveled to Africa alone unheard of for a woman at that time Her books challenged European views of Africa shining a light on the mistreatment of Native peoples in British colonies Did you know Mary's father George was a doctor who accompanied explorers on their journeys to Africa Mary inherited her love of Africa from her father ARMCHAIR EXPLORER Follows her father’s travels Reads about explorers Mary Kingsley was born in 1862 in London England Her father Dr George Kingsley spent much of Mary’s childhood traveling to faraway places including Africa Mary longed to follow in his footsteps She read everything she could find in her father’s library She read newspaper accounts of Henry Stanley’s search for David Livingstone and their meeting in Africa in1871 above 4 TRAVEL WITH THE GREAT EXPLORERS A YOUNG NURSE Mother is an invalid Father gets sick too In 1888 Mary's mother had a stroke Although Mary had no nursing training she took care of her mother 24 hours a day When her father’s heart grew weak she took care of him too Her father died on February 2 1892 Her mother died just 10 weeks later
SECOND-CLASS CITIZEN No school for girls Boys are favored In Victorian England boys were often sent to school to be educated right Girls were taught at home by a governess Mary taught herself from books such as George Craik’s Pursuit of Knowledge Under Difficulties 1842 When Mary's brother Charley went to study at Cambridge University the Kingsleys moved to Cambridge where Mary looked after the housework Cambridge When Mary moved to Cambridge the university there had very few female students The first colleges for women had only just opened INHERITANCE Mary inherits money Is free to travel When their parents died in 1892 Mary and Charles both inherited money from their father Mary received an income of 500 a year equivalent to around 55,000 today She no longer had to worry about the future and did not need to work for a living She could now afford to travel FAMOUS UNCLE Bestselling Author Mary’s uncle her father’s older brother Charles Kingsley was a pastor and social reformer as well as a famous Victorian novelist The Water-Babies 1863 was one of the most popular books of the time It told the story of Tom a chimney sweep who drowns and becomes a water-baby left Charles Kingsley wrote the book as part of a campaign against children being forced to work EXPLORE WITH MARY KINGSLEY 5
Did you know resources When Mary visited Africa in the 1890s the continent had just become important in Europe Different European countries wanted to claim parts of Africa to get hold of its valuable Where Are We Heading After the death of her parents Mary planned to visit Africa to complete her father’s unfinished book about the region She prepared by visiting the Canary Islands A SUBTROPICAL ISLAND First stop Dramatic scenery to enjoy In 1892 Mary decided to travel to the Canary Islands off northwest Africa It took a week to sail from England to the volcanic islands Mary liked the scenery which was more dramatic than in England right She stayed much longer than she planned She often paddled between islands in a canoe A SIDE TRIP Exciting trip to La Gomera La Gomera is one of the least visited of the Canary Islands When Mary took a trip to La Gomera she was so busy exploring that she missed the boat back to the main island where she was staying Mary had to spend the night sleeping under a rock on the island It was the first of her travel adventures 6 TRAVEL WITH THE GREAT EXPLORERS
FIRST TRIP Africa at last Mary travels inland Mary sailed for Africa on board the SS Lagos in August 1893 Every time the boat docked as it sailed along the African coast Mary got off to explore the region Finally she arrived in what is now Angola right From there she traveled inland Mary spent five months traveling through the forested Congo region She met many Indigenous people there SECOND TRIP Longs for Africa Back in England Mary missed Africa In December 1894 she went back This time she visited the Ogooué River region left She traveled so far upriver that she was the first European woman to meet the Fang people She also became the first European woman to climb Mount Cameroon When Mary arrived back in England reports of her journeys had made her famous SOUTH AFRICA A Final Trip Volunteers as a Nurse In 1899 the Boer War broke out when Dutch farmers called Boers fought against the English government of South Africa Mary volunteered to work as a military nurse and in March 1900 she sailed back to Africa Her work was cut short when she caught enteric fever She died in South Africa on June 3 1900 EXPLORE WITH MARY KINGSLEY 7
