EARLY LIFE
Henry Morton Stanley was born January 28, 1841 as John Rowlands in Denbigh, Denbighshire, Wales.
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| Stanley in 1872 |
John was the illegitimate and unloved son of a promiscuous housemaid and John Rowlands senior, an indulgent alcoholic.
His mother Elizabeth Parry was 18 years old at the time of his birth.
John never knew his father, who died within a few weeks of his birth.
As a toddler, John was shuttled between various relatives, before being eventually sent to the St. Asaph Union Workhouse for the Poor at the age of 5.
John spent a miserable childhood in the workhouse, then at the age of 18 he took a job as a cabin boy on a sailing ship bound for New Orleans.
EARLY CAREER
After arriving at New Orleans, Rowlands asked a wealthy trader called Henry Stanley — who had in fact long wished he had a son — "do you need a boy?", meaning hired help. Rowlands was adopted by Stanley and out of admiration, he took the trader's name.
Stanley enlisted in the Confederate Army at the outset of the American Civil War, enrolling in the Confederate States Army's 6th Arkansas Infantry Regiment.
Stanley fought in the 1862 Battle of Shiloh and was captured. He was a prisoner of war until he decided to switch sides to the Union Army in exchange for his release.
Stanley was discharged from the Union army 18 days later because of severe illness.
After recovering, Stanley served on several merchant ships before joining the US Navy in July 1864. He became a record keeper on board the USS Minnesota, which led him into freelance journalism.
Stanley and a junior colleague jumped ship on February 10, 1865 in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and set out to tour the world. They got as far as Turkey where robbed, beaten, broke they had to rely on the generosity of the American consul for their passage home.
After the Civil War, Stanley turned to journalism first with the Missouri Democrat then the St Louis Weekly.
In 1867 Stanley was taken on by James Gordon Bennett Jr. the owner of the New York Herald as their special correspondent for the Abyssinian War.
SEARCH FOR DAVID LIVINGSTONE
In 1869 Stanley received instructions from The New York Herald to undertake a roving commission in the Middle East, which was to include the relief of Dr. David Livingstone, of whom little had been heard since his departure for Africa in 1866 to search for the source of the Nile.
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| 1872 Carte de visite – Stanley and Kalulu. |
According to Stanley's no doubt romanticized account, he asked James Gordon Bennett, Jr, how much he could spend. The reply was "Draw £1,000 now, and when you have gone through that, draw another £1,000, and when that is spent, draw another £1,000, and when you have finished that, draw another £1,000, and so on — BUT FIND LIVINGSTONE!"
Stanley traveled to Zanzibar and outfitted an expedition with the best of everything, including 111 porters.
As he hacked his way across the African continent, Stanley spent six months pondering how he ought to greet the object of his quest.
He located Livingstone on November 10, 1871, in Ujiji near Lake Tanganyika in present-day Tanzania.
On meeting Livingstone Stanley said "Dr Livingstone, I presume". ("Hello" wasn't in use at the time).
Stanley was given a sextant by Livingstone for finding him, while Queen Victoria rewarded him with a gold snuff box.
In 1874, the New York Herald and Britain's Daily Telegraph financed Stanley on another expedition to Africa. His objective was nothing less than to complete the exploration and mapping of the central African lakes and rivers, in the process circumnavigating Lakes Victoria and Tanganyika and locating the source of the Nile.
When Stanley visited King Mutesa I of Buganda he found Islam had preceded him. He wrote a letter to the Daily Telegraph appealing for Christian missionaries. Seven months later volunteers arrived at Zanzibar sent by the Church Mission Society. This led to the eventual establishment of a British protectorate in Uganda.
During Stanley's 999 day journey from East to West Africa between 1874-77, he explored Lake Tanganyika and traced the course of the River Congo to the sea, thus opening up the heart of Africa for the first time. He also established conclusively the source of the Nile, circumnavigated Lake Victoria for the first time and mapped the course of the Lualaba River.
Only half of Stanley's party survived the daunting dangerous trans-Africa trek.
Between 1879-84, Stanley worked for King Leopold II of Belgium as his agent with the aim of establishing the Congo Free State. He succeeded in opening up the Congo river for sea traffic by bludgeoning his way up the river and building roads through the jungle.
Stanley was called by the Africans "Sula Maturi" (The smasher of the rocks).
Stanley built 22 garrisoned stations along the Congo, established a fleet of steamboats and put in place a political and commercial infrastructure to allow the new nation of Congo to function.
In 1886, Stanley headed an expeditionary force to relief the besieged Emin Pasha, the governor of Equatoria in the southern Sudan. To relief Emin Pasta he had to cross Africa again, this time west to east, Congo to Ethiopia.
Stanley succeeded in relieving Emin Pasha and safely escorted him to Zanzibar. However, there was controversy when Stanley's relief column, a group of English officers, were left behind at the Congo to die, whilst Stanley forged on through the Ituri forest. His incident tarnished his reputation.
The deaths, dementia and paranoia of the unfortunate rear column left behind in the Congo inspired Joseph Conrad to write Heart of Darkness.
On return from Africa, Stanley entered Parliament as a Liberal Unionist member for Lambeth North, serving from 1895 to 1900.
He lived in considerable comfort after his return from Africa and became Sir Henry Morton Stanley when he was made a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath in the 1899 Birthday Honors, in recognition of his service to the British Empire in Africa.
Stanley retired in 1900 on account of his failing health.
On his return from finding Livingstone, Stanley cashed in by publishing How I Discovered Livingstone in 1873.
Following his return from his second African expedition, Stanley published in 1878 Through the Dark Continent thus introducing the custom of referring to Africa as the “dark continent”.
In 1890, he published In Darkest Africa or the Quest Rescue and Retreat of Emin, Governor of Equatoria.
Stanley secretly became an American citizen in 1885 to protect his royalties for his books but in 1892 reassumed his British citizenship.
Stanley was 5ft 5ins. According to Queen Victoria he was, "a determined ugly little man-with a strong American twang."
Pugnacious, intelligent and determined, Stanley had a vain glorious and corrupt nature. Manically diligent, he was prone to violent rages.
LATER CAREER
In 1874, the New York Herald and Britain's Daily Telegraph financed Stanley on another expedition to Africa. His objective was nothing less than to complete the exploration and mapping of the central African lakes and rivers, in the process circumnavigating Lakes Victoria and Tanganyika and locating the source of the Nile.
When Stanley visited King Mutesa I of Buganda he found Islam had preceded him. He wrote a letter to the Daily Telegraph appealing for Christian missionaries. Seven months later volunteers arrived at Zanzibar sent by the Church Mission Society. This led to the eventual establishment of a British protectorate in Uganda.
During Stanley's 999 day journey from East to West Africa between 1874-77, he explored Lake Tanganyika and traced the course of the River Congo to the sea, thus opening up the heart of Africa for the first time. He also established conclusively the source of the Nile, circumnavigated Lake Victoria for the first time and mapped the course of the Lualaba River.
Only half of Stanley's party survived the daunting dangerous trans-Africa trek.
Between 1879-84, Stanley worked for King Leopold II of Belgium as his agent with the aim of establishing the Congo Free State. He succeeded in opening up the Congo river for sea traffic by bludgeoning his way up the river and building roads through the jungle.
Stanley was called by the Africans "Sula Maturi" (The smasher of the rocks).
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| Henry M. Stanley in 1884 |
Stanley built 22 garrisoned stations along the Congo, established a fleet of steamboats and put in place a political and commercial infrastructure to allow the new nation of Congo to function.
In 1886, Stanley headed an expeditionary force to relief the besieged Emin Pasha, the governor of Equatoria in the southern Sudan. To relief Emin Pasta he had to cross Africa again, this time west to east, Congo to Ethiopia.
Stanley succeeded in relieving Emin Pasha and safely escorted him to Zanzibar. However, there was controversy when Stanley's relief column, a group of English officers, were left behind at the Congo to die, whilst Stanley forged on through the Ituri forest. His incident tarnished his reputation.
The deaths, dementia and paranoia of the unfortunate rear column left behind in the Congo inspired Joseph Conrad to write Heart of Darkness.
On return from Africa, Stanley entered Parliament as a Liberal Unionist member for Lambeth North, serving from 1895 to 1900.
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| Henry Morton Stanley 1890 |
He lived in considerable comfort after his return from Africa and became Sir Henry Morton Stanley when he was made a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath in the 1899 Birthday Honors, in recognition of his service to the British Empire in Africa.
Stanley retired in 1900 on account of his failing health.
WRITING
On his return from finding Livingstone, Stanley cashed in by publishing How I Discovered Livingstone in 1873.
Following his return from his second African expedition, Stanley published in 1878 Through the Dark Continent thus introducing the custom of referring to Africa as the “dark continent”.
In 1890, he published In Darkest Africa or the Quest Rescue and Retreat of Emin, Governor of Equatoria.
Stanley secretly became an American citizen in 1885 to protect his royalties for his books but in 1892 reassumed his British citizenship.
APPEARANCE AND CHARACTER
Stanley was 5ft 5ins. According to Queen Victoria he was, "a determined ugly little man-with a strong American twang."
Pugnacious, intelligent and determined, Stanley had a vain glorious and corrupt nature. Manically diligent, he was prone to violent rages.
RELATIONSHIPS
After his return from Africa, Stanley married the Welsh neoclassicist artist, Dorothy Tennant (March 22, 1855 – October 5, 1926) at Westminster Abbey in 1890. They adopted a child named Denzil.
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| Portrait of Lady Dorothy Stanley, by George Frederick Watts |
Dorothy Tennant edited her husband's autobiography, reportedly removing any references to other women in Stanley's life.
After Stanley's death, Dorothy married, in 1907, Henry Jones Curtis, a pathologist, surgeon and writer.
DEATH
Stanley died of pleurisy at his Richmond, London terrace home on May 10, 1904.
His grave, in the graveyard of St. Michael's Church in Pirbright, Surrey, is marked by a large piece of granite.
Source Independent magazine 1991
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