Charles Livingstone Papers, ca. 1840, 1864, n.d. | Oberlin College Archives

Charles Livingstone (1821-1873) was the brother of explorer and missionary David Livingstone (1813-1873). Charles accompanied David on the famous Zambezi Expedition in Southern Africa in 1858-1964.

The brothers were born to Neil and Agnes Hunter Livingstone in Scotland: David in Blantyre, Charles in New Monkland. Their father was a small tea dealer. Both brothers worked in cotton mills from before they were twelve while continuing in school after the long hours at work. When he was 19, David had saved enough money to begin medical training in Glasgow.

Charles emigrated to the United States and traveled to Cleveland from Albany by way of the Erie Canal to Buffalo, and thence by lake steamer. He entered the Preparatory Department at Oberlin College in 1840, upon the advice of his brother David. He was graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1845, and was enrolled in the Oberlin College Theological Seminary for the next three years. He was an assistant teacher in the Preparatory Department from 1847-1848, just before transferring to Union Seminary for his final year where he graduated in 1849.

Charles Livingstone married an Oberlin College graduate of the Class of 1847, Harriet C. Ingraham from Attleboro, Massachusetts, on January 29, 1852. He was naturalized on March 21, 1856 in Boston, Massachusetts. The couple had three children, all born in Boston: Charles Henry (b. ca. 1854), Mary Agnes (b. ca. 1855), and Hattie (b. ca. 1857).

The story of the perilous Zambezi Expedition in Southern Africa undertaken by David and Charles Livingstone is well-documented, primarily through their book Narrative of an Expedition to the Zambesi and its Tributaries, and the Discovery of the Lakes Shirwa and Nyassa: 1858-1964, published in 1865. They drew heavily from Charles’ hand-written account of the expedition, written in 1864 (in this collection). The Zambezi Expedition was David Livingstone’s second in Africa, but this time he led it as a British consul, having parted ways with the London Missionary Society. Nevertheless, one of his goals was to establish a mission in central Africa. His primary objective, as with the first expedition, was to explore the commercial possibilities of the continent and the potential to combat slavery through the development of other commerce. Additionally, the expedition was a scientific one, with the collection of important botanical and zoological specimens. Disease took many in the party, including his wife, Mary, who joined them in 1862. In July 1863, the expedition was recalled to Britain.

Charles Livingstone was appointed Consul at Fernando Po on October 17, 1864, Consul in the Territories on the West Coast of Africa comprised within the Bight of Biafra on December 3, 1864, and Consul for the Territories on the Western Coast of Africa on June 24^th, 1867. The seat of the Consulate was moved to old Calabar in Southern Nigeria on April 1, 1872.

Charles died at sea of “African fever” outside Nigeria on the Ethiopia Mail Steamer, homeward bound, at the age of 52 on November 27, 1873. Harriet Livingstone died in Denver, Colorado on December 4, 1900.

Sources Consulted

Student files of Charles and Harriet Livingstone (RG 28 Alumni and Development Records), Oberlin College Archives.

Livingstone Online. Adrian S. Wisnicki and Megan Ward, dirs. University of Maryland Libraries, 2018. Web. http://livingstoneonline.org/uuid/node/b49b7671-f0d6-47e9-8826-f97b878a6831.