David Livingstone

1813 - 1873

Statue of David Livingston beside Glasgow Cathedral
©2011 Gazetteer for Scotland

Explorer and medical missionary. Born in Blantyre (South Lanarkshire). Livingstone was the first white man to travel the length of Lake Tanganyika, discovered Victoria Falls (1855) and was sent by the Royal Geographical Society to discover the source of the Nile. Having become a figure of popular interest, there was public concern when no word was heard of Livingstone, and the New York Herald sent Henry Stanley to look for him. When they finally met, Stanley uttered the famous greeting "Dr Livingstone, I presume". Despite illness, Livingstone set off again to find the elusive source of the Nile, but died before achieving this aim. His servants transported his body to the coast and it was sent back to be buried at Westminster Abbey (London).

Livingstone was awarded the Freedom of the City of Edinburgh in 1857. In 1967, the pop group The Beatles included Livingstone's face amongst many others on the cover of their Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album.

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