The Livingstone Memorial, built in 1899, marks the spot where missionary explorer

David Livingstone David Livingstone (; 19 March 1813 – 1 May 1873) was a Scottish physician, Congregationalist, and pioneer Christian missionary with the London Missionary Society, an explorer in Africa, and one of the most popular British heroes of t ...

died on 1 May 1873, in Chief Chitambo's village at Chipundu (today in

Chitambo District Chitambo District is a district of Central Province, Zambia. It was separated from Serenje District in 2012 and is located some 357km north-east of Kabwe along the Great North Road. It shares borders with Serenje, Samfya (Luapula Province), Lavu ...

), near the edge of the

Bangweulu Swamps The Bangweulu Wetlands is a wetland ecosystem adjacent to Lake Bangweulu in north-eastern Zambia. The area has been designated as one of the world's most important wetlands by the Ramsar Convention and an "Important Bird Area" by BirdLife Internati ...

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most cent ...

. His body was embalmed and his heart was buried there under a mpundu tree by his followers, now led by his loyal attendants

Chuma and Susi James Chuma and Abdullah Susi were people from central Africa who took part in the second Zambesi expedition led by the explorer David Livingstone, and were employed by him in his last expedition. They had significant roles in organisation, and w ...

, who then departed for the coast carrying his body. In their party was an Indian-educated African man named Jacob Wainwright who carved the inscription "LIVINGSTONE MAY 4 1873" and the names of the attendants on the tree.J Desmond Clark: "David Livingstone Memorial at Chitambo's", ''The Northern Rhodesia Journal'', Vol 1 No 1, 1950.

The fate of the memorial tree

By 1899, Chitambo's village had dispersed to another site after the death of the chief, and the tree was decaying. It was cut down by Robert Codrington who had been sent by the British Commissioner

Alfred Sharpe Sir Alfred Sharpe (19 May 1853 – 10 December 1935) was Commissioner and Consul-General for the British Central Africa Protectorate and first Governor of Nyasaland. He trained as a solicitor but was in turn a planter and a professional hunte ...

to prepare the way for a permanent memorial. He made a clearing in the forest and had the carving removed and sent to the

Royal Geographical Society The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), often shortened to RGS, is a learned society and professional body for geography based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical scien ...

's museum in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

Construction of the memorial

The memorial was constructed in 1902 by Owen Stroud and some African artisans who travelled from Fort Jameson (now

Chipata The city of Chipata is the administrative centre of the Eastern Province of Zambia and Chipata District. It was declared the 5th city of the country, after Lusaka, Ndola, Kitwe and Livingstone, by President Edgar Lungu on 24 February 2017. The c ...

) to do the job. The site was still marked by the clearing made by Codrington. Stroud built an obelisk around 6 m high from burnt brick plastered with smooth cement and attached to it two brass plaques sent from London. (These were replaced around 1935 by spare copies and in the 1950s by bronze replicas.) Four brick and wooden posts with iron and wooden rails were set up around the base and were replaced in the early 1950s by iron chains. When the top of the obelisk was damaged, the repairs included a bronze cross placed on top of it.

Location of the memorial

The Memorial is reached from the tarred Serenje-

Samfya Samfya is a town located in the Zambian province of Luapula. It is the centre of Samfya District. The town is located on the south-western shore of Lake Bangweulu, on the longest stretch of well-defined shore of that lake (the northern, eastern ...

highway via a turn-off to the north, which is 10 km northeast from the turn-off south to

Kasanka National Park Kasanka National Park is a park located in the Chitambo District of Zambia’s Central Province, Zambia, Central Province. At roughly , Kasanka is one of Zambia’s smallest national parks. Kasanka was the first of Zambia’s national parks to b ...

. A gravel road of about 30 km reaches the memorial in woodland. David Livingstone did not die "on the shores of

Lake Bangweulu Bangweulu — 'where the water sky meets the sky' — is one of the world's great wetland systems, comprising Lake Bangweulu, the Bangweulu Swamps and the Bangweulu Flats or floodplain.Camerapix: ''Spectrum Guide to Zambia.'' Camerapix Internation ...

", as stated in some publications, but 100 km south-east of the lake, near the edge of the floodplain which borders the Bangweulu Swamps. The area was not in Barotseland as stated in other sources. Livingstone had been trying to discover the rivers flowing in and out of the swamps, but he did so at the end of the rainy season when the annual flood carried his party's boats at his crib across the floodplain to the Lulimala River.W. Garden Blaikie: "The Personal Life of David Livingstone." 1880 The memorial is 5 km south of the Lulimala, 10 km south of the edge of the floodplain, and 40 km from the edge of the permanent swamps. There is a visitors' book in the nearby village health centre.Camerapix: "Spectrum Guide to Zambia". Camerapix International Publishers, Nairobi. 1996

Additions

There are now four bronze plaques on the monument, and the most recent of which was added in 1973 reads: "After 100 years David Livingstone's spirit and the love of God so animated his friends of all races that they gathered here in thanksgiving on 1st May 1973 led by Dr Kenneth David Kaunda President of the Republic of Zambia."

References

{{coord, 12, 18, S, 30, 19, E, display=title History of Zambia Monuments and memorials in Zambia David Livingstone 1902 establishments in Africa Buildings and structures completed in 1902