Frederick Stanley Arnot (12 September 1858 – 14 May 1914) was a British missionary who did much to establish missions in what are now
Angola
, national_anthem = " Angola Avante"()
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, capital = Luanda
, religion =
, religion_year = 2020
, religion_ref =
, coordina ...
,
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 ...
and the
Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...
(DRC).
Early years
Arnot was born in
Glasgow
Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...
on 12 September 1858. His family lived in the town of
Hamilton Hamilton may refer to:
People
* Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname
** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland
** Lord Hamilt ...
, southeast of Glasgow, for several years.
There he became close to his neighbours, the family of the medical missionary
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 ...
.
He looked up to Livingstone as a hero and determined to emulate him.
He felt practical skills would be needed in his future missionary career.
At fourteen he left school to become an apprentice joiner in the Glasgow shipyards.
Arnot was brought up in the
Church of Scotland
The Church of Scotland ( sco, The Kirk o Scotland; gd, Eaglais na h-Alba) is the national church in Scotland.
The Church of Scotland was principally shaped by John Knox, in the Scottish Reformation, Reformation of 1560, when it split from t ...
, but became a member of the
Plymouth Brethren
The Plymouth Brethren or Assemblies of Brethren are a low church and non-conformist Christian movement whose history can be traced back to Dublin, Ireland, in the mid to late 1820s, where they originated from Anglicanism. The group emphasizes ...
.
First expedition
In July 1881, aged 22, Arnot embarked for
Cape Town
Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...
.
He was not associated with a missionary board, although in his work he was always glad to cooperate with those who were.
He aimed to find a region in the interior that would be healthy for Europeans.
They could train the local Africans in the Christian religion, and these Africans could in turn act as missionaries in the less healthy regions.
Arnot traveled by coastal steamer to
Durban
Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...
. In August 1881, he left for the interior, traveling slowly through the
Transvaal Transvaal is a historical geographic term associated with land north of (''i.e.'', beyond) the Vaal River in South Africa. A number of states and administrative divisions have carried the name Transvaal.
* South African Republic (1856–1902; af, ...
to
Shoshong in
Botswana
Botswana (, ), officially the Republic of Botswana ( tn, Lefatshe la Botswana, label=Setswana, ), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory being the Kalahar ...
where he was welcomed by King Kama, who had been converted to Christianity.
Arnot arrived in Shoshong on 11 March 1882. There he met the missionary J.D. Hepburn and observed him at work. He called Hepburn "a faithful man, who sought the conversion not only of the natives of the tribe but also of every man who passed through Shoshong white or black".
![Msiri's kingdom in 1880 760x460 lo-res](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f6/Msiri%27s_kingdom_in_1880_760x460_lo-res.jpg)
After a three-month stay Arnot continued northward across the
Kalahari Desert to the
Barotse kingdom, in what is now western Zambia. In December 1882 he reached
Lealui, the capital.
Arnot was present when the
Lozi King
Lewanika received a proposal from the
Ndebele
Ndebele may refer to:
*Southern Ndebele people, located in South Africa
*Northern Ndebele people, located in Zimbabwe and Botswana
Languages
*Southern Ndebele language, the language of the South Ndebele
*Northern Ndebele language, the language o ...
for an alliance to resist the white men. Arnot may have helped Lewanika to see the advantages of a British protectorate in terms of the greater wealth and security it would provide.
Lewanika kept him here for the next eighteen months.
Arnot left Bulozi in 1884 to seek medical attention and to escape a brewing rebellion against Lewanika.
He had to travel westward rather than to the east as he had planned.
His route took him over the height of land between the watersheds of the
Zambezi
The Zambezi River (also spelled Zambeze and Zambesi) is the fourth-longest river in Africa, the longest east-flowing river in Africa and the largest flowing into the Indian Ocean from Africa. Its drainage basin covers , slightly less than hal ...
and the
Congo
Congo or The Congo may refer to either of two countries that border the Congo River in central Africa:
* Democratic Republic of the Congo, the larger country to the southeast, capital Kinshasa, formerly known as Zaire, sometimes referred to a ...
, where he found the source of the Zambezi.
He identified
Kalene Hill
Kalene Hill is a community in the northwest of Zambia near a hill by the same name about to the southeast. It is part of the Ikelenge District. Kalene Hill was the site of an early medical mission. The hospital is still important to the region.
L ...
as a particularly suitable place for a mission. At the location was cool and relatively free of malaria-carrying mosquitoes.
Located in the British territory of
Northern Rhodesia
Northern Rhodesia was a British protectorate in southern Africa, south central Africa, now the independent country of Zambia. It was formed in 1911 by Amalgamation (politics), amalgamating the two earlier protectorates of Barotziland-North-West ...
, from the summit one could see far into Angola and the
Congo Free State
''(Work and Progress)
, national_anthem = Vers l'avenir
, capital = Vivi Boma
, currency = Congo Free State franc
, religion = Catholicism (''de facto'')
, leader1 = Leopo ...
.
Arnot was assisted in reaching the
Bié Plateau
The Bié Plateau or Central Plateau of Angola is a plateau that occupies most of central Angola. The elevation of the plateau is from 1,520 m to 1,824.8956 m.
Several major rivers originate from the plateau such as the Cunene River, the Kuanza R ...
in Angola by the Portuguese trader and army officer
António da Silva Porto
António Francisco Ferreira da Silva Porto (24 August 1817 – 2 April 1890) was a Portuguese trader and explorer in Angola, in the Portuguese West Africa.
Biography
Silva Porto was born to a poor family in Porto in continental Portugal; h ...
.
Despite his illness, he refused to be carried in a hammock by African porters, insisting on riding an ox.
The journey was arduous, through rough country and with constant exposure to accidents and unfamiliar disease.
Arnot eventually reached
Benguela
Benguela (; Umbundu: Luombaka) is a city in western Angola, capital of Benguela Province. Benguela is one of Angola's most populous cities with a population of 555,124 in the city and 561,775 in the municipality, at the 2014 census.
History
Por ...
on the Atlantic coast in Portuguese territory around the end of 1884.
It had taken him four years to cross the continent from east to west.
Msiri
Arnot recovered his health while staying at
Bailundu, inland from the coast in
Ovimbundu
The Ovimbundu, also known as the Southern Mbundu, are a Bantu ethnic group who live on the Bié Plateau of central Angola and in the coastal strip west of these highlands. As the largest ethnic group in Angola, they make up 38 percent of the ...
territory, as the guest of some missionaries from the
American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. Messengers arrived there from the chief Msidi (
Msiri
Msiri (c. 1830 – December 20, 1891) founded and ruled the Yeke Kingdom (also called the Garanganze or Garenganze kingdom) in south-east Katanga (now in DR Congo) from about 1856 to 1891. His name is sometimes spelled 'M'Siri' in articles in Fr ...
), who ruled a large area in what is now
Katanga Province
Katanga was one of the four large provinces created in the Belgian Congo in 1914.
It was one of the eleven provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo between 1966 and 2015, when it was split into the Tanganyika Province, Tanganyika, Hau ...
in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, with its capital at
Bunkeya.
Msiri invited the white men to visit his
Garenganze kingdom.
On 3 June 1885 Arnot set out with a caravan of forty bearers and supplies for two years, reaching Bunkeya on 14 February 1886.
When Arnot arrived he had no food left, no trade goods and no white companions. He received a warm welcome, however, although Msiri discouraged his missionary work for fear it would make his subjects disloyal.
Msiri's father had been in the business of buying copper ore in Katanga and transporting it to the east coast of Africa for resale.
As a young man Msiri remained behind in the region as his father's agent.
He became leader of a group of
Bayeke people
The Garanganze, Yeke or Bayeke are a people of Katanga, in the Democratic Republic of Congo. They established the Yeke Kingdom under the warrior-king Msiri, who dominated the southern part of Central Africa from 1850 to 1891 and controlled the tra ...
, and established a state that extended from the
Luapula River south to the Congo-Zambezi watershed, and from
Lake Mweru in the east to the
Lualaba River in the west. Based on Bunkeya, the state controlled a huge central-African trading network, mostly dealing in slaves but also in ivory, salt, copper and iron ore. Traders came to Bunkeya from the Zambezi and Congo basins, from Angola, Uganda and Zanzibar. The Arabs from the east coast bought guns and ammunition, which Msiri used to maintain his position.
![Msiris compound](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b7/Msiris_compound.jpg)
An unsympathetic report written in 1890 said: "There is the Garangange kingdom of M'sidi, where Mr. F.S. Arnot, 'the young Livingstone,' and his friends are trying to found a mission. This country is picturesque and salubrious, consisting of highlands to the west of
Lake Bangweolo. M'sidi is, though a perfect savage, one of the most powerful monarchs of that part of Africa. He is a cruel despot, who governs by means of 2,000 fusileers, whom he has trained and armed, and whom he employs on marauding expeditions. His own palace is surrounded by human skulls ... The celebrated Katanga copper mines are in his dominions..."
Msiri's rule was harsh but Arnot managed to establish a relationship of mutual respect.
He said: "Msidi is a thorough gentleman. The other day he told one of his courtiers that he had one true friend and that was 'Monare,' for in his heart he did not find one single suspicion of me and I feel much the same toward Msidi. I have no suspicion of his friendship; he most carefully avoids asking anything of me".
Arnot was allowed to build a mission with a church, school, clinic and orphanage and began to teach the children to read and write.
He was the only European in Garanganze from January 1886 until December 1887.
He was then joined by Charles Swan and William Henry Faulknor, two other missionaries.
Arnot left the mission in their hands in February 1888 and reached England on 18 September 1888 after an absence of over seven years.
Later career
Arnot had become well-known from reports of his travels and work. In London he was invited to read a paper on the source of the Zambezi 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 ...
, and he was made a fellow of this society.
Arnot continued to organize missionaries, both male and female, over the next decade, establishing a string of missions from the Atlantic coast in Angola to Garenganze. Maintaining these posts involved delicate arrangements with the Belgian and Portuguese colonial authorities and with the local African traders and chiefs.
Arnot's missionaries had high mortality. He wrote later that the route to the interior was marked by a chain of graves.
It is probable that he felt these graves established a form of moral claim on the territory.
Early in 1889 Arnot returned to Africa accompanied by thirteen recruits. These included his wife Harriet Jane Fisher, whom he had married in March of that year. It also included
Walter Fisher who later would found the Kalene Mission Hospital.
Despite invitations from Msiri, Arnot's poor health meant he could not risk the grueling journey to Bunkeya.
Instead, he and his wife remained in what is now eastern Angola.
In 1892 Arnot went back to England, living for the next two years in the port of
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
where he oversaw the shipment of goods to the missions in Africa. He returned to Katanga in 1894, this time traveling from the east coast.
His route took him up the lower Zambezi River, north through
Lake Malawi
Lake Malawi, also known as Lake Nyasa in Tanzania and Lago Niassa in Mozambique, is an African Great Lake and the southernmost lake in the East African Rift system, located between Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania.
It is the fifth largest fre ...
and then west via lakes
Tanganyika
Tanganyika may refer to:
Places
* Tanganyika Territory (1916–1961), a former British territory which preceded the sovereign state
* Tanganyika (1961–1964), a sovereign state, comprising the mainland part of present-day Tanzania
* Tanzania Main ...
and
Mweru.
Recurring health problems forced Arnot to return from Katanga after only a few weeks.
However, in later years he made further expeditions into what are now Angola, Zambia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Many of the missions he established then are still active.
Arnot became seriously ill on a trip in 1914 to what is now northwest Zambia, and was carried back to Johannesburg.
He died there on 14 May 1914.
In his time, Arnot was known as "the knight of Africa".
Arnot's son Nigel and daughter Winifred also became missionaries, working at the Kalunda mission in Angola.
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Arnot, Stanley
1858 births
1914 deaths
Scottish Protestant missionaries
Clergy from Glasgow
British expatriates in Angola
British expatriates in South Africa
Protestant missionaries in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Protestant missionaries in Angola
Protestant missionaries in Zambia
British expatriates in the Democratic Republic of the Congo