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John Smith Moffat (1835–1918) was a British
missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Tho ...
and imperial agent in
southern Africa Southern Africa is the southernmost subregion of the African continent, south of the Congo and Tanzania. The physical location is the large part of Africa to the south of the extensive Congo River basin. Southern Africa is home to a number o ...
, the son of missionary Robert Moffat and
Mary Moffat Mary Moffat born Mary Smith (1795 – 9 January 1871) was a British missionary who became a role model for women involved in missionary work. She was the wife of Robert Moffat, the mother of Mary Moffat Livingstone and David Livingstone was her s ...
. He was the brother-in-law of 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 ...
. He is known for his various publications and essays detailing his journeys and experiences in Africa and the eastern Mediterranean. Like his famous father, Moffat was a Congregationalist minister affiliated with the
London Missionary Society The London Missionary Society was an interdenominational evangelical missionary society formed in England in 1795 at the instigation of Welsh Congregationalist minister Edward Williams. It was largely Reformed in outlook, with Congregational m ...
but he became involved in British
colonial Colonial or The Colonial may refer to: * Colonial, of, relating to, or characteristic of a colony or colony (biology) Architecture * American colonial architecture * French Colonial * Spanish Colonial architecture Automobiles * Colonial (1920 au ...
expansion particularly in
Matabeleland Matabeleland is a region located in southwestern Zimbabwe that is divided into three provinces: Matabeleland North, Bulawayo, and Matabeleland South. These provinces are in the west and south-west of Zimbabwe, between the Limpopo and Zambe ...
, later part of
Southern Rhodesia Southern Rhodesia was a landlocked self-governing colony, self-governing British Crown colony in southern Africa, established in 1923 and consisting of British South Africa Company (BSAC) territories lying south of the Zambezi River. The reg ...
, now
Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and ...
. His missionary work included helping to start the first mission in Matabeleland in 1859 at Inyati. In 1865 he took over the running of his father's mission in
Kuruman Kuruman is a small town with just over 53,000 inhabitants in the Northern Cape province of South Africa. It is known for its scenic beauty and the Eye of Kuruman, a geological feature that brings water from deep underground. The abundance of water ...
. In 1879 he resigned from the missionary society and joined the British Bechuanaland colonial service. In 1888 at the instigation of
Cecil Rhodes Cecil John Rhodes (5 July 1853 – 26 March 1902) was a British mining magnate and politician in southern Africa who served as Prime Minister of the Cape Colony from 1890 to 1896. An ardent believer in British imperialism, Rhodes and his Bri ...
he was sent to
Matabeleland Matabeleland is a region located in southwestern Zimbabwe that is divided into three provinces: Matabeleland North, Bulawayo, and Matabeleland South. These provinces are in the west and south-west of Zimbabwe, between the Limpopo and Zambe ...
to use his father's reputation to persuade its king
Lobengula Lobengula Khumalo (c. 1845 – presumed January 1894) was the second and last official king of the Northern Ndebele people (historically called Matabele in English). Both names in the Ndebele language mean "the men of the long shields", a refer ...
to sign a treaty of friendship with Britain and to look favorably on Rhodes' later approach for the
Rudd Concession The Rudd Concession, a written concession for exclusive mining rights in Matabeleland, Mashonaland and other adjoining territories in what is today Zimbabwe, was granted by King Lobengula of Matabeleland to Charles Rudd, James Rochfort Magui ...
mining rights. Moffat discovered later the extent of Rhodes' deception of Lobengula and the deceit behind numerous concessions negotiated by Rhodes'
British South Africa Company The British South Africa Company (BSAC or BSACo) was chartered in 1889 following the amalgamation of Cecil Rhodes' Central Search Association and the London-based Exploring Company Ltd, which had originally competed to capitalize on the expect ...
, BSAC. He fell out with Rhodes when the latter provoked Lobengula into the
First Matabele War The First Matabele War was fought between 1893 and 1894 in modern-day Zimbabwe. It pitted the British South Africa Company against the Ndebele (Matabele) Kingdom. Lobengula, king of the Ndebele, had tried to avoid outright war with the compa ...
so he could take that country. In 1893 Moffat exposed the trickery behind the BSAC Bosman Concession in Ngamiland, which was abandoned as a result. In 1894 when the BSAC police clashed with warriors of the
Bamangwato The Bamangwato (more correctly BagammaNgwato, and also referred to as the BaNgwato or Ngwato) is one of the eight "principal" Tswana chieftaincies of Botswana. They ruled over a majority Bakalanga population (the largest ethnic group in Central Dis ...
king
Khama III Khama III (1837?–1923), referred to by missionaries as Khama the Good also called Khama the Great, was the ''Kgosi'' (meaning king) of the Bangwato people. Ancestry and Youth Malope a chief of the Bakwena, led his people from the Transvaal r ...
in Bechuanaland, he warned that Rhodes' next victim was Khama, a British ally. But Moffat's boss, Shippard, was Rhodes's agent, and he dismissed Moffat.


Books in English

* ''Travels in the Eastern Mediterranean'' first published 1889 *


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Moffat, John Smith 1835 births 1918 deaths Scottish Congregationalist ministers Congregationalist missionaries in South Africa Congregationalist missionaries in Zimbabwe 19th-century Congregationalist ministers 20th-century Congregationalist ministers Scottish Congregationalist missionaries Bechuanaland Protectorate people