20 December 2013

Author shares extraordinary story of David Livingstone's wife

Author and Journalist Julie Davidson will share the enthralling story of David Livingstone's extraordinarily courageous and stoical wife at the University of Dundee early in the new year.

She will deliver a talk, based on her book Looking for Mrs Livingstone at the D'Arcy Thompson Lecture Theatre on Tuesday, 7th January. This event takes places as part of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society's Inspiring People talks programme.

In the history books, Mary Livingstone exists largely in the shadows of her world-renowned explorer and missionary husband despite the fact she played an important role in Livingstone's success and performing her own unique feats as an early traveller in uncharted Africa.

She was the first white woman to cross the Kalahari and did so twice while pregnant, giving birth in the bush on the second journey. She was much more rooted in southern Africa than her husband and while he has a tomb in Westminster Abbey, London, Mary has an obscure and crumbling grave on the banks of the Zambezi in a destitute region of Mozambique.

In the thrall of Africa, Julie Davidson has travelled extensively over several years in the footsteps of Mary Livingstone, from her birthplace in a remote district of South Africa to her grave on the Zambezi.

She explores the places the Livingstones knew as a couple and, above all, explores the detail of the life and family of this little-known figure in British - but not African - history.

Julie Davidson's varied and award-winning career in journalism, includes work for The Times, Observer, Guardian, Daily Telegraph, Press & Journal, Scotsman, Herald, Cosmopolitan and House & Garden. She is the winner of five Scottish Press Awards and several awards for travel writing.

Julie's talk will take place in the D'Arcy Thompson Lecture Theatre at 7.30pm on Tuesday 7th January. The event is open to all, and tickets cost £8 for adults and are free for students, under 18s and RSGS members.

For more information about the RSGS talks and how to join visit www.rsgs.org, email enquiries@rsgs.org, or follow the Society on twitter @RoyalScotGeoSoc.

For media enquiries contact:
Grant Hill
Press Officer
University of Dundee
Nethergate, Dundee, DD1 4HN
TEL: 01382 384768
E-MAIL: g.hill@dundee.ac.uk
MOBILE: 07854 953277