John Maynard | John Maynard Wiki
Kingsley was born in Islington, London on 13 October 1862, the daughter and oldest child of doctor, traveller, and writer George Kingsley and Mary Bailey. Notably, she comes from a family of writers, as she was also the niece of novelists Charles Kingsley and Henry Kingsley. The family moved to Highgate less than a year after her birth, the same home where her brother Charles George R. ("Charley") Kingsley was born in 1866, and by 1881 were living in Southwood House, Bexley in Kent.
Her father was a doctor and worked for George Herbert, 13th Earl of Pembroke and other aristocrats, so he was regularly away from home on his excursions. During these voyages he was able to collect information for his studies. Dr. Kingsley and Lord Dunraven ventured to North America between 1870 and 1875, during which Kingsley was offered the opportunity to join American General Custer and his men into Native American lands. Later reports describing the massacre of Custer's party left the Kingsley family at home in England terrified, but they were relieved to discover later that bad weather had kept Dr. Kingsley from joining the Custer party. It is possible that her father's views on injustices faced by the Native Americans helped shape Mary's later opinions on British cultural imperialism in West Africa.
In terms of Kingsley's education, she had little formal schooling compared to her brother, other than German lessons at a young age; however, she did have access to her father's large library and loved to hear her father's stories of foreign countries. She did not enjoy novels that were deemed more appropriate for young ladies of the time, such as those by Jane Austen or Charlotte Bronte but preferred books on the sciences and memoirs of explorers. Her brother, When her brother, Charley, however, was sent to school, he entered Christ's College in 1886 with the intent to become a lawyer, allowing Mary the chance to make several academic connections and a few friends.
With respect to religion, there is little indication that Kingsley was raised Christian; instead, she was a self-proclaimed believer with, "summed up in her own word [...] 'an utter faith in God'" and even identified strongly with what was described as 'the' African religion . She is known for her criticism of Christian missionaries and their work for taking away African culture without proving any real benefits in return .
The 1891 England census finds Mrs. Kingsley - Mary's mother - and her two children living at 7 Mortimer Road, Cambridge, where Charles is recorded as a BA Student at Law and Mary as a Student of Medicine.
In her later years, Kingsley's mother became ill, and she was expected to care for her well-being. Unable to leave her mother's side, she was limited in her travel opportunities. Soon, her father was also bedridden with rheumatic fever following an excursion. Dr. Kingsley died in February 1892, and Mrs. Kingsley followed a few months later in April of the same year. "Freed" from her family responsibilities and with an inheritance of £8,600 to be split evenly with her brother, Kingsley was now able to travel as she had always dreamed. Mary decided to visit Africa, some say to finish collecting material for a book that her father had started on African culture.
After a preliminary visit to the Canary Islands, Kingsley made preparations to travel to the west coast of Africa. The only non-African women who regularly embarked on (often dangerous) journeys to Africa were usually the wives of missionaries, government officials, or explorers. Exploration and adventure were not seen as fitting roles for a Victorian woman. Even African women were astonished that a woman of Mary's age was travelling without a man, as she was frequently asked why her husband was not accompanying her.
Mary landed in Sierra Leone on 17 August 1893 and pressed on into Luanda in Angola . She lived with local people who taught her necessary skills for surviving in the African jungles, and often went into dangerous areas alone. Her training as a nurse at the Kaiserworth Medical Institute prepared her for slight injuries and jungle maladies that she would later encounter. Mary returned to England in December 1893.
Upon her return, Mary secured support and aid from Dr.Albert Günther, a prominent zoologist at the British Museum, as well as a writing agreement with publisher George Macmillan, for she wished to publish her travel accounts.
She returned to Africa yet again in December 1894 with more support and supplies, as well as increased self-assurance in her work. She longed to study 'cannibal' peoples and their traditional religious practices, commonly referred to as 'fetish' during the Victorian Era. In April, she became acquainted with Scottish missionary Mary Slessor, another female living among native populations with little company and no husband. It was during her meeting with Slessor that Kingsley first became painfully aware of the custom of twin killing, a custom Slessor was determined to stop. The native people believed that one of the twins was the offspring of the devil who had secretly mated with the mother and since the innocent child was impossible to distinguish, both were killed and the mother was often killed as well for attracting the devil to impregnate her. Kingsley arrived at Slessor's residence shortly after she had taken in a recent mother of twins and her surviving child.
Her father was a doctor and worked for George Herbert, 13th Earl of Pembroke and other aristocrats, so he was regularly away from home on his excursions. During these voyages he was able to collect information for his studies. Dr. Kingsley and Lord Dunraven ventured to North America between 1870 and 1875, during which Kingsley was offered the opportunity to join American General Custer and his men into Native American lands. Later reports describing the massacre of Custer's party left the Kingsley family at home in England terrified, but they were relieved to discover later that bad weather had kept Dr. Kingsley from joining the Custer party. It is possible that her father's views on injustices faced by the Native Americans helped shape Mary's later opinions on British cultural imperialism in West Africa.
In terms of Kingsley's education, she had little formal schooling compared to her brother, other than German lessons at a young age; however, she did have access to her father's large library and loved to hear her father's stories of foreign countries. She did not enjoy novels that were deemed more appropriate for young ladies of the time, such as those by Jane Austen or Charlotte Bronte but preferred books on the sciences and memoirs of explorers. Her brother, When her brother, Charley, however, was sent to school, he entered Christ's College in 1886 with the intent to become a lawyer, allowing Mary the chance to make several academic connections and a few friends.
With respect to religion, there is little indication that Kingsley was raised Christian; instead, she was a self-proclaimed believer with, "summed up in her own word [...] 'an utter faith in God'" and even identified strongly with what was described as 'the' African religion . She is known for her criticism of Christian missionaries and their work for taking away African culture without proving any real benefits in return .
The 1891 England census finds Mrs. Kingsley - Mary's mother - and her two children living at 7 Mortimer Road, Cambridge, where Charles is recorded as a BA Student at Law and Mary as a Student of Medicine.
In her later years, Kingsley's mother became ill, and she was expected to care for her well-being. Unable to leave her mother's side, she was limited in her travel opportunities. Soon, her father was also bedridden with rheumatic fever following an excursion. Dr. Kingsley died in February 1892, and Mrs. Kingsley followed a few months later in April of the same year. "Freed" from her family responsibilities and with an inheritance of £8,600 to be split evenly with her brother, Kingsley was now able to travel as she had always dreamed. Mary decided to visit Africa, some say to finish collecting material for a book that her father had started on African culture.
After a preliminary visit to the Canary Islands, Kingsley made preparations to travel to the west coast of Africa. The only non-African women who regularly embarked on (often dangerous) journeys to Africa were usually the wives of missionaries, government officials, or explorers. Exploration and adventure were not seen as fitting roles for a Victorian woman. Even African women were astonished that a woman of Mary's age was travelling without a man, as she was frequently asked why her husband was not accompanying her.
Mary landed in Sierra Leone on 17 August 1893 and pressed on into Luanda in Angola . She lived with local people who taught her necessary skills for surviving in the African jungles, and often went into dangerous areas alone. Her training as a nurse at the Kaiserworth Medical Institute prepared her for slight injuries and jungle maladies that she would later encounter. Mary returned to England in December 1893.
Upon her return, Mary secured support and aid from Dr.Albert Günther, a prominent zoologist at the British Museum, as well as a writing agreement with publisher George Macmillan, for she wished to publish her travel accounts.
She returned to Africa yet again in December 1894 with more support and supplies, as well as increased self-assurance in her work. She longed to study 'cannibal' peoples and their traditional religious practices, commonly referred to as 'fetish' during the Victorian Era. In April, she became acquainted with Scottish missionary Mary Slessor, another female living among native populations with little company and no husband. It was during her meeting with Slessor that Kingsley first became painfully aware of the custom of twin killing, a custom Slessor was determined to stop. The native people believed that one of the twins was the offspring of the devil who had secretly mated with the mother and since the innocent child was impossible to distinguish, both were killed and the mother was often killed as well for attracting the devil to impregnate her. Kingsley arrived at Slessor's residence shortly after she had taken in a recent mother of twins and her surviving child.
