The David Livingstone Connection

Carmen D. Lade

David Livingstone was born 1813 on the island of Ulva but later moved to Blantyre on the outskirts of Glasgow for economic reasons because his father could not support his growing family on the island. So much has been written about Livingstone’s life in Scotland and in Africa where he fought to abolish slavery.

My interest in the explorer is that my great great grand mother, Ann Livingstone is said to have been somewhat related to David but I have been unable to verify this. Ann’s father is believed to have been a French soldier who died in the French wars around 1815 just prior to her being born or when Ann was a baby. A clue as to the name of Ann’s father was that her son Robert Stewart named one of his sons William Livingstone Stewart and there was a pattern in the family of naming some of their children after relatives.

Ann married a William Stewart, a cooper at Old or New Kilpatrick in 1834. They had four children, Margaret, John, Robert, and Janet.

As far as David Livingstone’s family are concerned, he had three Uncles and three Aunties. They were; Richard, Mary, John, Charles, Margaret, and Catherine.

It has been claimed by the family for several generations that Ann Livingstone’s father was a brother to David’s father which would make Ann and David cousins. No trace of Ann can be found in the records of David’s family tree which was obtained from the David Livingstone Centre in Blantyre Scotland. It is also by no means certain that the famous explorer’s full family tree has been completed however as records are incomplete prior to 1855. Is it just possible that Ann’s father’s father was David Livingstone’s grand father’s brother? The family tree of the explorer is incomplete and there is not much information about his grand parents and beyond.

As for Ann’s father having fought in the French wars, I have found some Livingstone’s who fought and died in these wars around 1815 but no family information has been listed in their details. As was mentioned earlier, it is possible that Ann’s father was a William Livingstone. On researching a military website I have found a couple of William Livingstone’s who fought in the French wars but no details on their family is listed.

As new information is added to ancestry websites the vital missing piece in our family tree will no doubt be brought to the surface at some stage. In the meantime the search continues.

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