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Home » Articles » H. M. Stanley (1841-1904), explorer and journalistH. M. Stanley (1841-1904), explorer and journalist
A collection of items relating to H. M. Stanley (1841-1904), explorer and journalist, who was born in Denbigh.
A collection of items relating to H. M. Stanley (1841-1904), explorer and journalist, who was born in Denbigh.
Sir Henry Morton Stanley (1841-1904) was born on 28 January 1841 at Denbigh. He was born John Henry Rowlands and was the illegitimate son of John Rowlands, farmer, and Elizabeth Parry. He was brought up by his grandfather but when he died in 1847, Rowlands was forced to seek refuge in St. Asaph Workhouse where he remained until May 1865. He went to Liverpool in 1868 where he found work on a ship bound for America. He left the ship at New Orleans and became acquainted with a gentleman called Henry Hope Stanley who offered him work and effectively adopted him. It was around this time that John Rowlands changed his name to Henry Stanley (eventually settling on the middle name Morton).
During the years which followed, Stanley spent a period fighting on behalf of the southern states in the American Civil War, and held a number of different jobs before finding work on a ship which was bound for Liverpool. He later returned to America and in 1865 found work as a journalist. He embarked on a period of world travel, journeying to places such as Asia, Egypt (Abyssinia) and Spain. His great break came in 1868 when he was asked to travel to Africa to interview the explorer David Livingstone. Stanley eventually found Livingstone on the banks of Lake Tanganyika in 1871 when he greeted him with the famous words 'Dr Livingstone I presume'.
In 1890 Stanley married Dorothy Tennant, daughter of Charles Tennant, a landowner from Cadoxton, near Neath. In 1899 he was made a knight of the Grand Cross. He suffered a stroke in April 1903 and died on 10 May 1904. His funeral was held at Westminster Abbey but permission was not granted for him to be buried there and he was laid to rest at Pirbright. His wife placed a granite monolith on his grave inscribed with the words 'Henry Morton Stanley, Bula Matari, 1841-1904, Africa'.
This theme contains a collection of letters which were sent by H. M. Stanley and his wife to the Reverend Cunningham Geikie, maps drawn by Stanley, as well as official documents relating to the period which he spent at St. Asaph workhouse.
