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The old African queen lending a hand to improve health in Malawi

Donald A Howarth
Med J Aust 2015; 202 (7): . || doi: 10.5694/mja14.00009
Published online: 20 April 2015

A doctor who founded a nation's medical system, and the many lives of his ship

Not long after the explorer, medical missionary and anti-slavery campaigner, Dr David Livingstone, explored Lake Nyasa, now Lake Malawi, a wave of evangelising zeal saw the establishment of religious communities along the lake shore. One of those who went forth was an Anglican priest, Chauncy Maples. After 19 years, he was recalled to England to be appointed the Bishop of Nyasaland. It was on his return journey that the small vessel carrying him across the lake sank, and he drowned, weighed down by his bishop's cassock.




Correspondence: donald.howarth@rcswa.edu.au

Acknowledgements: 

I thank Dean Smith for the recent photograph of the Chauncy Maples on the hard.

Competing interests:

No relevant disclosures.

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