Royal Geographical Society, David Livingstone’s Bearers’ Reward, silver medal, 1874, by Wyon, bust of Livingstone three-quarters right, with ‘David Livingstone. Born 1813. Died, Ilala, 1873’ around, reverse inscribed, ‘Presented by the Royal Geographical Society of London 1874’, 37mm. (Hassen Wadi Safar, Faithful to the End), original silver claw and ring suspension, minor official correction to ‘Hassen’, minor scuffs and surface scratches, nearly extremely fine and rare £1000-1200

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, The Richard Magor Collection of Medals Relating to India and Africa, and other Fine Awards.

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Just 60 of these Medals were struck.

Hassen Wadi Safar was one of the 56 porters sent to Livingstone by Stanley in 1872. He later served as a Chief on Stanley’s Anglo-American Expedition 1874-77, but became insane and got lost on 26 July 1877, thus never receiving his Royal Geographical Society Medal.

The story of the missionary and explorer David Livingstone is one of the great epic tales of the Victorian age. Beginning in 1841, his career of African exploration was divided into three phases, the high point of the final chapter - to locate the source of the Nile - being his historic meeting with H. M. Stanley at Ujiji on 10 November 1871. After spending four months together, Stanley left Livingstone on 14 March 1872 at Unyanyembe (Tabora) where he remained until the 56 native porters and fresh supplies which Stanley had sent up from the coast arrived to reinforce the expedition. Reaching Lake Tanganyika in October, Livingstone then made for Lake Bangweulu but by the time he arrived there in February 1873, he was seriously ill. Pressing on despite rapidly deteriorating health, towards the end of April he could go no further; his servants built a hut to shelter him at Ilala where he died in the early morning of 1 May. After three days of mourning, his bearers decided unanimously to embalm their master’s body and take it back down to the coast from whence it could be returned to England for burial. Going first to Unyanyembe, where they rested for a month, relays of porters carried the body through swamp, desert and forest, eventually reaching the port of Bagamoyo in February 1874.

On 18 April 1874, David Livingstone was laid to rest in Westminster Abbey and on 22 June of the same year the Council of the Royal Geographical Society resolved to award a special medal to all those native servants who had carried Livingstone’s body halfway across Africa in the previous year. Commissioned from Wyon’s, 60 silver medals were struck and sent to Zanzibar for distribution. By the time they arrived at the end of June 1875, most of Livingstone’s bearers had long since dispersed, including 33 who had joined Stanley’s Anglo-American Expedition 1874-77. In due course, however, many of the recipients received their medals and the details are contained in the archives of the Royal Geographical Society in London.

For further information and a full roll, see the article entitled Faithful to the End by Pridmore and Simpson, in Spink’s Numismatic Circular, May, 1970.