Family at home, Blantyre, Malawi, ca.1920-1929

"Mr McHurain [?], family and home, Blantyre, Nyasaland." ❧ Photograph of a family outside their home. Mr McHurain, wearing a suit, sits on the grass with a small dog lying across his knee his wife and daughter stand either side of him. A house with a verandah and thatched roof dominates the background and another individual stands in the open doorway. ❧ Blantyre Mission was established in 1876 in South Nyasaland by Henry Henderson (1843-1891) from here other mission stations were established at Zomba, Domasi, Chirazulu and Mlanje. Blantyre was named after the birth place of David Livingstone, in South Lanarkshire, and is famous for the ornate church built by Clement Scott. According to Stewart of Lovedale it is, ‘probably the most striking native church in all central Africa, except the cathedral at Zanzibar’. The Blantyre mission excelled in medical and education provision and encouraged the commercialisation of the area through opening trade routes and the cultivation of tobacco, and other cash, crops. ❧ This image belongs to an album of photographs collected by Dr. Stevenson and includes images from India, China and Africa.