“Dr Livingstone, I presume?” Story of famous explorer to be told at history evening near Banbury

Lecturer and writer Fran Sandham will tell the story behind the famous meeting between explorer Dr David Livingstone and Henry Stanley at the next Hornton History Group presentation.

A spokesperson for the group said: “Everyone is invited and you will learn the real story behind the legendary meeting in Africa in 1871 between the missing explorer and the ambitious journalist Henry Stanley, and why his four words became the most famous greeting in history.”

Livingstone and Stanley met in the town of Ujiji, in modern-day Tanzania, on the shores of Lake Tanganyika.

At the time, Livingstone had been missing for four years and had lost all contact with Europe while searching for the source of the River Nile.

Stanley had been sent by the New York Herald to track down the celebrated Scottish explorer.

The American journalist is said to have located Livingstone, who was critically ill, at a bustling trading post.

It was there that Stanley is said to have uttered the now-legendary words, “Dr Livingstone, I presume?”, to which Livingstone reportedly replied: “Yes, and I feel thankful that I am here to welcome you.”

Several films and television programmes have been made about the famous meeting between the two, including Stanley and Livingstone in 1939 and Forbidden Territory in 1997.

The history evening will take place at 7.30pm on Thursday, October 15, at St John’s Church in Hornton.