James Stewart (missionary and physician)
| James Stewart | |
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| Born |
14 February 1831 Edinburgh, Scotland |
| Died | 21 December 1905 (aged 74) Lovedale, South Africa |
| Fields | Medicine, education, theology |
| Education | Royal High School, Perth Academy, University of Gaslow |
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James Stewart (14 February 1831 – 21 December 1905) was a principal, physician, and a missionary, both a medical and religious one. He was born in Edinburgh, Scotland on February 14, 1831. At the age of 15 he decided that he wanted to be a missionary. He became a missionary in February 1865 for the Free Church Presbytery of Glasgow. He was a theological student who also had medical training. Stewart was described by some as “more as a friend than as a doctor” towards his patients. Many people view him as a pioneer in medical missions for his founding of the hospital in Lovedale, starting a medical school, and developing the founding scheme of the South African Native College, now the University of Fort Hare.
Stewart grew up with both his mother and father, but his mother died while he was a teenager and his father remarried. His mother was part of the Dudgeon sept of the Noresmen. His mother was thought to be a major influence in Stewart’s life from whom he received his love and appreciation for beauty. He was a cab proprietor and later ran a farm called Pictstonhill. He was a very religious man and influenced Stewart towards missionary work. Stewart had a desire from a young age to go to Africa. He told his cousin, “I shall never be satisfied till I am in Africa with a Bible in my pocket, and a rifle on my shoulder to supply my wants.” From a very young age, James Stewart knew what he wanted to do with his life: be a missionary in Africa.
Stewart was educated at the Royal High School, Edingburgh as well as Perth Academy. He graduated from the University of Glasgow in 1866 and began his study of medicine in Edinburgh. This education was interrupted when he traveled to central Africa for missionary work. There he learned about African medicine. He then resumed his studies at Glasgow and graduated from there in 1866. He earned an M.B. and C.M. and graduated with distinctions in surgery, material medical, and forensic medicine.
“The real African is not the thoughtless, laughter-loving, untrainable savage, or typical Quashee of works of fiction, or the 'half child' that so many, even of the present day, take him to be. Nor is he the wholly docile, teachable, and plastic creature of whom anything can be made when looked at with purely philanthropic eyes. In reality, he is quite a different sort of bein, stronger and more diffiuclt to shape, though lighthearted and good-humored generally”
On August 13, 1861, James Stewart traveled to Cape Town with Livingstone's wife. On his first journey there, he became ill with a fever. When he arrived in Africa he teamed up with David Livingstone, a Scottish missionary who was a national hero in Britain for his medical work. Stewart soon returned to Europe to complete his education, then returned to Lovedale in South Africa in 1867 after marrying his wife, Mina Stephen.
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Wikipedia