Page 62 - 2020 SoMJ Vol 73 No 2_Neat

Notes on the Death of Anna Marie Hlawaczek 53

photos taken of her walking in Mulanje evidently finding their way to Europe and
beyond. The press cuttings that Jo sent to me included:
• The Graphic (UK) – 6th January 1894 – a 40-line article headed ‘A Lady
Explorer’ plus an engraving of the famous photo. (It should be noted that
the publication date of the article was before the death was formally
registered by John Bell on 7th February 1894). The paper acknowledged
that the photo had been provided by T H Lloyd, Surveyor to the British
Central African Administration. The version of events surrounding her
death portrayed in the newspaper article differed in some ways to the
narrative depicted above, notably there being no hint of the supposed
poor treatment she had received from the colonial establishment.
• The Gazette, Fort Worth Texas – 6th May 1894 – small note
• The Saint Paul Globe from Saint Paul, Minnesota – 6th May 1894 – a 20
line note within a longer article on African explorers. This intriguingly
ended with the words. ‘She left copious journals which will soon be
published’.
• Yorkshire Evening Post - May 29th, 1894 – small ten-line note
• Scottish Geographical Magazine – May 1894 – brief six-line note
• Journal Des Voyages – October 28th, 1894 – longish article by ‘A
Pilgrim’ entitled ‘Mme Hlawaczek au Zambeze’ under the overall
heading ‘Les Exploratrices Contemporaines’.
• Marburger Beitung – 29th June 1895. The article on the front page of
this paper gave considerable detail about Anna Marie’s life before she
set out on her last journey.
These articles and snippets indicated that Anna Marie’s death in Mulanje had
caused a ripple of interest in the western world, even if she had then quickly been
forgotten.
This wealth of new information from Jo inspired me to revisit ‘Miss H’
and to dig a bit deeper than I had done previously. This bore fruit in the form of
Cullen Young’s letter (in the SOM Library), the BCA Gazette of 1894 (In the
National Archives in Zomba) and the Blantyre Mission Magazines of 1893 (In the
Cambridge University Library).
I have remained in touch with Jo May and she has been unfailingly
helpful and encouraging. Jo knows much about Anna Marie’s eventful and
colourful life before she set off on her long walk from Cape Town. I hope that in
due course she publishes what she knows and thereby creates further interest in
the remarkable Anna Marie who is surely fully deserving of a full-scale biography.