Robert Moffat (21 December 1795 – 9 August 1883) was a Scottish Congregationalist missionary to Africa from 1817 to 1870.
Moffat began his missionary career in South Africa at the age of twenty-one. Moffat was married to Mary Moffat. Their daughter was Mary Moffat Livingstone and their son-in-law was David Livingstone, an explorer and missionary who often worked with Moffat and his missionary efforts at various stations in southern Africa. While doing missionary work at the mission at Kuruman, Moffat was the first to translate and have the Bible printed into the Sechuana language. While in Africa, Moffat devoted much of his time to preaching the gospel and discussing the Bible, and also taught many of the natives how to read and write. Moffat's missionary career in Africa spanned a total of fifty-four years.
Family and early life
Moffat was born of humble parentage in Ormiston, in Scotland. Robert received an intermittent education.Elbourne, 2004, p. 495 In 1797 his father received an appointment in the Custom House at Portsoy. In 1806 Moffat's home was at Carronshore, on the Firth of Forth. At this time the family consisted of five sons and two daughters. Moffat's first teacher was William Mitchell, also known as "Wully Mitchell," who was the parish schoolmaster. He was considered a stern teacher and would rap Robert on the knuckles if he slacked off in his schooling.J. Moffat, 1885, p. 2 Moffat's first instruction book was The Shorter Catechism, which contained the alphabet in its title page.Deane, 1880, pp. 18-19 At an early age Moffat left school to work on a coasting vessel. He gave up his job at sea and returned to school, and at the age of eleven he took up residence with his older brother Alexander and attended six more months of school.Smith, 1921, pp. 544-548
Moffat began to appreciate a more liberal education, and managed his work schedule as to allow him to attend an evening class, where he began to study Latin, and also acquired a rudimentary knowledge of applied geometry. During this apprenticeship he learned to use blacksmith's tools, which would later prove to be of value to him. After work he took up practicing and became skilled on the violin, which he would later become known for during his years in Africa.Wilder, 1887, p. 10Northcott, 1961, p. 18Hubbard, 1917, p. 15
At the age of sixteen, Moffat found employment in the gardens of the Earl of Moray at Donibristle.Clinton, 1958, p. 9 In 1813, he moved to Manchester, England and worked under John Smith, a merchant. Here he met Mary Smith, who would later become his wife.Ross, 1998, pp. 464-465 In 1814, whilst employed at West Hall, High Legh in Cheshire he experienced difficulties with his employer due to his Methodist sympathies. For a short period, after having applied successfully to the London Missionary Society (LMS) he took an interim post as a farmer, at Plantation Farm in Dukinfield (where he first met Mary his future wife). The job had been found for him by William Roby, who took Moffat under his wing for a year. Besides his early training as a gardener and farmer, and later as a writer, Moffat developed skills in building, carpentry, printing and as a blacksmith. Moffat also attended the religious services of Reverend Robert Caldwell.
Moffat's mother read to him stories of the courage of the Moravian and other early missionaries. This is when he received his first aspirations towards a missionary career. The thought and desire of actually going abroad as a missionary, however, did not occur until after his conversion, which occurred when he reached twenty years of age.Du Plessis, 1911, p. 154 In 1813 he secured a post in the gardens of Charles Legh, at High Legh in Cheshire, and after bidding goodbye to his mother, who made him promise to read a chapter of the Bible morning and evening.
Robert and Mary Moffat had ten children, two of whom they adopted while in Africa: Their children included their daughter, Mary (who married David Livingstone), Ann and Robert (who died as an infant), Robert Jr. (who died at the age of 87, leaving an uncompleted, but published, work on the Tswana language),Moffat, Robert, Jr., 1864 Helen, Elizabeth (who also died as an infant), James, John, Elizabeth and Jean. Their son John Smith Moffat became an LMS missionary and took over the running of the mission at Kuruman before entering colonial service. Their grandson Howard Unwin Moffat became a prime minister of Southern Rhodesia. Mary preceded Robert in death in 1871, at home in England where they had returned because of failing health. The couple also adopted children, John Mokoteri and Sarah Roby.National Galleries of Scotland
In 1825 Mary had lost an infant son who died at only five days old. Soon after she was informed by one of the native missionary workers that an infant native baby, whose mother had just died, was customarily buried under some rocks at a nearby hillside. Alarmed, Mary demanded, "show me the place". She was led to a hillside, carefully removed the rocks, and found the five-week-old infant crying. Grief-stricken she embraced the infant and brought it home. Her husband Robert, wondering why his wife had not attended services that day, came home to find that Mary had steadfastly adopted the child. Asking what they would name the child, Robert suggested Sarah. Mary added, "and Roby", after the woman who had informed Mary of the infant's plight. The child was subsequently christened, Sarah Roby.Clinton, 1958, pp. 58-59
Missionary career
Background: In January, 1806, the long Orange River which traverses Namibia and South Africa was first crossed by missionaries of the London Missionary Society, for the purpose of doing missionary work and preaching the Gospel among the inhabitants of a wild and desolate region, often subjected to drought and subsequent food shortages, compounded by frequent tribal wars. Before the missionaries arrived the peoples of this region were often subjected to the plights of European sailors and opportunists which overall effected a hatred and mistrust towards any white man (called "hat-wearers" by the inhabitants). Through their persistence the missionaries were in large measure able to overcome such indifference and won their trust through their missionary efforts.Moffat, 1846, pp. 18-19
By September 1816, Moffat was formally commissioned at Surrey Chapel, Southwark in London as a missionary of LMS (on the same day as John Williams) and was sent out to South Africa.Deane, 1880, p. 142 He made the eighty-six day voyage from England to Cape Town aboard the sailing ship Alacrity, arriving in the sweltering heat of January, which was midsummer in South Africa.Clinton, 1958, p. 15 His fiancée, Mary Smith (1795–1870), was able to join him three years later.
In 1817 Moffat earned a name for himself when he managed to convert to Christianity Jager Afrikaner, who previously was a notorious bandit and cattle rustler who often terrorized other tribes. Through the appeals and efforts of Moffat, Jager was subsequently baptized and subsequently assumed the name of Christian Afrikaner.Deane, 1880, p. 16
Moffat and his wife left the Cape in 1820 and proceeded to Griquatown, where their daughter Mary (who was later to marry David Livingstone) was born. The family later settled at Kuruman, to the north of the Vaal River, among the Batswana people. Here they lived and worked passionately for the missionary cause, enduring many hardships. Once he went for days without water and his mouth became so dry he was unable to speak. Often, he bound his stomach to help him endure fasting when he could not find food to eat.Sunday School Times, Summer Quarter, 2006, p. 156 During this period, Robert Moffat made frequent journeys into the neighbouring regions as far north as the Matabele country. He communicated the results of these journeys to the Royal Geographical Society (Journal 25-38 and Proceedings ii). Whilst in Britain on leave (1839–43) an account of the family's experience, Missionary Labours and Scenes in South Africa (1842) was published. He translated the whole of the Bible and The Pilgrim's Progress into Bechuanas, although these translations are today sometimes considered less than adequate and relying on many colonial and cultural assumptions about the Tswana language.Comaroff, Jean and Comaroff, John L. (1989) The colonization of consciousness in South Africa. Economy and Society. 18(3): 267-296. Moffat's task of translating English into Sechwana presented him with its own unique problems. There were no words in Sechwana for “reading” or “‘writing”’ or “book” or “‘pencil’’ or “letter”, and there was nothing in that language on which he could draw parallels. He had to construct totally new words for these ideas, which were hitherto completely foreign to their culture. Moffat's progress along these lines were greater than that of the natives and served to further compound an effort that was already difficult.Western-Holt, 1954, p. 57
During a tribal war, before learning the Sechwana language, Moffat intervened and established peace between the two warring tribes, which earned him gratitude among the native peoples and acclaim and notoriety among his missionary colleagues, both in Africa and in England.Hammond, 2002, p. 87 Moffat journeyed along the Kolong river, and found large groups of attentive readers who were in great want of books, which he could hardly supply. He came upon a village, one hundred and fifty miles from Kuruman, where a chief named Mosheu and his people resided. Mosheu had formally visited the Kuruman mission previously.Moffatt, 1846, p., 270-271 Here Moffat preached three times to this tribe on the first day. At the gatherings Moffat answered questions to a people who reportedly were anxious to learn to read, reciting over and again what they had heard. Mosheu generously had given Moffat and his congregation a sheep the evening before, and the wives of the tribesmen made efforts to provide milk. To meet their wants, Moffat distributed spelling books among them.Deane, 1880, p. 99 Moffat made great progress in introducing Christianity to the people in this region. Chief Mosheu brought his daughter to Mrs. Moffat for instruction, and his brother brought his son for the same purpose.Moffat, 1846, pp. 99-100, 279, 279
Construction for a place of worship began in 1830 with the laying of a foundation, but Moffat had great difficulty in securing the lumber needed for its construction, and subsequently the church was not completed until several years later.Davidson, 1926, p. 51
In 1838 Moffat published his work, Scenes and Adventures in Africa in four editions over three years. The work comprehensively described the living conditions, hardships, customs of the people, and wildlife in southern Africa. Through his work, Moffat became the best-known missionary in Britain.Moffat, 1842
Translating and printing the Bible
One of Moffat's foremost efforts in his missionary work was spreading the word of the Gospel among the native peoples in southern Africa. To accomplish this feat he had to learn the Sechuana language, involving several years of study with the help of various translators. As a translator Moffat was an admirer of Johannes van der Kemp (1747-1811), who was gifted in his ability to learn and translate African languages, and one of the first of three pioneers of the London Missionary Society in southern Africa who learned and translated native languages.Mkenda, 2018, p. 60