Stanley, Sir Henry Morton, originally John Rowlands 1841-1904
British-US explorer and journalist

He was born in Denbigh, Wales. In 1859 he went as cabin boy to New Orleans, where he was adopted by a merchant named Stanley. He served in the Confederate army and US navy, contributed to several journals, and in 1867 joined the New York Herald, accompanying Lord Napier's Abyssinian expedition in 1868. In October 1869 he received from James Gordon Bennett the laconic instruction, 'Find Livingstone'; on his way he visited Egypt for the opening of the Suez Canal, and travelled through Palestine, Turkey, Persia and India. On 10 November 1871 he 'found' Livingstone at Ujiji in Tanganyika, and the two explored Lake Tanganyika. In 1872 he returned alone and published How I found Livingstone. In 1874 he returned to Africa, determined the shape of Lake Tanganyika, passed down the Lualaba to Nyangw�, and traced the Congo to the sea. Having published Through the Dark Continent (1878), in 1879 he again went out to found, under the auspices of the Belgian king, the Congo Free State, having been refused help in England. He took part in the Congo Congress in Berlin (1884-85). In March 1886 he undertook an expedition for the relief of Emin Pasha, in the course of which he discovered Lake Edward and Mount Ruwenzori (1888-89). In 1890 he married the artist, Dorothy Tennant. He was naturalized as a British subject in 1892, and sat as a Unionist for Lambeth (1895-1900).

Bibliography: Frank Hird, H M Stanley: The Authorized Life (1935)