Mantell, Elizabeth Barbara (missionary in Malawi)
Dates
- Existence: 1941-1998. - 1998
Biography
Elizabeth Mantell was born in Kasama, Zambia. Her father was employed by the African Lakes Corporation, and Elizabeth spent the early part of her childhood in Macduff, Scotland with her mother and siblings, her father joining the family there after his retirement in 1951.
In 1960, Elizabeth trained as a registered nurse in Aberdeen, qualifying as a midwife in London the following year. After several years of nursing in the UK, she was accepted as a medical missionary in Malawi. After a brief period of training at St Colm’s Missionary College, Edinburgh, her first appointment was to Mlanje, in southern Malawi, where she served from 1966-1971.
After her father’s death in 1971, Elizabeth returned to Scotland to care for her mother, until her death a decade later. In 1983, Elizabeth was again accepted by the Church of Scotland, this time to Ekwendeni Mission Hospital in northern Malawi. She worked as a midwife and tutor in midwifery, and was the first Principal of the Ekwendeni College of Health Sciences from 1983 until 1996.
Elizabeth fell ill in 1996, and returned to Scotland for medical care. She died in January 1998.
Found in 2 Collections and/or Records:
Papers of Elizabeth Mantell, medical missionary and midwife in Malawi, including letters to her parents, her diaries, and draft reports; also included are diaries of Ruth Mantell, Elizabeth's sister, relating to her visits to Malawi.
The papers consist of surviving letters of Elizabeth Mantell to her parents, her diaries covering both periods she spent nursing in Malawi, copies of her mission partner reports collected by her sister, Ruth, and a few ephemeral items.
The letters and diaries are detailed and discuss general life and the family, but also describe Elizabeth’s work in the hospitals. Ruth visited her sister in Malawi on a number of occasions, and her diaries from those visits are included.
Photographic slides of Elizabeth Mantell, missionary in Malawi.
Elizabeth worked as a Church of Scotland missionary nurse in Mlanje Mission, Malawi 1966-1971, then as a sister tutor in Ekwendeni Mission, Malawi 1983-1996. Elizabeth used this set of annotated slides to illustrate talks on her work in Malawi which she gave when home on furlough. Subjects covered include schools, nurses, the church and visits to Zomba. `Grace sufficient` by Rev. David J. Randall, published in 2009, tells the story of Elizabeth`s life.