Alexander Hetherwick CBE (1860–1939) was a Scottish minister remembered as a missionary in Africa.[1] Based in Blantyre, Nyasaland he wrote extensively on local languages and also was a competent map-maker. W. P. Livingstone described him as a "Prince of Missionaries".[2]
Life
Plaque to Rev Alexander Hetherwick, Kirk of St Nicholas, Aberdeen
He was born in Savoch in Aberdeenshire on 12 April 1860. He originally studied Mathematics at Aberdeen University but after graduation (around 1880) decided to train for the ministry, despite having the highest marks in Mathematics.[3]
Blantyre missionaries: L to R Back Row:Frank Bowman, Mrs McFarland, Mr and Mrs Currie, Mr Armitage, Mr Wyllie, Miss Beck, Stuart Bowman, Mrs ???, Miss Priest, Mr Baird. L to R Front Row:Miss ?ow?, Mr R M McFarland, Miss McNab, Alexander Hetherwick. May Hetherwick (child standing), Elizabeth Hetherwick, Mrs Burnett (and Ian in front), Miss Anna Fange?
He was ordained by the Church of Scotland in the Kirk of St Nicholas in Aberdeen in 1883. He requested transfer to do missionary work in Africa in 1885 and moved to the mission in Blantyre in what is now known as Malawi. He was charged with working with the then hostile tribes of the Zomba plateau. He was a speaker at the International Mission Conference in London in 1888. In 1898 he succeeded Rev David Clement Scott as head of the Blantyre mission.[4]
In 1893 he married Elizabeth Chisholm who he had met as a member of the Scotts' household. Elizabeth was the widow of George Fenwick had been killed after he had murdered the Makololo chief Chipatula.[5] David and Bella Scott had taken Elizabeth into their home. Elizabeth had previosly been a missionary and she had again become a valued teacher at the mission.[6]
Ordination of Malawi’s first African Presbyterian Minister, Rev Harry Kambwiri Matecheta, 9 March 1911, Hetherwick at centre with Matecheta to his right.
He retired in 1928 and returned to Aberdeen.[7] Hetherwick showed his pugnacious character when he criticised W. P. Livingstone for his inaccuracy[8] in his 1921 biography of Robert Laws.[9] Hetherwick thought that Livingstone was incorrect in his recounting how Henry Henderson had chosen the site at Blantyre for the mission. He called Livingstone's account a travesty.[8] W. P. Livingstone wrote Hetherwick's biography in 1931 in which he called him a "Prince of Missionaries".[2]
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