Elizabeth Mantell

During his second marriage to Barbara Ann "Bannie" Lyall from Macduff, Elizabeth and two other siblings were born - Harry (1939) and Helen (1944).

Mantell's family lived in Abercorn (present day Mbala) where her father was stationed from 1939 until his retirement in 1951.

Elizabeth Barbara Mantell (24 June 1941 – 27 January 1998) was a Scottish midwife and nurse who was born in Africa and spent much of her life as a medical missionary in Malawi, Africa.

Her story is part of the Scotland-Malawi partnership and the strong relationship between the two countries, providing service for the under-serviced hospitals in Mulanje and Ekwendeni.

Mantell was best known for her significant contribution to the development of the Ekwendeni Nurses' Training School in Malawi, practicing holistic care, and being one of the pioneering female medical missionaries of the latter 20th Century.

Elizabeth Mantell was born on 24 June 1941 in Kasama, Northern Rhodesia (Present-day Zambia).

Her father, Henry Percy Mantell, was of English and Welsh background and worked for the African Lakes Corporation.

In 1946 after World War II the family returned to Macduff, in Scotland.

Her father went back to Northern Rhodesia four months later.

She and her mother and siblings remained in Scotland before returning to Abercorn in 1947.

After her father's retirement in 1951, Mantell and her family settled back in Scotland for much of her childhood.

She was not an innate scholar, but did have a passion for hockey and always wanted to be a nurse as a young girl.

She was a member of Macduff Girl Guides, sparking her love for the outdoors and gaining skills for her future endeavours in Malawi.

During her first trip to Scotland, Elizabeth Mantell completed a year in Macduff Infant School.

Upon returning to Northern Rhodesia, she began her formal education as a student in her mother's home-school in Abercorn which grew to have about 20 students.

After moving back to Scotland, she was later enrolled at Macduff Primary School and Banff Academy.

She later studied at St Colm's College in Edinburgh, the Church of Scotland's missionary training college, where she obtained the knowledge appropriate for being a missionary in Africa.

On 1 August 1960 Mantell began her nursing career at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary where she became a state registered nurse.

In the next year she qualified as a midwife at Queen Charlotte's Maternity Hospital in London.

She was accepted to work as a missionary Malawi and in 1966 at the age of 25, Mantell returned to Africa to begin missionary service.

Following a semester at St. Colms, in 1966 the Church of Scotland's Overseas Council sent Mantell to Mulanje, a town located in the southern region of Malawi.

This area was in desperate need for nurses and had a hospital that was expanded to have multiple wards and over 60 beds.

At first Mantell was unsure of the duration of her service remarking in the Evening Express,"'I do two years out there for a start. At the moment I don't know if I'll be staying on longer or not!'"From 1966 to 1971, Mantell was responsible for about 150 deliveries a month and thousands of women in various clinics.

During this time, she served as Midwifery Sister, taught student nurses, and became fluent in Chichewa.

When caring for her mother in Macduff in 1971, she worked as District Nurse in Macduff, Banff, and the surrounding area.

After further study, she qualified as a Clinical Tutor in Midwifery and earned her community nursing qualification.

She used this nursing knowledge when focusing her profession on missionary work.

Mantell focused a large part of her life on her religion and the Macduff Parish Church, an organization of Protestant denomination.

Mantell was a very active member of the church, and her faith was a very important part of her life.

During her time at the Church of Scotland, Mantell took on the leadership role of ordination to eldership of Kirk Session, served as representative elder to Buchan Presbytery, and led teen Bible classes.

Additionally, during her missionary service Mantell was a part of the Nurses' Christian Fellowship.

This was a prime example of the importance of holistic care to Mantell, as the group taught girls to appreciate their faith in addition to learning nursing skills.

Elizabeth Mantell was never married and had no children.

Elizabeth Mantell's start to missionary service was mainly fuelled by two things: her love for Africa and her self-proclaimed religious calling.

After growing up as a young girl in Africa, Mantell had fond memories of her time there and was eager to return to her country of birth.

Additionally, she felt the call of God while working in the Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, seeing it as her religious duty to aid the sick in Africa.

Mantell returned to Macduff in 1971 after the death of her father so that she could care for her mother who was becoming increasingly forgetful.

Mantell ended up staying in Scotland for 10 years until her mother died in October 1980 at the age of 80.

While on her leave of absence, Mantell remained in the missionary and academic circles through her academic talks.

These talks included slides, visible in the National Library of Scotland, on her work in Malawi covering schools, church, nurses, and visits to Zomba.