Welcome to the David Livingstone Birthplace

The project will relaunch the David Livingstone Birthplace site and re-interpret his story for a new generation, telling his life-story from multiple perspectives, from his humble beginnings as a Blantyre mill-worker to becoming a world famous adventurer.

The David Livingstone Birthplace is the only small independent museum in Scotland that is dedicated not only to preserving the legacy of David Livingstone, but importantly examining his work within the complex and painful realities of slavery, colonialism and Nineteenth Century European attitudes about Africans.

This puts the museum in a unique position to be central to discussions around Scotland’s role in slavery and colonisation and how that is represented both in our interpretation of David Livingstone’s story and the objects we hold within the museum. We embrace that position, and are committed to challenging unconscious bias, privilege, apathy and ignorance. We consider all of this in relation to understanding Scottish heritage, missionary work, colonial history, and specifically with regard to the untold and contested narratives relating to Black history.