Historedia
AmericasEvent

James Gordon Bennett Jr. commissions Henry Morton Stanley to find Livingstone

When
1869
Where
New York City
Episodes
1

In 1869, James Gordon Bennett Jr., publisher of the New York Herald, commissioned Henry Morton Stanley to locate the missing explorer David Livingstone. This commission occurred after Bennett assumed control of the newspaper in 1867. Stanley, a journalist known for aggressive reporting, eventually found Livingstone in 1871, fulfilling the Herald's mission to secure exclusive news.

Episodes

  1. 1869 · New York City1869 Commission to Find Livingstone

    James Gordon Bennett Jr. commissioned Henry Morton Stanley to find David Livingstone on behalf of the New York Herald.

Background and detail

Background. James Gordon Bennett Jr. took control of the New York Herald in April 1867. The paper had a reputation for sensational reporting and aggressive news-gathering. Stanley had previously worked as a journalist, filing a report on the Battle of Magdala in 1868 that was the first to be published. The Herald's commission of Stanley to find Livingstone followed these developments.

The Commission. The New York Herald sent Henry Morton Stanley to find David Livingstone in 1869. Stanley was a Welsh-American explorer and journalist. The commission was funded by the Herald, though Bennett Jr. later delayed sending promised money, forcing Stanley to borrow funds from the United States Consul before his departure.

Livingstone's Status. David Livingstone, a Scottish doctor and missionary, was in Africa during this period. In 1869, he began the year extremely ill in the jungle. His location was unknown to the outside world, prompting the Herald's decision to dispatch Stanley to locate him.

People involved

Sources

  1. The New York Herald Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-20
  2. David Livingstone Wikipedia, revision of 2026-10-05
  3. Henry Morton Stanley Wikipedia, revision of 2026-10-04

Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.