Mary Slessor Window

A dull, chilly day

In town for some business and then lunch at the McManus Gallery. In the Café, there is this magnificent memorial window to Mary Slessor.

Mary was a Scottish Presbyterian missionary to Nigeria. Once in Nigeria, Slessor learned Efik, the local language, then began teaching. She was born in Aberdeen in 1848 and moved, as a young girl, to Dundee, where she worked in one of the Jute Mills.

Against tremendous opposition and prejudice she finally fulfilled her calling to be a Missionary in Africa. She worked in remote villages and one of her major achievements was to stop families killing new born twins - the parents believed the Devil was in one of the twins but they didn't know which one.

She died aged 64, still serving far from home. She has been an inspiration to many ever since and the window is a fitting tribute.