Women travellers in Africa: Map by Friedrich Welwitsch (c. 1853–1860)

Abstract

The ‘Map of Travellers in Africa’ is a nineteenth-century manuscript produced by Friedrich Welwitsch (1806–1872), an Austrian botanist in the service of the Portuguese government. The National Museum of Natural History and Science, Lisbon, Portugal (MUHNAC) holds this document. It contains the names of travellers who worked in different parts of the African continent. Observation of the map in detail allows us to extract various kinds of information. One detail that particularly stands out is the reference to several women: Mary Elizabeth Barber, Isabella Maria Elliott, Maria Elizabeth Holland, Katharine Saunders, Alexandrine Petronella Francina Tinné, and Miss Turner. Their presence demonstrates white, largely European, women’s involvement in knowledge production, illustrating that they were considered among other famous travellers, although their work and names were often more obscure.