Mary Slessor

Mary Mitchell Slessor was a Scottish missionary to Nigeria. Her work and strong personality allowed her to be trusted and accepted by the locals while spreading Christianity, protecting native children and promoting womens rights. She is credited with having stopped the killing of twins among the Efik, a particular ethnic group in Nigeria.

Mary Slessor was born onDecember 1848 in Gilcomston, Aberdeen, Scotland in a poor workingclass family. She was the second of seven children of Robert and Mary Slessor. Her father, originally from Buchan, was a shoemaker by trade. In 1859, the family moved to Dundee in search of work. Robert Slessor was an alcoholic and, unable to keep up shoemaking, took a job as a labourer in a mill. Her mother, a skilled weaver, also went to work in the mills. At the age of eleven, Mary began work as a halftimer in the Baxter Brothers Mill, meaning she spent half of her day at a school provided by the mill owners and the other half working for the company.

Source: Wikipedia