ABSTRACT
The wives of missionaries filled the traditional roles as providers of conjugal comfort and as homemakers. David Livingstone, married to Mary the daughter of Robert and Mary Moffat, was conscious of the importance of a wife for both these functions. Missionaries were encouraged to take their wives with them for a variety of other reasons. Their presence could be interpreted by the host society as an indicator of peaceful intention and this gave the missionaries hope that they would be received as friends. In effect, missionary wives were not only ‘married to the job’ but they were often married for the job; when a young missionary wife died her widower would seek a replacement, very often from within the wider family circle of missionaries. Christina Coillard was an outstanding example of a nineteenth-century woman, a committed Christian, who, attracted to mission following a youthful encounter with Robert Moffat, realised her vocation through marriage.
