Charles Frederick Mackenzie

British clergyman

Written and fact-checked by

Britannica Editors

History

Charles Frederick Mackenzie (born April 10, 1825, Portmore, Peebles, Scot.—died Jan. 31, 1862, Malo Island, Portuguese East Africa) was a Scottish-born Anglican priest and the first bishop in the British colonial territory of Central Africa.

Mackenzie went to Africa in 1854 as archdeacon to Bishop John Colenso of Natal. There he aroused opposition among English settlers by obeying the bishop’s order to wear a surplice and sharing the bishop’s desire that African Christians participate in full equality with white Christians in all church affairs.

Illness forced Mackenzie to return to England in 1859, but, at the behest of the Universities Mission to South Africa, he returned to Africa and headed its mission in the Zambezi River region the following year, being consecrated bishop on New Year’s Day, 1861. Settling at Magomero (in modern Malâwi), Mackenzie worked for a year in the Manganja tribal territory despite constant illness, breakdowns in communications and supply lines, and involvements in local tribal warfare.