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Name: LAST, Joseph Thomas
Birth Date: 25.12.1848 Tuddenham, Suffolk
Death Date: 13.12.1933 Shortlands, Kent
Nationality: British
First Date: 1874
Profession: CMS missionary, roadmaker, Judge, fossil collector
Area: Mpwapwa, travelled extensively inland, Zanzibar, Ngongo
Married: In Sudbury 1887 Mary Catherine Mulholland b. 1862 Holloway, London, d. 19 Dec 1936 Shortlands, Kent
Children: Mary Edith Elvina (31 May 1888 Stamford Hill-1968); Thomas William Lloyd (1895 Bredfield); Joseph Spurrier (1898 Stratford on Avon); Kathleen Victoria ( 22.6.1900 Ramsden Heath, Essex-1998); Amina Geraldine (13.2.1902 Zanzibar-1999); Thomas Martin Edward (30.12.1905 Bredfield)
Book Reference: EAHB 1905, EAHB 1906, EAHB 1904, Masonic, Gillett, Thomson, Drumkey, IBEA, UJ, CMS, North, EA Diary 1903, EAHB 1907, Ujiji
General Information:
North - Formerly layman with CMS at Mamboia in Unyamwesi c. 1883; dep. Mombasa with IBEA Co. caravan to Baringo 18/10/1888; had left IBEA Co. & in service of Sultan of Zanzibar 1894; Awarded the Order of Hamondieh, 2nd Class by Sultan of Zanzibar 20/6/1897; Govt. Commissioner Slavery Dept. Zanzibar Feb 1897; wife dep. Zanzibar for England 23/4/1897; Zanzibar March 1898;
IBEA - General Africa Staff - Appointed 16th August 1888 - J.T. Last
Uganda Journal - Vol. 28, p. 100 - Joseph Thomas Last had a remarkable career which would justify a fuller monograph. He was a CMS lay missionary who went out to Mombasa in 1874, returning in 1876. He was re-engaged in November 1877 to occupy Mpwapwa as a CMS station on the only road open to Lake Victoria and Uganda. This was achieved by a party consisting of Dr. E.J. Baxter, A.J. Copplestone, J. Henry and himself by May 1878; later he established Mamboia station where he remained until 1884, when he retired from the CMS. In 1885-6 he led a Royal Geographical Society expedition to the Namuli Hills in Portuguese East Africa, and in 1888 joined the IBEA Company, transferring to the Zanzibar Government service in 1894. Here he did outstanding work on road-building, as Slavery Commissioner, and finally as Collector of Zanzibar. He retired in 1909 and died at Shortlands, Kent, in 1933 aged 86. CMS 1874 - Age 25. Of Tuddenham, Suffolk. 1872 at CM College. 1874, Oct 8 to Kisulutini, EA. 1876 May to England and connexion closed, Oct 17. 1877, Nov 8 re-engaged and appointed to Mpwapwa, Usagara Mission. 1880 Founded new Station at Mamboia. 1884, Dec 1 to England after 7 years continuous residence in EA. Afterwards in service of RGS and IBEA Co. in Zanzibar. Married 1880 Sept 16, Annie Jackson who died at Mamboia March 10 1883; first European lady to reside in Nyanza Mission. Penetrated with her husband into the Nguru country. He died Dec 13, 1933 at Shortlands Kent. CMS Archives - G/Y A5/1/8 - Correspondence regarding J.T. Last 1881-1887 - Letters are included from J. Roscoe to the Secretary in London accusing J.T. Last of taking an African wife after his first wife died. Included also is a long account of the evidence against J.T. Last. Ujiji - 1878 Mpwapwa - a lay member of the CMS in East Africa from 1874 to 1884. His main center of labour was at Mamboia. After leaving the CMS because of criticisms of his way of life at Mamboia, Last led several expeditions for the Royal Geographical Society and the Imperial British East Africa Company. In 1897, following the legal abolition of slavery in Zanzibar, he became Commissioner of Slavery for the island government.
Thomson - Sept. 1883 - Ngongo - mention of energetic missionaries Messrs Last & Baxter.
Masonic - Lodge Harmony Nairobi consecrated 1st May 1905 by Worshipful Bro. J.I. Last ?
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