Kinkasa
(1875-1888), Student of The Congo Institute, Colwyn BaySitter in 1 portrait
Kinkasa was born in Congo, West Africa. He became a student of Reverend William Hughes (1856-1924), a Baptist missionary and teacher who was sent to work in the Congo by the Baptist Missionary Society in 1882. Forced to return three years later due to ill-health, Hughes was accompanied by a Kinkasa, aged 11, and another student Nkanza, aged 8, back to England. Together they toured Welsh chapels to lecture and raise funds for more missionary work. Hughes, now married, settled in Colwyn Bay with a view of founding a training school. The concept of the Institution was a simple one. Instead of white missionaries going to Africa, promising young African converts would be bought to Britain to be instructed and trained to ready them for a number of professions whilst living in a Christian society. Kinkasa was to be one of the first students but died of 'Congo sleeping sickness' on 3rd May 1888, soon after his arrival in Colwyn Bay, he was 12 years old. The Congo Training Institution opened in 1889.
Comments back to top
We are currently unable to accept new comments, but any past comments are available to read below.
If you need information from us, please use our Archive enquiry service . Please note that we cannot provide valuations. You can buy a print or greeting card of most illustrated portraits. Select the portrait of interest to you, then look out for a Buy a Print button. Prices start at around £6 for unframed prints, £16 for framed prints. If you wish to license an image, select the portrait of interest to you, then look out for a Use this image button, or contact our Rights and Images service. We digitise over 8,000 portraits a year and we cannot guarantee being able to digitise images that are not already scheduled.