When President Yoweri Museveni instructed in Mayuge in October 2022 that the Ugandan government should try to make contact with the family Bishop James Hannington, many assumed this would be the first time this happened.
President Museveni issued that instruction in Kyando, Mayuge, eastern Uganda, while marking 137 years since Bishop Hannington was killed at the orders of the then Buganda Kingdom Kabaka Mwanga.
He revealed that plans are underway to declare October 29th, the day Bishop Hannington was speared to death, a public holiday. He made the revelation in response to pleas from Anglican church leaders in Kyando and Busoga who said they have marked the day for decades and wish the central government to formally recognise it.
But unbeknownst to many people, this is not the first time Ugandans have set out in search of finding out more about Bishop Hannington. In June 2014, Edward Kafufu Baliddawa who was at the time serving as an MP for Kigulu North and a passionate advocate for tourism in Busoga sub region, made a fact finding pilgrimage to the United Kingdom to trace the origins of Bishop Hannington.
Baliddawa, a devout Christian, said he was greatly inspired by Bishop Hannington’s declaration in his journal as he awaited his certain death sentence that, “I have purchased the road to Uganda with my blood.” When the moment of death was upon him, the man of God added, “Tell the Kabaka that I die for Uganda.”
A little known fact with many Ugandans is that Bishop Hannington is actually buried in Uganda at Namirembe Cathedral.
Inspired by Bishop Hannington’s relentless determination to bring Christianity to Africa, which has impacted his own life, Baliddawa wanted to make a return journey to find where Hannington came from. He was not content with simply knowing that James Hannington was the first Anglican Bishop of the Eastern Equatorial Africa province.
He documented his painstaking journey to track down Bishop Hannington’s roots in a book entitled, “Tracing Bishop Hannington’s Origins.”
Baliddawa would be shocked by what he learned about Bishop Hannington.
For instance, while Uganda is yet to construct a memorable remembrance of Bishop Hannington, his native England recognised him with a church named after him in Hove, East Sussex.
Although Bishop Hannington is best known in the history annals of Uganda, his son called Rev. James Edward Meopham Hannington also visited and ministered in Uganda. Rev. James Edward Meopham Hannington was only eight years old when his father left him in the UK to come to Africa. The father never returned. But the son later followed the footsteps of his father and he came as a missionary to Uganda sent by St. George Chapel of Hurtspier. He served here from 1903 till 1920 when he returned to the UK.
Rev. James Edward Meopham Hannington (1877-1950) also had one son called James Rigby Hannington, the Bishop’s only grandchild. Rigby. He served as an army officer at the rank of Lt. He died in a battle in Malaysia when he was aged 34 years.
The dedication of the Hannington’s to Christianity so moved Baliddawa that upon his return to Uganda, he helped rebuild his local village church in Nabukone in Nambale Sub County in Iganga district. He named this church after Bishop Hannington to remedy the decades long omission of recognising his sacrifice.
If the Ugandan government wishes to make contact with Bishop Hannington’s descendants, Baliddawa’s book “Tracing Bishop Hannington’s Origins” is an excellent starting point. Admirers of Bishop Hannington’s Christian zeal will also be amazed by the anecdotes in the Origins book of how persistence leads to undreamed of achievements.
