Dixon Denham
Dixon Denham (1 January 1786 – 9 June 1828) was an English soldier, explorer of West Central Africa, and ultimately Governor of Sierra Leone.
Early life
Dixon Denham was born at Salisbury Square,
Military career
Initially in the 23rd
The Bornu Mission
Denham had met the explorer Captain George Lyon on the latter's return to London from Africa, and became determined to join the British government's second mission to establish trade links with the west African states. Perhaps because of his influential acquaintances, Denham's wish was granted and, now promoted to Major, he was despatched by Lord Bathurst in the autumn of 1821 to join the other members of the mission, Dr Walter Oudney and Lt. Hugh Clapperton, arriving at Tripoli aboard the schooner Express on 19 November.
Denham brought with him instructions from the Colonial Office indicating that Oudney should remain at Bornu as Vice-Consul, while Denham and Clapperton were to 'explore the Country to the Southward and Eastward of Bornu, principally with a view to tracing the course of the Niger and ascertaining its Embouchure'. For reasons unknown, Denham was detained in Tripoli, and the mission proceeded to
Denham was to find the bashaw as obdurate as Murzuk's bey. Outraged, he decided to return to London to report the situation to Lord Bathurst and also seek promotion, so that he could return as commanding officer of the expedition. Boarding a ship bound for Marseilles, he warned the bashaw's lieutenants of his government's displeasure when it learned of the bashaw's 'duplicity'. Duly alarmed, the bashaw wrote to him, proposing that the 300 – man escort of a wealthy merchant about to depart for Bornu could, for a fee of 10,000 dollars to be shared with him, be persuaded to protect the mission as well. Denham received the letter while in quarantine in Marseilles. Still very angry, he sent an ill-judged letter to Bathurst complaining of Oudney's incompetence. The missal was not well received in London, and Denham found a letter awaiting him on his return to Tripoli, rebuking him for his lack of diplomacy, although acknowledging the frustrations he had endured. News of Denham's conduct left his compatriots at Murzuk dumbfounded. Oudney wrote a bitter letter of complaint about Denham to Hanmer Warrington, the British Consul in Tripoli, comparing Denham to a snake hidden in the grass. In an unfortunate breach of confidence, Warrington showed the letter to Denham, thereby souring relations within the mission party still further.
By the end of September 1822, Denham was on his way back to Murzuk with the merchant and the promised escort. Recognizing that matters had been aggravated by the absence of any official instruction regarding leadership of the expedition, the Colonial Office wrote that Clapperton should become Oudney's aide, not Denham's. The mission, now comprising four Britons (including Hillman, the carpenter), five servants, and four camel drivers, eventually left Murzuk for Bornu on 19 November 1822. Clapperton and Oudney were in poor health, having succumbed to fevers, and all were overwrought as they made their way due south across the
) on 17 February. [6]It was from Kuka that Denham, against the wishes of Oudney and Clapperton, accompanied a slave-raiding expedition into the
After quarrelling again over leadership of the party, Oudney and Clapperton set out for the
On 14 September 1824, their antipathy unabated, the pair, with carpenter Hillman, left Kuka for Tripoli not speaking a word to each other during the 133-day journey. Tyrwhitt elected to remain at Kuka and do his duty, a decision that cost him his life only several months later after he succumbed to fever, alcoholism, and loneliness.
Denham and Clapperton returned to England and a heroes' reception on 1 June 1825.
Aftermath
Within three months of their return, Clapperton had left on another expedition to west Africa, this time travelling by sea, leaving Denham to write of their exploits in which he exaggerated his own role and minimized the contributions of Clapperton and Oudney without fear of contradiction.[6][8]
Denham took up residence in London, at 18 George Street, Hanover Square.
Death
After administering Sierra Leone for only five weeks,[3] Denham died of 'African Fever' (probably malaria) at Freetown on 9 June 1828, aged 42. The fourth governor of the colony to perish in as many years in that 'pestilential climate',[12] he died owing several thousand pounds to his brother, John Charles. Denham was buried at the city's Circular Road cemetery on 15 June.[1]
Personal life
Denham married Harriet Hawkins, a widow, in Lisbon whilst serving in the
Denham in literature
Denham's exploits are briefly mentioned in Jules Verne's Five Weeks in a Balloon, Chapter 30: 'My dear fellow, we are now upon the very track of Major Denham. It was at this very city of Mosfeia that he was received by the Sultan of Mandara; he had quitted the Bornou country; he accompanied the sheik in an expedition against the Fellatahs; he assisted in the attack on the city, which, with its arrows alone, bravely resisted the bullets of the Arabs, and put the sheik's troops to flight. All this was but a pretext for murders, raids, and pillage. The major was completely plundered and stripped, and had it not been for his horse, under whose stomach he clung with the skill of an Indian rider, and was borne with a headlong gallop from his barbarous pursuers, he never could have made his way back to Kouka, the capital of Bornou.' 'Who was this Major Denham?' 'A fearless Englishman, who, between 1822 and 1824, commanded an expedition into the Bornou country, in company with Captain Clapperton and Dr. Oudney. They set out from Tripoli in the month of March, reached Mourzouk, the capital of Fez, and, following the route which at a later period Dr. Barth was to pursue on his way back to Europe, they arrived, on 16 February 1823, at Kouka, near Lake Tchad. Denham made several explorations in Bornou, in Mandara, and to the eastern shores of the lake.'
Eponymy
The sub-Saharan bird Denham's bustard (Neotis denhami) is named for Denham.
References
- ^ a b c Fyfe, C.: Denham, Dixon, in Harrison, B. (ed.) (2004). The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 15. Oxford University Press.
- ^ Cunningham, G. G. (1837). Lives of eminent and illustrious Englishmen. Vol. VII, 1837. Fullarton, Glasgow.
- ^ a b c d public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Denham, Dixon". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 8 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 20. Endnotes:
- See Narrative of Travels and Discoveries in Northern and Central Africa in the years 1822–1824 (London, 1826), the greater part of which is written by Denham
- The Story of Africa, vol. i. chap. xiii. (London, 1892), by Dr Robert Brown
- ^ a b Chichester, H. M. (1885), in Leslie Stephen, ed. Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900. Vol. 14, Denham, Dixon. Smith, Elder & Co., London.
- ^ Army Lists, 1819-1821
- ^ ISBN 978-0-06-056064-5.
- ^ Bovill, E. W. (ed.) (1966). Missions to the Niger. Vols. II - IV. The Bornu Mission, 1822-25. Cambridge University Press.
- ^ Denham, Dixon; Clapperton, Hugh; Oudney, Walter (1826). Narrative of travels and discoveries in Northern and Central Africa: in the years 1822, 1823, and 1824 (2 Volumes). London: Murray. Scans from the Internet Archive: Volume 1, Volume 2
- ^ The Wellington Papers, 1825. Hartley Library, Southampton University.
- ^ "Library and Archive Catalogue". Royal Society. Retrieved 27 November 2010.[permanent dead link]
- ISBN 978-1-84119-626-8
- ^ a b Urban (ed.) (1828). The Gentleman's Magazine, Vol. 144, p.184, London.
- ^ International Plant Names Index. Denham.