Richard Lander
Richard Lander | |
---|---|
Born | Richard Lemon Lander 8 February 1804 Truro, Cornwall, England |
Died | 6 February 1834 | (aged 29)
Cause of death | Injuries from a musket ball wound |
Occupation | Explorer |
Richard Lemon Lander (8 February 1804 – 6 February 1834) was a British
Biography
Lander was the son of John Lander, a
Lander's explorations began as a servant to the Scottish explorer Hugh Clapperton with whom he went in 1823 to the Cape Colony, and then on to an expedition to Western Africa in 1825. Clapperton died on 13 April 1827 near Sokoto, in present-day Nigeria, leaving Lander as the only surviving European member of the expedition. He proceeded southeast to Kano[5] and from there decided to travel south to Funda on the Benue River which led him to becoming the first European to visit the important town of Zangon Katab whose people, the Atyap he described in his notes[6] before returning through the Yoruba region to the coast and thence Britain in July 1828.[7]
Commissioned by the British Government, Lander returned to
Kingboy Amain took them to Nembe and they arrived on Monday, November 15, 1830.
A few days later, on the 17th, Richard was taken to Akassa at the Nun estuary of the Niger River to persuade an English merchant Captain Luke, to repay the ransom along with other gifts paid by Kingboy Amain while John remained in Nembe between the 17th to the 23rd of November. John joined his brother Richard at the Nun estuary of the Niger at Akassa and subsequently sailed back to Britain.
The Lander Brothers admitted that the ransom was never paid back yet they were granted safe passage back to a British ship in their Journal despite the displeasure of Kingboy Amain in the Captain not repaying his money. He was instrumental in their safety and return.[9]
Despite this setback, they were successful in determining the great river's course and termination.[10] They travelled back to Britain from Fernando Po via Rio de Janeiro in 1831.[11]
In 1832, Lander returned to Africa for a third and final time, as leader of an expedition organised by
Legacy
In Truro,
To mark the 200th anniversary of the birth of Richard Lander and celebrate the Lander brothers' achievements an 'Expedition of Goodwill' was sent in November 2004 to retrace their river journey.[citation needed]
Publications
- 1829: Clapperton, Hugh; Lander, Richard (1829). Journal of a second expedition into the interior of Africa, from the Bight of Benin to Soccatoo by the late Commander Clapperton of the Royal Navy to which is added The Journal of Richard Lander from Kano to the Sea-Coast Partly by a More Easterly Route. London: John Murray.
- 1832: Lander, Richard (1832). Journal of an Expedition to Explore the Course and Termination of the Niger. London: John Murray.
See also
External links
- Lee, Sidney, ed. (1892). . Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 32. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
- Mackay, Mercedes The Indomitable Servant (London, Rex Collings, 1978)
References
- doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/15975. Retrieved 27 October 2017. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- ^ Hedgecoe, John: A L Rowse's Cornwall, Weidenfeld and Nicolson (London), 1988, p74-75
- ^ Lee, Sidney, (Ed.). (1892). Dictionary of National Biography, 32. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ "Early life". Retrieved 27 October 2017.
- ^ "Biography". britannica.com. Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 27 October 2017.
- ISBN 978-978-54678-5-7.
- ^ "Return to England".
- ^ A narrative of the expedition sent by Her Majesty's Government to the River Niger. Vol. 1. Richard Bentley. 1848. p. 233.
- ^ Alagoa, E. J. (1968). The Use of Oral Literary Data for History: Examples from Niger Delta Proverbs. The Journal of American Folklore, 81(321), 235–242. https://doi.org/10.2307/537543.
- ^ "The second expedition". oxfordindex.oup.com. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 27 October 2017.
- ^ "Ransom and return".
- ^ Laird, MacGregor (1837). Narrative of an expedition into the interior of Africa: by the River Niger ... London: Richard Bentley. pp. 1–410. Retrieved 27 October 2017.
- ^ "Burial". Retrieved 27 October 2017.
- ^ "Timeline and family". pdavis.nl. Retrieved 27 October 2017.
- ^ "Lander Monument". West Briton. 27 May 1836. Retrieved 28 December 2012.