William John Burchell

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John Russell
(1800).
Portrait of William John Burchell by Thomas Herbert Maguire (1854).
Wagon commissioned by Burchell for his expedition.

William John Burchell (23 July 1781 – 23 March 1863) was an English

Oxford University Museum
.

Early life and education

William John Burchell was born in

F.L.S.
(Fellow of the Linnaen Society) in 1803. At about this time, he became enamoured of Lucia Green of Fulham, but faced strong disapproval from his parents when he broached the idea of an engagement.

Career

On 7 August 1805, Burchell at the age of 24 sailed for

St. Helena aboard the East Indiaman Northumberland
intending to set up there as a merchant with a partner from London, William Balcombe (1779-1829). After a year of trading, Burchell did not want to continue and dissolved the partnership. Three months later, he accepted a position as schoolmaster on the island and later as official botanist.

In 1810, he sailed to the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa on the recommendation of Gen. J.W. Janssens to explore and to add to his botanical collection. Burchell's intended wife had jilted him for the captain of the boat taking her to St. Helena to join him.[1]

Landing at Table Bay on 26 November 1810, after stormy weather had prevented a landing for 13 days, Burchell set about planning an expedition into the interior. He left Cape Town in June 1811.

Burchell travelled in

British House of Commons about the suitability of the area for emigration. The 1820 Settlers
went out from England a year later.

He spent time cataloguing and processing his specimens, and raising funds for his next expedition. Burchell travelled in Brazil between 1825 and 1830, again collecting a large number of specimens, including more than 20,000 insects. The journals covering his Brazil expedition are missing, as are his diaries relating to his later travels. His field note books, detailing his plant collections, are held in the collection of Kew Gardens. Historians have used them to reconstruct the latter part of his trip.

Burchell's extensive African collections included plants, animal skins, skeletons, insects, seeds, bulbs and fish. After his death, his plant specimens, drawings and manuscripts, both South African and Brazilian, were presented by his sister, Anna Burchell, to

Oxford University Museum. He is known for the copious and accurate notes he made to accompany every collected specimen, detailing habit and habitat, as well as the numerous drawings and paintings of landscapes, portraits, costumes, people, animals and plants.[2]

Burchell died in Fulham in 1863, ending his own life by hanging himself in a small outhouse in his garden, after a non-fatal suicide attempt by shooting. He is buried near his home at All Saints Church, Fulham.[3]

Published works

  • Travels in the Interior of Southern Africa. Vol. 1. Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown. 1822.
  • Travels in the Interior of Southern Africa. Vol. 2. Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown. 1824.

Legacy and honours

He is commemorated in the

monotypic plant genus Burchellia R. Br.

Numerous animal species were named for him:

Burchell's coucal, Burchell's sandgrouse, Burchell's courser, and the Eciton burchellii
army ant.

A species of African lizard, Pedioplanis burchelli, is named in his honour.[4]

See also

The standard author abbreviation Burch. is used to indicate this person as the author when citing a botanical name.[5]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to William John Burchell.

Gallery

Descending from the Sneeuberge near Graaff-Reinet
Rocks in the Asbestos Mountains
Portrait of Stoffel Speelman, a Khoekhoe collecting assistant

References

  1. ISSN 0305-7070
    .
  2. ^ Anon (n.d.). "William John Burchell". Kew Royal Botanical Gardens. Retrieved 3 May 2019.
  3. ^ Costantino, Grace (19 November 2015). "Travels in Southern Africa: William John Burchell". Biodiversity Heritage Library. Retrieved 3 May 2019.
  4. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5
    . ("Burchell", p. 43).
  5. ^ International Plant Names Index.  Burch.

Further reading

External links
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