John_Lander_(explorer)

John Lander (explorer)

John Lander (explorer)

English explorer of western Africa


John Lander FRGS (29 December 1806 16 November 1839) was the younger brother of English explorer Richard Lemon Lander and accompanied him on his second expedition to western Africa.

Quick Facts Born, Died ...

Family

John Lander was the fourth son of John Lander, Truro innkeeper and noted wrestler,[1] and Mary Penrose. While Richard went to sea at a young age, John was an apprentice in the printing trade. On his return from Africa he married Marry Livett in Truro. Four children survived infancy; their youngest daughter Emily, died 6 January 1880.[2] He died of inflammation of the lungs, although it is alleged that he died of an illness contracted in Africa.

Expedition

In 1830 the brothers went on an expedition to determine the course of the Niger River. They landed at Badagry in present-day Nigeria, took Clapperton's route to Bussa, then ascended the river for 160 kilometres before descending to explore the Benue River and the Niger Delta. They returned to Britain in 1831. Richard returned to the Niger in 1832, but John was employed in the custom house in Liverpool and later in London through the patronage of Lord Goderich, the president of the Royal Geographical Society.

  • Lee, Sidney, ed. (1892). "Lander, John" . Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 32. London: Smith, Elder & Co.

References

  1. Hedgecoe, John: A L Rowse's Cornwall, Weidenfeld and Nicolson (London), 1988, p74-75
  2. "The Lander Family". The Cornishman. No. 80. 22 January 1880. p. 7.

Share this article:

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article John_Lander_(explorer), and is written by contributors. Text is available under a CC BY-SA 4.0 International License; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.