Andrew Battell

Born around 1560 in Leigh, Essex, Andrew Battell was an English sailor whose life took an extraordinary turn when he was seized by the Portuguese near Brazil in the late 1580s. He was sent to Angola, where he lived for many years under Portuguese control and traveled through parts of west-central Africa.

Battell is best known for the account of his experiences that was later recorded by Samuel Purchas and published in the early 1600s. In it, he described the peoples, trade, warfare, wildlife, and political life he encountered in places including Angola and the Kingdom of Kongo. Historians value the narrative as one of the earliest extended English descriptions of that region.

He is generally thought to have died around 1613. Although much about his personal life remains uncertain, his remarkable survival story and observations have given him a lasting place in travel writing and the historical record of early contact between England and central Africa.