John Lander

Born in Cornwall in 1807, he was the younger brother of explorer Richard Lander and originally trained as a printer. He joined Richard on the government-backed expedition to West Africa in 1830, and the two brothers became known for following the Niger downstream to the Atlantic, helping answer a major geographical question of the time.

After the journey, he shared in the fame that followed the expedition and was associated with accounts of their travels. His work placed him within the wave of British exploration that fed public curiosity about Africa, even though his name is often remembered alongside his brother's rather than on its own.

He died in 1839, still young, only a few years after Richard's death. That short span gives his story a poignant shape: an ordinary working man who took part in a difficult expedition and became part of the history of exploration.