Richard Lander

Richard Lemon Lander (1804–1834) was born in Truro, Cornwall, where his father kept an inn. He first went to West Africa in 1825 as a servant on Captain Hugh Clapperton’s expedition, later publishing accounts of the journey and his own experiences.

In 1830, Lander returned to West Africa with his younger brother, John. Together they traced the course of the Niger River to the coast, an achievement that established Lander’s reputation as one of the era’s important African explorers. He recorded his experiences in works including Records of Captain Clapperton’s Last Expedition to Africa and Narrative of an Expedition into the Interior of Africa in Steamers.

Lander died in 1834 after suffering an infected gunshot wound during another expedition. His books helped bring firsthand knowledge of West Africa to a wide reading public and preserved the story of an extraordinary, though tragically brief, career.