Speke Monument, Kensington Gardens, London

Speke Monument

Philip Hardwick

Kensington Gardens

London W2

1866

Polished Aberdeen granite

John Hanning Speke (1827-1864) was the Victorian explorer who discovered the source of the Nile. However, his discovery was surrounded by contention. He died on the very eve of a crucial debate about it with Sir Richard Burton, when his own shotgun went off during a partridge shoot. [Continued below.]

Photographs, caption and commentary by Jacqueline Banerjee.

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Commentary

Some thought Speke might have committed suicide. At any rate, Sir Roderick Murchison, President of the Royal Geographical Society, who had called for the debate, now called for a monument to be erected by public subscription in this prominent location — not far from the RGS's present headquarters on Kensington Gore. Over 2000 mourners had attended Speke's funeral, and advertisements for subscriptions were placed even in the Delhi Gazette in India (see Godsall 256). Nevertheless, it was hard to garner the funds. When at last the monument was erected, no unveiling was reported either in The Times or in the Royal Geographical Society's own journal.

In 1855, Philip Hardwick had designed a similar monument for another adventurer who had met a tragic end — Lieutenant Bellot. Clearly, obelisk-style memorials were still in vogue. On Speke's, the inscription reads: IN MEMORY OF SPEKE / VICTORIA NYANZA / AND THE NILE / 1864. This avoids crediting him with the actual discovery of the river's source. Speke's claim was later vindicated, and a more informative ground plaque was finally placed in front of the monument in 1995.

Related Materials

Sources

Godsall, Jon R. The Tangled Web: A Life of Sir Richard Burtion. Leicester: Troubador, 2008.

Jeal, Tim. Explorers of the Nile: The Triumph and Tragedy of a Great Victorian Adventure. London: Faber, 2011.

Last modified 3 December 2011