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Captain John Hanning Speke (4 May 1827 – 15 September 1864) was an English explorer and military officer who made three exploratory expeditions to Africa. He is most associated with the search for the source of the Nile and was the first European to reach Lake Victoria (known to locals as Nam Lolwe in Dholuo and Nnalubaale or Ukerewe in ...
- Life
- Search For The Nile Source 1856–1859
- Second Journey to The Source of The Nile, 1860-1861
- Return to London and Third Expedition
- Death
- Source of The Nile Is Settled, 1874–1877
- Legacy
Speke was born on 4 May 1827 at Orleigh Court, Buckland Brewer, near Bideford, North Devon. In 1844 he was commissioned into the British Army and posted to British India, where he served in the 46th Bengal Native Infantry under Sir Hugh Gough during the Punjab campaign and under Sir Colin Campbell during the First Anglo-Sikh War. He was promoted li...
In 1856, Speke and Burton went to East Africa to find the Great Lakes, which were rumored to exist in the center of the continent. It was hoped that the expedition would locate the source of the Nile. The journey, which started from Zanzibar Island in June 1857, where they stayed at the residence of Atkins Hamerton, the British consul, was extremel...
Together with James Augustus Grant, Speke left Portsmouth on 27 April 1860 and departed from Zanzibar in October 1860. The expedition approached the lake from the south west but Grant was often sick and was not able to travel with Speke much of the time. As during the first trip, in this period of history, Arab slave traders had created an atmosphe...
Speke and Grant now returned to England, where they arrived in June 1863 and were welcomed as genuine heroes. This did not last long in Speke's case however; disputes with Burton, who was relentless in his criticisms and a very compelling public speaker and gifted writer, left Speke's discoveries in less than an ideal light. Speke had also committe...
A debate was planned between Speke and Burton before the geographical section of the British Association in Bath on 16 September 1864, but Speke had died the previous afternoon from a self-inflicted gunshot wound while shooting at Neston Park in Wiltshire. A contemporary account of the events surrounding his death appeared in The Times: An inquest ...
In 1874–1877, Henry Stanley mounted a new expedition and took a boat along the entire shore of Lake Victoria; he established that Lake Tanganyika and the Nile were not connected in any way, and he explored the headwaters of Lake Edward. It was now proven that Speke had been right all along, and that the Nile flowed from Lake Victoria via Ripon Fall...
Eponyms
Two species of African reptiles are named in his honor: Speke's hinge-back tortoise, Kinixys spekii; and Speke's sand lizard, Heliobolus spekii. Three species of African mammals are named in his honor: the sitatunga, Tragelaphus spekii; Speke's gazelle, Gazella spekei; and Speke's pectinator, Pectinator spekei.
Film
The film Mountains of the Moon (1990), starring Scottish actor Iain Glenas Speke, related the story of the Burton-Speke controversy, portrayed as having been unjustifiably incited by Speke's publisher to stimulate book sales.
John Hanning Speke (4 May 1827 – 15 September 1864) was an English explorer and officer in the British Indian Army who made three exploratory expeditions to Africa. He is most associated with the search for the source of the Nile and was the first European to reach Lake Victoria.
Mountains of the Moon is a 1990 American biographical film depicting the 1857–1858 journey of Richard Francis Burton and John Hanning Speke in their expedition to Central Africa, which culminated in Speke's discovery of the source of the Nile River and led to a bitter rivalry between the two men.
With Speke at his side, Burton returns to Africa to lead a grand expedition following Arab slave trade routes into the interior. They rescue escaped slave Mabruki (Delroy Lindo) from the lions. It is an epic Victorian adventure.
- (4.3K)
- Adventure, Drama, History
- Bob Rafelson
- 1990-02-23
Apr 17, 2011 · 17 April 2011. In search of the source of the Nile, of Lake Victoria, Lake Tanganyika and the "fabled 'Mountains of the Moon'": John Hanning Speke's life and deeds are closely connected with Richard Francis Burton. They were companions who finally turned out to be combatants.
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Feb 6, 2013 · With the aid of the dragoman Johari, I secured in a few hours the services of Uledi (Capt. Grant's former valet), Ulimengo, Baruti, Ambari, Mabruki (Muinyi Mabruki—Bull-headed Mabruki, Capt. Burton's former unhappy valet)—five of Speke's "Faithfuls."
