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Name: SPEKE, John Hanning

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Nee: son of William Speke of Jordans, Somerset

Birth Date: 4 May 1827 Clayhanger, Devon

Death Date: 15 Sept 1864 Box, Wiltshire, in a shooting accident

First Date: 1857

Last Date: 1864

Profession: Officer in Indian Army, 1844, travelled extensively in Asia, and was an experienced explorer and naturalist. Discovered true source of the Nile in 1862 and Lake Victoria in 1858. First Englishman to visit Uganda.

Married: Unmarried

Book Reference: Gillett, Burke, Chandler

General Information:

It is strange to record that, after his perilous and adventurous life, he died in England in 1864, whilst still a young man. He was climbing over a wall while out shooting and was killed by his own gun
First European to reach Lake Victoria 1857
See his Wikipedia and ODNB entries

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