Speke, John Hanning

Speke, John Hanning (1827-64), explorer, b. near Ilminster, Somerset, England.

Speke served in the Indian Army.

From 1856-59, he explored Central Africa with Sir Richard Burton. They discovered Lake Tanganyika. Afterwards Burton fell ill and Speke went on alone and discovered Lake Victoria.

Later the two men quarrelled. Speke said the River Nile started in Lake Victoria; Burton said it didn't. In 1860-63, Speke returned to Lake Victoria with Captain J. A. Grant. They were the first white men to visit present-day Uganda. Speke went on to discover the Ripon Falls where the River Nile poured out of Lake Victoria.

Back in England, Speke and Burton agreed to argue about the source of the Nile at a public meeting in Bath. Burton was already on the platform when a note was delivered. It stated that Speke was dead. He had died in an accident with a shotgun.

H. M. Stanley completed the exploration of Lake Victoria in 1875.

Later a plaque was set up at the Ripon Falls bearing these words: 'Speke discovered this source of the Nile on 28 July, 1862.'

See The Discovery of the Source of the Nile ~ John Hanning Speke