Richard Lemon Lander was a Cornish

Cornish people

The Cornish are a people associated with Cornwall, a county and Duchy in the south-west of the United Kingdom that is seen in some respects as distinct from England, having more in common with the other Celtic parts of the United Kingdom such as Wales, as well as with other Celtic nations in Europe...

 explorer of western Africa.

Biography

Lander was the son of a Truro

Truro

Truro is a city and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The city is the centre for administration, leisure and retail in Cornwall, with a population recorded in the 2001 census of 17,431. Truro urban statistical area, which includes parts of surrounding parishes, has a 2001 census...

 innkeeper, born in the Daniell Arms. Lander's explorations began as an assistant to the Scottish

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

 explorer Hugh Clapperton

Hugh Clapperton

Hugh Clapperton was a Scottish traveller and explorer of West and Central Africa.He was born in Annan, Dumfriesshire, where his father was a surgeon. He gained some knowledge of practical mathematics and navigation, and at thirteen was apprenticed on board a vessel which traded between Liverpool...

 on an expedition to Western Africa in 1825. Clapperton died in April 1827 near Sokoto

Sokoto

Sokoto is a city located in the extreme northwest of Nigeria, near to the confluence of the Sokoto River and the Rima River. As of 2006 it has a population of 427,760...

, present-day Nigeria

Nigeria

Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...

, leaving Lander as the only surviving European member of the expedition. He proceeded southeast before returning to Britain

Great Britain

Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...

 in July 1828.

Lander returned to West Africa in 1830, accompanied by his brother John. They landed at Badagri on 22 March, 1830 and followed the lower River Niger from Bussa

Bussa

Bussa was an African-born Barbadian slave who in 1816 led a slave uprising in Barbados popularly known as Bussa's Rebellion. Bussa was born a free man in Africa, possibly of Igbo origin, and was captured by African slave merchants, sold to the British, and brought to Barbados in the late 18th...

 to the sea. After exploring about 160 kilometres of the River Niger upstream, they returned to explore the River Benue

Benue River

The Benue River is the major tributary of the Niger River. The river is approximately 1,400 km long and is almost entirely navigable during the summer months...

 and Niger Delta

Niger Delta

The Niger Delta, the delta of the Niger River in Nigeria, is a densely populated region sometimes called the Oil Rivers because it was once a major producer of palm oil...

. They travelled back to Britain in 1831.

In 1832, Lander returned to Africa as leader of an expedition organised by Macgregor Laird

Macgregor Laird

Macgregor Laird was a Scottish merchant pioneer of British trade on the River Niger.Laird was born at Greenock, the younger son of William Laird, founder of the Birkenhead firm of shipbuilders of that name...

 and other Liverpudlian merchants, with the intention of founding a trading settlement at the junction of the Niger and Benue rivers. However, the expedition encountered difficulties, many personnel died from fever and it failed to reach Bussa. While journeying upstream in a canoe, Lander was attacked by African tribesmen and wounded by a musket ball in his thigh. He managed to return to the coast, but died there from his injuries.

In Truro, a monument to his memory by Cornish sculptor Neville Northey Burnard

Neville Northey Burnard

Neville Northey Burnard was an Cornish sculptor best known for his portrait figures.Burnard was born in the village of Altarnun, on the edge of Bodmin Moor, Cornwall, and was the son of George Burnard, a local stonemason. He showed a talent for carving stone at an early age...

 stands at the top of Lemon Street and one of the local secondary school

Secondary school

Secondary school is a term used to describe an educational institution where the final stage of schooling, known as secondary education and usually compulsory up to a specified age, takes place...

s is named in his honour. In 1832 he became the first winner of the Royal Geographical Society

Royal Geographical Society

The Royal Geographical Society is a British learned society founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical sciences...

 Founder's Medal, "for important services in determining the course and termination of the Niger".

To mark the 200th anniversary of the birth of Richard Lander and celebrate the Lander brothers’ remarkable achievements an 'Expedition of Goodwill' was sent in November 2004 to retrace their historic river journey.

Following the positive relationship developed with the Emir

Emir

Emir , meaning "commander", "general", or "prince"; also transliterated as Amir, Aamir or Ameer) is a title of high office, used throughout the Muslim world...

 of Bussa during the recce, starting at New Bussa

New Bussa

New Bussa is a town in Niger State, Nigeria. It is the new site of Bussa after the Kainji Lake dam set the previous location underwater. As of 2007 New Bussa had an estimated population of 24,449....

 in the north of Nigeria, the team traversed nearly 500 miles of the river using canoes and local boats, to terminate at Asaba in the south of the country.

Publications

• 1829 : Journal of Richard Lander from Kano to the Sea Coast
• 1832 : Journal of an Expedition to Explore the Course and Termination of the Niger, reprinted by Elibron Classics [mid-1990s?]