Lieutenant Boyd Alexander (16 January 1873 – 2 April 1910) was an English officer in the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gur ...

, as well as an

explorer Exploration refers to the historical practice of discovering remote lands. It is studied by geographers and historians. Two major eras of exploration occurred in human history: one of convergence, and one of divergence. The first, covering most ...

and

ornithologist Ornithology is a branch of zoology that concerns the "methodological study and consequent knowledge of birds with all that relates to them." Several aspects of ornithology differ from related disciplines, due partly to the high visibility and th ...

Early life

Boyd was the oldest son (with a twin brother) of Lt Colonel Boyd Francis Alexander. On his mother's side he was the grandson of David Wilson, the founder of the Great Eastern Hotel in Calcutta. He was born at

Swifts Park Swifts Park is a former country estate and manor house north-east of the town of Cranbrook in the English county of Kent. Through its history, the estate has been variously known by the names Swifts, Great Swift, Great Swifts, and Swifts Place ...

at Cranbrook in

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces the ...

and educated at Radley and Sandhurst. Alexander was commissioned in a

Militia A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...

battalion of the

Rifle Brigade (Prince Consort's Own) The Rifle Brigade (The Prince Consort's Own) was an infantry rifle regiment of the British Army formed in January 1800 as the "Experimental Corps of Riflemen" to provide sharpshooters, scouts, and skirmishers. They were soon renamed the "Rifle ...

, and in October 1900 took up a commission in a regular battalion of that regiment. Promotion to

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...

followed on 22 January 1902. During 1902 he visited the

Gold Coast Colony The Gold Coast was a British Crown colony on the Gulf of Guinea in West Africa from 1821 until its independence in 1957 as Ghana. The term Gold Coast is also often used to describe all of the four separate jurisdictions that were under the ad ...

, where he made an ornithological survey of that colony, and in September that year he left for the

Bonin Islands The Bonin Islands, also known as the , are an archipelago of over 30 subtropical and tropical islands, some directly south of Tokyo, Japan and northwest of Guam. The name "Bonin Islands" comes from the Japanese word ''bunin'' (an archaic readi ...

to investigate their avifauna.

African expedition

Lieutenant Alexander was a member of an expedition which travelled across

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

from the

Niger ) , official_languages = , languages_type = National languagesNile The Nile, , Bohairic , lg, Kiira , Nobiin: Áman Dawū is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa and has historically been considered the longest ...

, exploring the

Chad Basin The Chad Basin is the largest endorheic basin in Africa, centered on Lake Chad. It has no outlet to the sea and contains large areas of semi-arid desert and savanna. The drainage basin is roughly coterminous with the sedimentary basin of the same ...

. Alexander was accompanied by his brother Claud, Captain G. B. Gosling and Portuguese collector José Lopes. In February 1904 they set off from the mouth of the Niger, travelling upriver to

Lokoja Lokoja is a city in Nigeria. It lies at the confluence of the Niger and Benue rivers and is the capital city of Kogi State. While the Yoruba (Oworo), Bassa Nge and Nupe are indigenous to the area, other ethnic groups of Nigeria, including t ...

. Claud died in October of

enteric fever Typhoid fever, also known as typhoid, is a disease caused by ''Salmonella'' serotype Typhi bacteria. Symptoms vary from mild to severe, and usually begin six to 30 days after exposure. Often there is a gradual onset of a high fever over several d ...

after making a survey of the Murchison Range. Boyd and Gosling explored the area around

Lake Chad Lake Chad (french: Lac Tchad) is a historically large, shallow, endorheic lake in Central Africa, which has varied in size over the centuries. According to the ''Global Resource Information Database'' of the United Nations Environment Programme, ...

. Gosling died in June 1906 at Niangara of

blackwater fever Blackwater fever is a complication of malaria infection in which red blood cells burst in the bloodstream (hemolysis), releasing hemoglobin directly into the blood vessels and into the urine, frequently leading to kidney failure. The disease w ...

. Boyd then followed the Kibali River, reaching the Nile late in the year and returning to England in February 1907. Alexander's account ''From The Niger to the Nile'' was published later that year. In 1908 he was awarded the Founder's Medal of the

Royal Geographical Society The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), often shortened to RGS, is a learned society and professional body for geography based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical scien ...

"for his three years' journey across Africa from the Niger to the Nile." He described Willcocks's honeyguide on the basis of a specimen obtained on his 1901 expedition along the

Volta river The Volta River is the main river system in the West African country of Ghana. It flows south into Ghana from the Bobo-Dioulasso highlands of Burkina Faso. The main parts of the river are the Black Volta, the White Volta, and the Red Volta. In ...

. His enthusiasm for Lake Chad was such that he and his twin brother Robert had a miniature replica of Lake Chad made alongside their family home, The Swifts, at Cranbrook. Alexander and Lopes sailed back to Africa in 1909. They visited Claud's grave at Maifoni in Bornu and then continued to Wadai. Boyd was killed in a dispute with locals near Nyeri, north of

Abéché Abéché ( ar, أبشه, ''Absha'') is the fourth largest city in Chad and is the capital of Ouaddaï Region. It has within it the remnants of the ancient capital, including palaces, mosques, and the tombs of former sultans. History The city of ...

, the capital of Wadai. His body was recovered by French soldiers and buried next to his brother in Maifoni. Shortly before he departed on the expedition he had become engaged to Olive MacLeod; she travelled to visit his remote grave.

Legacy

St Dunstan's Church, Cranbrook St Dunstan's Church, also known as the Cathedral of the Weald, in Cranbrook, Kent, England, dates to the late 13th century. It is now Grade I listed. Its 74 feet-high tower, completed in 1425, has a wooden figure of Father Time and his sc ...

, there is an alabaster memorial to Boyd and Claud Alexander by William Robert Colton. Alexander's medals are in the

Royal Green Jackets (Rifles) Museum The Royal Green Jackets (Rifles) Museum is situated at Peninsula Barracks in Winchester, England. The museum is one of several regimental museums that form part of Winchester's Military Museums. History The museum brings together the collections ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Alexander, Boyd 1873 births 1910 murders in Africa Rifle Brigade officers English explorers British explorers of Africa English ornithologists Fellows of the Zoological Society of London

Boyd Boyd may refer to: Places Canada * Boyd Conservation Area, a conservation area located northwest of Toronto, Ontario * Boyd Lake (disambiguation) United States * Boyd County (disambiguation) * Boyd, Indiana * Boyd, Iowa * Boyd, Kansas * ...

English twins

Early life

African expedition

Legacy

See also

References

External links