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

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

, as well as an

explorer Exploration is the process of exploring, an activity which has some Expectation (epistemic), expectation of Discovery (observation), discovery. Organised exploration is largely a human activity, but exploratory activity is common to most organis ...

and

ornithologist Ornithology, from Ancient Greek ὄρνις (''órnis''), meaning "bird", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study", is a branch of zoology dedicated to the study of birds. Several aspects of ornithology differ from related discip ...

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 at Cranbrook in

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

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

Militia A militia ( ) is a military or paramilitary force that comprises civilian members, as opposed to a professional standing army of regular, full-time military personnel. Militias may be raised in times of need to support regular troops or se ...

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 Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

followed on 22 January 1902. During 1902 he visited the Gold Coast Colony, 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 , is a list of islands of Japan, Japanese archipelago of over 30 subtropical and Island#Tropical islands, tropical islands located around SSE of Tokyo and northwest of Guam. The group as a whole has a total ...

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. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

from the

Niger Niger, officially the Republic of the Niger, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is a unitary state Geography of Niger#Political geography, bordered by Libya to the Libya–Niger border, north-east, Chad to the Chad–Niger border, east ...

to the

Nile The Nile (also known as the Nile River or River Nile) is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa. It has historically been considered the List of river sy ...

, exploring the

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

. 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 north-central city in Nigeria. It lies at the confluence of the Niger River, Niger and Benue River, Benue list of rivers of Nigeria, rivers and is the capital city of Kogi State. While the Bassa Nge, Yoruba people, Yoruba Oworo peopl ...

. Claud died in October of

enteric fever Enteric fever is a medical term encompassing two types of salmonellosis, which, specifically, are typhoid fever and paratyphoid fever. Enteric fever is a potentially life-threatening acute febrile systemic infection and is diagnosed by isolating ...

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

Lake Chad Lake Chad (, Kanuri language, Kanuri: ''Sádǝ'', ) is an endorheic freshwater lake located at the junction of four countries: Nigeria, Niger, Chad, and Cameroon, in western and central Africa respectively, with a catchment area in excess of . ...

. Gosling died in June 1906 at

Niangara Niangara is a town in the Haut-Uele Province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, lying on both sides of the Uele River. It is the headquarters of the Niangara Territory. The town has a hospital operated by Médecins Sans Frontières. As o ...

of blackwater fever. 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 The Founder's Medal is a medal awarded annually by the Royal Geographical Society, upon approval of the Sovereign of the United Kingdom, to individuals for "the encouragement and promotion of geographical science and discovery". Foundation From ...

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 Drainage system (geomorphology), river system in the West African country of Ghana. It flows south into Ghana from the Bobo-Dioulasso Department, Bobo-Dioulasso highlands of Burkina Faso. The three main part ...

. 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 (, ''Absha'') is a city in Chad and the capital of the Ouaddaï Region. It is one of the List of cities in Chad, largest cities in the country and has within it the remnants of the ancient capital, including palaces, mosques, and the tom ...

, 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 Olive Susan Miranda Temple (; 18 February 1880 – 16 May 1936) was a Scottish writer and traveller, known for her work in natural history and ethnography. In 1910–1911, she journeyed 6,000 km (3,700 mi) through parts of Africa little known ...

; she travelled to visit his remote grave.

Legacy

At St Dunstan's Church, Cranbrook, 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.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Alexander, Boyd 1873 births Rifle Brigade officers English explorers British explorers of Africa English ornithologists Fellows of the Zoological Society of London Boyd English twins 1910 deaths People educated at Radley College

Early life

African expedition

Legacy

See also

References

Further reading

External links