Prince Lee Boo or Lebu (c. 1764 – 27 December 1784) was the second son of Abba Thulle (

Ibedul Palau has several traditional chiefs of its States of Palau, 16 states. A factor that resulted in the decline of chiefly authority in Palau was the introduction of State governors of Palau, elected governors, called upon in the Constitution of P ...

), the ruler of

Koror Koror is the state comprising the main commercial centre of the Republic of Palau. It consists of several islands, the most prominent being Koror Island (also ''Oreor Island''). It is Palau’s most populous state. History In the oral tradition of ...

in the Pelew Islands, now called

Palau Palau, officially the Republic of Palau, is an island country in the Micronesia subregion of Oceania in the western Pacific Ocean. The Republic of Palau consists of approximately 340 islands and is the western part of the Caroline Islands ...

. He was one of the first people from the

Pacific Islands The Pacific islands are a group of islands in the Pacific Ocean. They are further categorized into three major island groups: Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Depending on the context, the term ''Pacific Islands'' may refer to one of several ...

to visit

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

. When the China trader ''

Antelope The term antelope refers to numerous extant or recently extinct species of the ruminant artiodactyl family Bovidae that are indigenous to most of Africa, India, the Middle East, Central Asia, and a small area of Eastern Europe. Antelopes do ...

'', on a voyage to China for the

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...

, was wrecked on the island of Oroolong in Western Palau in 1783, its survivors, including Captain

Henry Wilson Henry Wilson (born Jeremiah Jones Colbath; February 16, 1812 – November 22, 1875) was the 18th vice president of the United States, serving from 1873 until his death in 1875, and a United States Senate, senator from Massachusetts from 1855 to ...

, spent three months on Palau. When the survivors were finally rescued, Wilson agreed to take Lee Boo to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

to acquire more knowledge about Europe. He arrived about a decade after the Tahitian

Omai Mai ( 1753–1779), also known as Omai in Europe, was a young Ra'iatean man who became the first Pacific Islander to visit England, and the second to visit Europe, after Ahutoru who was brought to Paris by Bougainville in 1768. Life M ...

, on 14 July 1784, in

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

, aboard the ''Morse'', and was quickly dubbed "The Black Prince" by London society, who were charmed by his poise and intelligence. The Wilson family took him into their home in London, where he attended church ceremonies, dinner parties and European school for several months. However, he died of

smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by Variola virus (often called Smallpox virus), which belongs to the genus '' Orthopoxvirus''. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (W ...

on 27 December 1784, some six months after his arrival in London. He was 20 years old. He was buried at

St Mary's Church, Rotherhithe St Mary's Church, Rotherhithe, is the local Church of England parish church in Rotherhithe, formerly in Surrey and now part of south east London. The parish is now within the diocese of Southwark and under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Fulham ...

. His tomb is

Grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

and inscribed with the words "Stop, reader, stop, let Nature shed a tear / A prince of mine, Lee Boo, lies buried here". Prince Lee Boo's story appeared in a book by George Keate, titled: ''An Account of the Pelew Islands, Situated in the Western Part of the Pacific Ocean. Composed from the Journals and Communications of Captain Henry Wilson, and some of his Officers, who, in August 1783, were there Shipwrecked, in the Antelope, a Packet belonging to the Hon. East India Company.'' The author's daughter, Georgiana Jane Keate (later Georgiana Henderson), painted the portrait of Prince Lee Boo in the book. It was painted from memory, fifteen months after Prince Lee Boo's death. The book was popular, and was translated into over 20 languages between 1789 and 1850. An abridged version, titled ''The Interesting History of Prince Lee Boo, Brought to England from the Pelew Islands'', is available online.

References

External links

* '' The Interesting History of Prince Lee Boo, Brought to England from the Pelew Islands'' at Wikimedia Commons {{DEFAULTSORT:Lee Boo 1760s births 1784 deaths 18th-century Palauan people Deaths from smallpox in England Expatriates in England History of London Palauan expatriates People from Koror People from Rotherhithe