Walter Oudney (1790 – 12 January 1824) was a Scottish physician, budding naturalist and briefly African explorer.

Biography

He received a medical doctorate at

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

in 1817. In 1819 he became a member of the

Wernerian Natural History Society The Wernerian Natural History Society (12 January 1808 – 16 April 1858), commonly abbreviated as the Wernerian Society, was a learned society interested in the broad field of natural history, and saw papers presented on various topics such as m ...

alongside his friend and colleague James Robinson Scott. Oudney has been described as quiet, self-effacing, and a short man with a weak constitution particularly unsuited to the rigors of African exploration. He was also brave and resolute.

Bornu Mission

After the failure of

Joseph Ritchie Joseph Ritchie (c. 1788 – 20 November 1819) was an English surgeon, explorer and naturalist. His primary interest lay in the natural sciences, though he is best known for playing a minor role in the British exploration of Africa. Life In 1818 ...

's expedition, John Barrow heard about Oudney though a botanist friend, and asked Oudney if he would mount a "Mission" from Tripoli southward to the Kingdom of Bornu near Lake Chad. With the intention of discovering if the Niger River flowed into Lake Chad or continued further east possibly merging with the Nile. In early 1822, he departed from

Tripoli Tripoli or Tripolis (from , meaning "three cities") may refer to: Places Greece *Tripolis (region of Arcadia), a district in ancient Arcadia, Greece * Tripolis (Larisaia), an ancient Greek city in the Pelasgiotis district, Thessaly, near Larissa ...

with explorers

Dixon Denham Dixon Denham (1 January 1786 – 9 June 1828) was a British soldier, explorer of West Central Africa, and ultimately Governor of Sierra Leone. Early life Dixon Denham was born at Salisbury Square, Fleet Street, London on New Year's Day, 1786, t ...

(1786–1828) and

Hugh Clapperton Bain Hugh Clapperton (18 May 1788 – 13 April 1827) was a British naval officer and explorer of West and Central Africa. Early career Clapperton was born in Annan, Dumfriesshire, where his father, George Clapperton, was a surgeon. He gained so ...

(1788–1827), reaching Bornu in February 1823, and thus becoming the first Europeans to accomplish a north–south crossing of the

Sahara Desert The Sahara (, ) is a desert spanning across North Africa. With an area of , it is the largest hot desert in the world and the list of deserts by area, third-largest desert overall, smaller only than the deserts of Antarctica and the northern Ar ...

. Stricken by illness, Oudney died on 12 January 1824 in the village of Murmur, located near the town of

Katagum Katagum is a town, a local government area and a traditional emirate in Bauchi State of north eastern Nigeria. The town is located on the northern bank of the Jama'are River, which is a tributary of the Hadejia. Most of the inhabitants are p ...

. On the journey he collected regional plants, and after his death Scottish

botanist Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

Robert Brown Robert Brown may refer to: Robert Brown (born 1965), British Director, Animator and author Entertainers and artists * Washboard Sam or Robert Brown (1910–1966), American musician and singer * Robert W. Brown (1917–2009), American printmaker ...

(1773–1858) named the botanical genus ''Oudneya'' from the family

Brassicaceae Brassicaceae () or (the older but equally valid) Cruciferae () is a medium-sized and economically important Family (biology), family of flowering plants commonly known as the mustards, the crucifers, or the cabbage family. Most are herbaceous pla ...

in his honor. In 1826 the two-volume "Narrative of Travels and Discoveries in Northern and Central Africa in the years 1822, 1823, and 1824" was published, describing the African exploits of Oudney, Denham and Clapperton. Scans
Volume 1Volume 2
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References

Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine
Death of Dr. Oudney
CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names
by Umberto Quattrocchi Scottish explorers 19th-century Scottish medical doctors British explorers of Africa 19th-century British explorers 1790 births 1824 deaths {{Explorer-stub