Monument

Speke

Erection date: 1866

Inscription

{Carved on the front of the plinth:}
In memory of Speke
Victoria Nyanza and the Nile, 1864.

{On a plaque laid into the ground in front:}
John Hanning Speke - Explorer (1827 - 1864)
Speke was the first European, while on an expedition with Richard Burton to East Africa in 1858, to discover Lake Victoria. On a subsequent journey with James Grant in 1862, he confirmed its northern outlet as the source of the Nile.
This memorial was sponsored by Sir Roderick Murchison, President of the Royal Geographical Society. The cost was met by public subscription.
It was designed by Philip Hardwick, R.A. It is constructed from red granite and was quarried and made in Aberdeen, Scotland.
The memorial was erected in 1866. Speke had died two years earlier in a shooting accident by his own gun immediately before a debate with Burton about the source of the Nile.

This plaque was erected in 1995 by the Friends of Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens.

'Victoria Nyanza' means 'Lake Victoria'.

Site: Speke (1 memorial)

W2, Kensington Gardens

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This section lists the subjects commemorated on the memorial on this page:
Speke

Subjects commemorated i

Richard Francis Burton

Explorer. Born Devon. He and his wife Isabel, have a very unusual tomb at St ...

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James Augustus Grant

Explorer. born Nairn, Scotland.

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John Hanning Speke

Explorer. Born Devon. The first European, while on an expedition with Richard...

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This section lists the subjects who helped to create/erect the memorial on this page:
Speke

Created by i

Philip Charles Hardwick

Architect of St Barts Hospital in 1861. Son of architect Philip Hardwick. We ...

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Sir Roderick Murchison

Born Tarradale, Ross and Cromarty. Had a successful army career and was set t...

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