Richard Lander


Richard Lemon Lander was an English explorer of western Africa. He and his brother John were the first Europeans to follow the course of the River Niger, and discover that it led to the Atlantic.

Biography

Lander was the son of a Truro innkeeper, born in the Fighting Cocks Inn the musket ball is in the Rotunda museum of artillery at Woolwich.

Legacy

In Truro, a monument to his memory by English sculptor Neville Northey Burnard stands at the top of Lemon Street and Richard Lander School is named in his honour also housing estate Trelander which in Cornish means home or town of Lander.The building of the column commenced in 1835. In 1832 he became the first winner of the Royal Geographical Society Founder's Medal, "for important services in determining the course and termination of the Niger".
To mark the 200th anniversary of the birth of Richard Lander and celebrate the Lander brothers’ remarkable achievements an 'Expedition of Goodwill' was sent in November 2004 to retrace their historic river journey.

Publications