Frank Hatton (31 August 1861 – 1 March 1883) was an English geologist and

explorer Exploration refers to the historical practice of discovering remote lands. It is studied by geographers and historians. Two major eras of exploration occurred in human history: one of convergence, and one of divergence. The first, covering most ...

, who died young from an accidental shooting in the Bornean jungle. He was the second child of the journalist

Joseph Hatton Joseph Paul Christopher Hatton (3 February 1837 (baptised in Andover 22 March 1837) – 31 July 1907) was an English novelist and journalist. He was Editor of ''The Sunday Times'' from 1874 to 1881. Life Hatton was born and baptised in Andover, ...

, who wrote a biographical preface to the book on North Borneo published posthumously based on field notes.

Biography

Frank was born at

Horfield Horfield is a suburb of the city of Bristol, in southwest England. It lies on Bristol's northern edge, its border with Filton marking part of the boundary between Bristol and South Gloucestershire. Bishopston lies directly to the south. Monk ...

near Bristol and was educated at Marcy, near

Lille Lille ( , ; nl, Rijsel ; pcd, Lile; vls, Rysel) is a city in the northern part of France, in French Flanders. On the river Deûle, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Pref ...

in France and later King's College School. He went to study at the

Royal School of Mines The Royal School of Mines comprises the departments of Earth Science and Engineering, and Materials at Imperial College London. The Centre for Advanced Structural Ceramics and parts of the London Centre for Nanotechnology and Department of Bioe ...

in London where he won the Frankland prize of the Institute of Chemistry. With a keen interest in the study of geology, he joined the British North Borneo Company as a mineral explorer and set off on his first expedition, leaving London in August 1881. He reached Labuan in October and Abai in November. He explored the Sequati and Kurina rivers before recouping at Singapore and in the summer of 1882 he visited the Labuk river followed by Kinoram district. Frank had been extremely interested in exploration, with a knowledge of local dialects and well read on the works of earlier explorers. News of his death came from the servants who accompanied Hatton into the forest. The story was told to Andrew Beveridge, an Australian gold miner who was present at the time. His last words were uttered in Malay to an assistant named Odeen. Odeen would later serve as a servant to

Herbert Ward Herbert may refer to: People Individuals * Herbert (musician), a pseudonym of Matthew Herbert Name * Herbert (given name) * Herbert (surname) Places Antarctica * Herbert Mountains, Coats Land * Herbert Sound, Graham Land Australia * Herbert, ...

. Both Beveridge and the coroner, Dr J. H. Walker had some doubts about the accounts and the available evidence. The official explanation was that he was killed when his Winchester rifle, entangled in the forest vegetation, went off while he was pursuing an elephant. After his death, his body was brought by several days of canoe journey on the Kinabatangan River to Elopura. An enquiry pointed to accidental death and he was buried at Sandakan cemetery. After his death, his father and friends established a Frank Hatton prize for the best student in organic chemistry, awarded each year by the Royal School of Mines and Normal College of Science, Kensington (now part of

Imperial College Imperial College London (legally Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom. Its history began with Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, who developed his vision for a cu ...

) where Frank had carried out his undergraduate studies.

Joseph Conrad Joseph Conrad (born Józef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski, ; 3 December 1857 – 3 August 1924) was a Poles in the United Kingdom#19th century, Polish-British novelist and short story writer. He is regarded as one of the greatest writers in t ...

was inspired by the stories of Hatton's travels and incorporated some ideas from them. Frank's publications included a note on ''The Adventures of a Drop of Thames Water'' to the Whitehall Review and two papers- ''On the Action of Bacteria on Various Gases,'' and ''On the Influence of Intermittent Filtration through Sand and Spongy Iron on Animal and Vegetable Matters dissolved in Water, and the Reduction of Nitrates by savage and other agents.'' File:Elopura.jpg, Elopura where Frank Hatton's body was brought File:Sandakan-Sabah-TombstoneFrankHatton-01.jpg, Hatton's tombstone at the Christian Cemetery Sandakan

References

External links

The strange death of British explorer Frank Hatton in North Borneo
by Patricia Hului (Kajomag: September 3, 2019)
North Borneo; explorations and adventures on the equator
(1885) 1861 births 1883 deaths 19th-century British geologists English explorers {{UK-geologist-stub