__NOTOC__ William John Burchell (23 July 1781 – 23 March 1863) was an English

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 ...

, naturalist, traveller, artist, and author. His thousands of plant specimens, as well as field journals from his South African expedition, are held by Kew Gardens, and his insect collection by the

Oxford University Museum The Oxford University Museum of Natural History, sometimes known simply as the Oxford University Museum or OUMNH, is a museum displaying many of the University of Oxford's natural history specimens, located on Parks Road in Oxford, England. It a ...

Early life and education

William John Burchell was born in

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...

, London, the son of Matthew Burchell, botanist and owner of Fulham Nursery, and his wife. His father owned nine and a half acres of land adjacent to the gardens of

Fulham Palace Fulham Palace, in Fulham, London, previously in the former English county of Middlesex, is a Grade I listed building with medieval origins and was formerly the principal residence of the Bishop of London. The site was the country home of the ...

. Burchell served a botanical apprenticeship at

Kew Kew () is a district in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Its population at the 2011 census was 11,436. Kew is the location of the Royal Botanic Gardens ("Kew Gardens"), now a World Heritage Site, which includes Kew Palace. Kew is a ...

and was elected F.L.S. (Fellow of the Linnaen Society) in 1803. At about this time, he became enamoured of Lucia Green of Fulham, but faced strong disapproval from his parents when he broached the idea of an engagement.

Career

On 7 August 1805 Burchell at the age of 24 sailed for

St. Helena Saint Helena () is a British overseas territory located in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is a remote volcanic tropical island west of the coast of south-western Africa, and east of Rio de Janeiro in South America. It is one of three constit ...

aboard the

East Indiaman East Indiaman was a general name for any sailing ship operating under charter or licence to any of the East India trading companies of the major European trading powers of the 17th through the 19th centuries. The term is used to refer to vesse ...

intending to set up there as a merchant with a partner from London, William Balcombe (1779-1829). After a year of trading, Burchell did not want to continue and dissolved the partnership. Three months later he accepted a position as schoolmaster on the island and later as official botanist. In 1810 he sailed to the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa on the recommendation of Gen. J.W. Janssens to explore and to add to his botanical collection. Burchell's intended wife had jilted him for the captain of the boat taking her to St. Helena to join him. Landing at Table Bay on 26 November 1810, after stormy weather had prevented a landing for 13 days, Burchell set about planning an expedition into the interior. He left Cape Town in June 1811. Burchell travelled in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

through 1815, collecting over 50,000 specimens, and covering more than 7000 km, much over unexplored terrain. He described his journey in ''Travels in the Interior of Southern Africa'', a two-volume work appearing in 1822 and 1824. (It was reprinted in 1967 by C. Struik of Cape Town.) He is believed to have planned a third volume, since the second ends long before he completed his journey. On 25 August 1815 he sailed from Cape Town with 48 crates of specimens aboard the vessel ''Kate,'' calling at

and reaching Fulham on 11 November 1815. Given his experience and knowledge of South Africa, in 1819 Burchell was closely questioned by a select committee of the

British House of Commons The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the upper house, the House of Lords, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. The House of Commons is an elected body consisting of 650 mem ...

about the suitability of the area for emigration. The

1820 Settlers The 1820 Settlers were several groups of British colonists from England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales, settled by the government of the United Kingdom and the Cape Colony authorities in the Eastern Cape of South Africa in 1820. Origins After th ...

went out from England a year later. He spent time cataloguing and processing his specimens, and raising funds for his next expedition. Burchell travelled in

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

between 1825 and 1830, again collecting a large number of specimens, including more than 20,000

insect Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body ( head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs ...

s. The journals covering his Brazil expedition are missing, as are his diaries relating to his later travels. His field note books, detailing his plant collections, are held in the collection of Kew Gardens. Historians have used them to reconstruct the latter part of his trip. Burchell's extensive African collections included plants, animal skins, skeletons, insects, seeds, bulbs and fish. After his death, his plant specimens, drawings and manuscripts, both South African and Brazilian, were presented by his sister, Anna Burchell, to

Kew Gardens Kew Gardens is a botanical garden, botanic garden in southwest London that houses the "largest and most diverse botany, botanical and mycology, mycological collections in the world". Founded in 1840, from the exotic garden at Kew Park, its li ...

and the insects to

. He is known for the copious and accurate notes he made to accompany every collected specimen, detailing habit and habitat, as well as the numerous drawings and paintings of landscapes, portraits, costumes, people, animals and plants. Burchell died in Fulham in 1863, ending his own life by hanging himself in a small outhouse in his garden, after a non-fatal suicide attempt by shooting. He is buried near his home at

All Saints Church, Fulham All Saints' Church is the ancient parish church of Fulham, in the County of Middlesex, pre-dating the Reformation. It is now an Anglican church in Fulham, London, sited close to the River Thames, beside the northern approach to Putney Bridge. ...

Published works

* *

Legacy and honours

He is commemorated in the

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispec ...

plant genus '' Burchellia'' R. Br. Numerous animal species were named for him:

Burchell's zebra Burchell's zebra (''Equus quagga burchellii'') is a southern subspecies of the plains zebra. It is named after the British explorer and naturalist William John Burchell. Common names include bontequagga, Damaraland zebra, and Zululand zebra (John ...

, Burchell's coucal,

Burchell's sandgrouse Burchell's sandgrouse (''Pterocles burchelli'') is a species of bird in the family Pteroclidae. It is found in arid and semi-arid regions of southern Africa. The name of this bird commemorates the English naturalist William John Burchell. Descr ...

Burchell's courser Burchell's courser (''Cursorius rufus'') is a wader in the pratincole and courser family, Glareolidae. The name of this bird commemorates the English naturalist William John Burchell. Native to Africa, Burchell's courser is a small, diurnal, an ...

, and the ''

Eciton burchellii ''Eciton burchellii'' is a species of New World army ant in the genus ''Eciton''. This species performs expansive, organized swarm raids that give it the informal name, ''Eciton'' army ant. This species displays a high degree of worker polymorp ...

'' army ant. A species of African lizard, ''

Pedioplanis burchelli ''Pedioplanis burchelli'', known commonly as Burchell's sand lizard, is a species of lizard in the family Lacertidae. The species is native to Southern Africa. Etymology The specific name, ''burchelli'', is in honor of William John Burchell ...

'', is named in his honour. ("Burchell", p. 43).

Gallery

References

External links

* *
Trekking Burchell’s Wagon Route

Burchell’s Travels by Bike; 2010
Motorcycle trip along his SA route with pictures. {{DEFAULTSORT:Burchell, William John 1781 births 1863 deaths Botanists with author abbreviations Burials at All Saints Church, Fulham English botanists English explorers English naturalists English zoologists Explorers of Africa Fellows of the Linnean Society of London People from Fulham Suicides in London Zoological collectors Suicides by hanging in England