See also

William John Burchell (1781-1863)

Name: William John Burchell
Sex: Male
Father: Matthew Burchell (c. 1752-1828)
Mother: Jane Cobb (c. 1754-1841)

Individual Events and Attributes

Birth 23 Jul 1781 Fulham, Middlesex
Census 1841 (age 59-60) Independent, Kings Road, Fulham
Census 1861 (age 79-80) Landed proprietor, Churchfield House, Kings Road, Fulham (unmarried)
Death 23 Mar 1863 (age 81) Churchfield House, Fulham, Middlesex

Individual Note

William John Burchell (23 July 1781 Fulham, London - 23 March 1863 Fulham) was an English explorer, naturalist, traveller, artist and author. Burchell served a botanical apprenticeship at Kew and was elected F.L.S. in 1803. At about this time, he became enamoured of a Miss Lucia Green of Fulham, but faced strong disapproval from his parents when he broached the idea of an engagement. On 7 August 1805 he sailed for St. Helena aboard the East Indiaman "Northumberland" and intended to set up there as a merchant with a partner from London, William Balcombe (1779-1829). A year of trading saw Burchell unhappy with his situation and the partnership was speedily dissolved. Three months later he accepted a position as schoolmaster on the island and later as official botanist.

In 1810 he sailed to the Cape on the recommendation of Gen. J.W. Janssens to explore and to add to his botanical collection. Landing at Table Bay on 26 November 1810, after stormy weather had prevented a landing for 13 days, he set about planning an expedition into the interior, leaving Cape Town in June 1811. Burchell travelled in South Africa until 1815, collecting over 50,000 specimens, and covering over 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.

On 25 August 1815 he sailed from Cape Town with 48 crates of specimens aboard the vessel "Kate", arriving back at Fulham on 11 November 1815. He travelled in Brazil between 1825 and 1830, again collecting a large number of specimens, including over 20,000 insects.

His African collections included plants, animal skins, skeletons, insects, seeds, bulbs and fish. After his death by suicide, the bulk of his plant specimens went to Kew and the insects to Oxford University Museum. 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 is commemorated in the monotypic plant genus Burchellia R. Br., as well as numerous specific names including Burchell's zebra and Burchell's coucal.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_John_Burchell