11 Facts About Hugh Clapperton

Bain Hugh Clapperton was a British naval officer and explorer of West and Central Africa.

Hugh Clapperton gained some knowledge of practical mathematics and navigation, and at thirteen was apprenticed on board a vessel which traded between Liverpool and North America.

In 1814 Hugh Clapperton went to Canada, where he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant, and to the command of a schooner on the Canadian lakes.

In 1820 Hugh Clapperton transferred to Edinburgh, where he made the acquaintance of Walter Oudney, who aroused his interest in African exploration.

Undeterred, Hugh Clapperton continued his journey alone through Kano to Sokoto, the capital of the Fulani Empire, where by order of Sultan Muhammed Bello he was obliged to stop, though the Niger was only a five-day journey to the west.

Immediately after his return to England, Hugh Clapperton was raised to the rank of commander, and sent out with another expedition to Africa, the sultan Bello of Sokoto having professed his eagerness to open up trade with the west coast.

Hugh Clapperton came out on HMS Brazen, which was joining the West Africa Squadron for the suppression of the slave trade.

Hugh Clapperton landed at Badagry in the Bight of Benin, and started overland for the Niger on 7 December 1825, having with him his servant Richard Lemon Lander, Captain Pearce, and Dr Morrison, navy surgeon and naturalist.

Hugh Clapperton continued his journey, and, passing through the Yoruba country, in January 1826 he crossed the Niger at Bussa, the spot where Mungo Park had died twenty years before.

Hugh Clapperton was the first European to make known from personal observation the Hausa states, which he visited soon after the establishment of the Sokoto Caliphate by the Fula.

Hugh Clapperton was painted in c 1817 by Sir Henry Raeburn, the painting now residing in the United States.