John Petherick
John Petherick (* 1813 in Glamorganshire, † July 15, 1882 in London) was a Welsh Africa traveler and mining engineer. He was the first Briton, who for many years (15 years, with interruptions ) lived in Sudan.
Life
In 1845, Petherick entered the service of Muhammad Ali Pasha and was involved in an unsuccessful search for coal in Upper Egypt, Nubia, Kordofan, and on the coast of the Red Sea.
In 1848 he left the Egyptian service and was dealer in al - Ubayyid, where he made mainly with gum arabic shops. At the same time he became a representative of the British consul in Sudan. In 1853 he moved to Khartoum and acted there with ivory. He traveled extensively in the Bahr al - Ghazal region, where he explored the tributaries Sue -Jur, Yalo and other of the Bahr al - Ghazal.
In 1858, he advanced to the Azande. His contribution to the natural history is remarkable; White neck Moorantilope and Shoebill were his discoveries. 1859 Petherick returned back to England, where he made acquaintance with the African explorer John Hanning Speke, who was preparing for an expedition to the sources of the Nile. Pitt Rivers acquired via the Royal United Services Institute a large part of Petherick brought by African objects.
During his stay in England he married Katherine Edelman and published about his travels.
1861 Petherick returned with the rank of consul in the Sudan; his wife accompanied him. On behalf of the Royal Geographical Society he should create inventories for John Hanning Speke and James Augustus Grant after Gondokoro. In 1862 Petherick sent boats to Gondokoro, but Speke and Grant do not surfaced. Petherick asked a local troupe that was sent to the south to take on the missing persons. Meanwhile undertook Petherick and his wife another trip to the Bahr al - Ghazal, where they built an important collection of plants and fish. They returned in February 1863 back to Gondokoro where I already was one of their boats with supplies. Four days earlier, Speke and Grant had arrived and been received by the explorer Samuel Baker. Speke threw Petherick ago not to have fulfilled its obligations to him and Grant. This is unfounded. Another accusation that Petherick tolerated the slave trade and even participate in it, without any foundation. In fact, Petherick tried in his role as British consul to stop the slave trade, however, was the accusations of his opponents initially given credence. The allegations led to the British Foreign Secretary John Russell broke up the British Consulate in Khartoum in 1864.
Pethericks reputation was damaged: He had to shoulder high financial expenditure for support from Speke, also the Pethericks were in poor health. Arrangements of the Sudanese governor Musa Pasha Hamdi translated Pethericks trading activities to an end. The Pethericks remained nothing more than to return to England in 1865.
Back in England, Petherick led a successful fight to his reputation. Counter Speke, however Petherick could not proceed because it had already died in 1864 under mysterious circumstances (accident or suicide). After lengthy efforts Petherick could, with the support of the new British Foreign Secretary Edward Henry Stanley, receive compensation for actions of the Governor Musa Pasha Hamdi by the Egyptian government. 1869 published the Pethericks her book Travels in central Africa, and explorations of the western Nile tributaries, which will also address the allegations of Speke.
Works
- Travels in Central Africa, and explorations of the western Nile tributaries, London, 1869 ( Online)