John Hanning Speke, the English soldier and explorer who discovered the source of the River Nile, at rest in a Somerset church in the village of Dowlish Wake.

John Hanning Speke was born 190 years ago this month in Bideford, Devonshire on 4th May 1827 and July sees the 155th anniversary of his discovery and mapping of the source of the Nile.

His family moved to Jordans, a country house north-west of Ilminster in Somerset.  Regrettably the house no longer exists as it became derelict and was demolished 1964.

At the age of 17 Speke joined the Indian army and fought in the First and Second Anglo-Sikh wars, he also volunteered for service in the Crimean War and served with a Turkish regiment.  During his time in the Army he formed a lifetime friendship with fellow officer James Grant, who would accompany him on many of his expeditions.

After several lengthy and hazardous expeditions exploring East Africa, in 1862 Speke identified Lake Victoria as the source of the River Nile.

He died on 15th September 1864 at Neston Park, his uncle’s estate at Corsham, Wiltshire.  Out on a shoot, Speke accidently shot himself while climbing over a wall.  Some suggested it was suicide due to a dispute with contemporary explorer Richard Burton over the accuracy of Speke’s discoveries, but the fatal wound was below the armpit which made that very unlikely.

He was laid to rest at St. Andrews Church in the village of Dowlish Wake 2 miles south east of Ilminster in South Somerset, The Manor there being the ancestral home of the Speke family from the end of the 15th century until 1920.

Dr. David Livingstone and Sir Roderick Murchison, President of the Royal Geographical Society attended his funeral, as did James Grant.

St. Andrew's Church in the village of Dowlish Wake in South Somerset.  Final resting place of John Hanning Speke, English soldier and explorer.

Of Speke and St. Andrew’s Church Edward Hutton writes in his Highways and Byways in Somerset (Macmillan & Co, 1921): “On the north wall is the monument and bust of Captain John Speke the African explorer, who discovered the sources of the Nile and died in 1864, having after all his adventures accidentally shot himself while partridge shooting.”

Paul Newman in his Somerset Villages (Robert Hale – London, 1986) describes Dowlish Wake as being: “Set astride a valley, where Wall Brook, Stretton Water and other tiny streams congregate, it is a place of shorn lawns, fords and footbridges.”

To find this picturesque village follow the signs east off the A358 between Peasmarsh and Donyatt, north of Chard.  The country lanes become narrower and the road signs hide in the hedgerows, but Dowlish Wake is well worth seeking out.