Speke, John Hanning (spēk), 1827–64, English explorer in Africa. He joined Sir Richard Burton in his expeditions to Somaliland (1854) and to E central Africa (1857–59). Together they discovered (1858) Lake Tanganyika; then Speke continued alone and discovered Lake Victoria, which he believed to be a source of the Nile. In 1862 he returned to the lake and proved that the Victoria Nile issues from the north end over Ripon Falls. He wrote Journal of the Discovery of the Source of the Nile (1863).

Bibliography

See biography by A. Maitland (1971).

Speke, John Hanning

(born May 3, 1827, Bideford, Devon, Eng.—died Sept. 15, 1864, Corsham, Wiltshire) British explorer. He was a member of Richard Burton's expedition, and in 1858 Speke and Burton became the first Europeans to reach Lake Tanganyika. On the return trip he left Burton and struck out northward alone. In July 1858 he reached a great lake, which he named Lake Victoria, for the queen. His claim that it was the source of the Nile was questioned, but on a second expedition (1860–63) he found the Nile's exit from the lake. Speke's claim to have found the Nile's source was again challenged in England. He was killed by his own gun while hunting on the very day he was to debate Burton publicly.