METHWOLD (Method), William. Baptised in South Pickenham near Swaffham, Norfolk 1590 — Kensington (London) 5.3.1653. British Merchant and Traveller in India. Son of Thomas M. and Susanna Hogan. Aged 16 he was apprenticed to a merchant, served four years in London and five in Middelburg, the Netherlands. In 1615 accepted as Persian…
MANTEGAZZA, Paolo. Monza, Lombardy 31.10.1831 — San Terenzo, Lerici, Liguria 28.8.1910. Italian Physician, Author and Traveller, also a Darwinian Anthropologist. Son of Giovanni Battista M. and Laura Solar, a wealthy family. The mother was known as a social reformer and friend of Garibaldi. Studies at Pisa and Milano, M.D. 1854…
MACGREGOR, Charles Metcalfe. Agra 12.8.1840 — Cairo 5.2.1887. Sir. British (Scottish) Colonial Officer, Geographer and Explorer in India. Son of Major Robert Guthrie M. of Bengal army. Educated at Marlborough College. At the age of 16 joined Indian army and had immediately to fight the 1857 uprising. Further military service in…
LE GOUZ DE LA BOULLAYE, François. Baugé, Anjou 1623 (or 1610?) — Isfahan 1668. French Traveller. Born in a family of English origin, he served in the French troops of Charles I. Back in France in 1644 he soon left via Constantinople to Persia, posing himself as Ibrāhīm Bey. He continued…
LANDON, Perceval. Hastings, Sussex 29.3.1869 — London 23.7.1927. British Author, Traveller and Journalist. Son of Rev. Edward Henry Landon, of Huguenot descent, and Caroline Perceval. Educated at Forest School in Walthamstow. From 1888 studies at Hertford College, Oxford, graduated 1892. Called to the bar from Inner Temple. In 1899-1900 war…
HAMILTON, Alexander. 16?? — after 1733. British Sea Captain. First sailed in Europe, North Africa and West Indies. In 1688-1723 trading and travelling in the East, operating from Surat. In 1717 commander of E.I.C.’s Bombay Navy, suppressing pirates. Publications: A New Account of the East Indies. 1-2. 29+8+396+309+10 p. Edinburgh…
GUIMET, Émile-Étienne. Lyon 2.6.1836 — Fleurieu-sur-Saône near Lyon 12.10.1918. French Industrialist, Traveller and Collectioner, the Founder of Musée Guimet. Son of Jean-Baptiste G. (1795–1871), chemist and founder of the family industry, and Zélie (Rosalie) Bidault (1798–1876), a paintress and musician. In early years he concentrated on art and music (studied…
GODINHO DE ERÉDIA, Manuel. Malacca 16.7.1563 — 1623. Indonesian-Portuguese Author and Cartographer. Son of João de Erédia Aquaviva, an officer of Aragonese-Italian background and Dona Elena Vessiva (d. 1575), a noblewoman from Sulawesi. Educated at Jesuit school in Malacca and at Jesuit College in Goa, trained in astronomy, cartography and…
FRASER, James Baillie. Edinburgh (or Reelig) 11.6.1783 — Reelig (Moniack) near Inverness 23.1.1856. 15th Laird of Reelig. British (Scottish) Artist and Traveller. Son of Edward Satchell Fr., grandson of —> James Fraser. Educated at home and in Edinburgh. In 1799-1811 in Guyana in care of the family’s sugar and cotton…
EFREMOV, Filipp Sergeevič. 1750 — after 1811. Russian Traveller. From Vjatka (now Kirov). He was Sergeant of Russian army, taken prisoner by a band of Cossacks and sold as slave in Bukhara in 1774. Having succefully escaped two years later he travelled through Kashgar and Ladakh to Kashmir and via…