IDENTITY STATEMENT
Reference code(s): GB 0402 DD
Held at: Royal Geographical Society
Title: DENHAM, Dixon (1786-1828)
Date(s): 1815-1827
Level of description: Collection (fonds)
Extent: 3 boxes and some oversized files stored separately.
Name of creator(s): Denham | Dixon | 1786-1828 | explorer in Africa | Major
CONTEXT
Administrative/Biographical history:
Born, 1786; educated, Merchant Taylors' School, 1793-; briefly articled to a London solicitor; joined the army as a volunteer, 1811 and served in the Peninsula and in Belgium; instructor at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, 1818; led the expedition to trace the course of the Niger, 1822-1825; fellow of the Royal Society; appointment to reorganize the Liberated African department, Sierra Leone, 1827-1828; died, 1828.
Publications: Narrative of Travels and Discoveries in Northern and Central Africa (1826)
CONTENT
Scope and content/abstract:
Journals, notebooks, papers and letters of Maj Dixon Denham, 1815-1827, chiefly relating to the Denham / Clapperton / Oudney expedition from Tripoli to Bornu 1821-1825; also including diaries kept during the Waterloo campaign and subsequent travels around Europe; papers relating to Ensign Tootle and to the Sahara expedition of 1822-1824.
ACCESS AND USE
Language/scripts of material: English, also some items in Arabic
System of arrangement:
34 files, many with sub-files, items have been brought together from disparate sources over time and have not undergone any arrangement beyond the internal structure of the files.
Conditions governing access:
Open by appointment only, subject to completion of application form. Non-Fellows require a letter of reference.
Conditions governing reproduction:
Photocopying at Archivist's discretion, and subject to completion of 'application for copies' form. No reproduction or publication without permission of the RGS-IBG Archivist.
Physical characteristics:
Many items are fragile.
Finding aids:
The RGS archives: a handlist / compiled by Christine Kelly. London: RGS, 1977.
ARCHIVAL INFORMATION
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling information:
Accruals:
Archival history:
Immediate source of acquisition:
Bulk of collection donated to the RGS by Maj. C. H. Denham in 1889.
ALLIED MATERIALS
Existence and location of originals:
Existence and location of copies:
Related material:
Publication note:
DESCRIPTION NOTES
Note:
Archivist's note: Prepared by Huw Thomas, Archives Assistant using existing finding aids, DNB entry. Revised by Sarah Drewery.
Sources: Oxford DNB.
Date(s) of descriptions: 15th June 2000; Nov 2008.