English writer and traveller in Africa. Born in Bristol, Thomas Edward Bowdich was the son of a hat maker and merchant and, much against his wishes, joined his father's firm as a partner. A promising writer noted for literary style and keen on classics and mathematics, he entered Oxford University in 1813. That same year he married Sarah Wallis who shared his interest in nature and equestrianism. Together they travelled more than 800 miles through Wales by horse, exploring the countryside and studying languages on the way.
In 1814, he secured a writership in the service of the Royal Africa Company, and the following year sailed to Cape Coast Castle, where he was later joined by his wife. In 1816 he led a company expedition inland to the Asante Kingdom and negotiated a controversial treaty with the king which promised peace to the British settlements on the Gold Coast in return for commercial and political co-operation. Returning in poor health to England in 1818, he published a detailed account of the expedition, A Mission from Cape Coast Castle to Ashantee, including a glowing account of Asante customs and culture, of the royal court in the capital of Kumasi, notations of traditional music, vocabularies of common words in several local lanquages, and climate data, all of which attracted much interest. En route for home, the Bowdichs stopped in Gabon where they studied local flora and fauna.
The success of Asante mission, however, did not meet the financial reward Bowdich anticipated (a mere 200 pounds, half of which was spent returning home) and in 1819 he published an attack on the corruption and inefficiency of the Royal Africa Company, which led to the transferring of its forts to the Crown.
An excellent linguist and superb conversationalist, Bowdich now moved to Paris with his wife to study natural science. There they were befriended by such savants of the Institut de France as Humbolt, Denon and Biot, and became protégés of the eminent naturalist George Cuvier, with ready access to his extensive library and collections. To support his family, Bowdich published English translations of several French books, illustrated by Sarah, and an Essay on the Superstitions, Customs, and Arts Common to the Ancient Egyptians, Abyssinians, and Ashantees (1821), the first full-length study of West African culture and history. He also published several works on natural history, including An Introduction to the Ornithology of Cuvier (1821) and Elements of Conchology (1822), both illustrated by lithographs prepared by his wife. The success of these works enabled the Bowdichs to embark on a second expedition to Africa. In August 1822 they sailed to Lisbon, where Bowdich compiled from various manuscripts a complete history of all the Portuguese discoveries in Southern Africa. Continuing on to Madeira, where they remained for 15 months collecting geological, geographical and botanical information, they then travelled to Gambia, where Bowdich began a trigonometric survey of the river.
His enthusiasm for scientific observation is said to have cost him his life there. While taking astronomical observations at night, he caught cold; a fever followed, resulting in his death at age 33 on 10 January 1824. His last published manuscript, Excursions in Madeira and Porto Santo, was later illustrated and published by his wife. The genus Bowdichia Kunth was named in his honour.
