Harrow School, 5 High Street, Harrow HA1 3HP, United Kingdom
James Bruce was educated initially at Harrow School in England, ostensibly because his mother had died, but possibly to keep him away from any Jacobite influences or leanings he may have potentially developed during that time.
College/University
Gallery of James Bruce
University of Edinburgh, Old College, South Bridge, Edinburgh, Scotland EH8 9YL, United Kingdom
In May 1747, James Bruce enrolled at the University of Edinburgh to study law, but after graduating he decided not to practice.
Career
Achievements
Membership
Royal Society of Edinburgh
1774
Royal Society of Edinburgh, 22-26 George Street, Edinburgh, EH2 2PQ, Scotland, United Kingdom
In 1774 James Bruce was made a Fellow of The Royal Society of Edinburgh, joining the ranks of those such as James Young and David Hume.
Royal Society
1776
Royal Society, 6-9 Carlton House Terrace, St. James's, London SW1Y 5AG, United Kingdom
In 1776, James Bruce was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society.
Harrow School, 5 High Street, Harrow HA1 3HP, United Kingdom
James Bruce was educated initially at Harrow School in England, ostensibly because his mother had died, but possibly to keep him away from any Jacobite influences or leanings he may have potentially developed during that time.
James Bruce, also known as James Bruce of Kinnaird, was a British traveler and travel writer, who spent more than a dozen years in North Africa and Ethiopia, where he traced the origins of the Blue Nile.
Background
Ethnicity:
His father was the incumbent laird of Kinnaird and the family were descendants of the noble Bruce family of Scotland.
James Bruce was born on December 14, 1730, at the family seat of Kinnaird, Stirlingshire, Scotland, the son of David Bruce, laird of Kinnaird, and Marion, daughter of Judge James Graham, dean of faculty at Edinburgh University.
Education
Bruce was educated initially at Harrow School in England, ostensibly because his mother had died, but possibly to keep him away from any Jacobite influences or leanings he may have potentially developed during that time. When Bruce was 15 years old, the final Jacobite rebellion was in full swing, and was only finally defeated the following year at the Battle of Culloden.
In May 1747, James Bruce enrolled at the University of Edinburgh to study law, but after graduating he decided not to practice.
After his marriage, however, Bruce entered into business as a wine merchant, but soon gave up any active share in the concern. His wife had died within a year of their marriage, and Bruce, after acquiring a knowledge of the Spanish and Portuguese languages, traveled on the Continent for some time, returning to England in 1758.
He then made a proposal to the English Government that they should make a descent upon Spain at Ferrol, assuring them from his own observation that the coast was without defense at that place. His suggestions were not adopted; but Lord Halifax, to whom he had been introduced, and who had consulted him about the exploration of the Nile, appointed him soon afterwards to the consulship at Algiers.
James Bruce arrived at that place in March 1762, and after spending a year in the study of Arabic and other Oriental languages, set out through Tunis, Tripoli, and the North of Africa. He then visited Rhodes and Cyprus, and explored a great part of Syria and Palestine, making very careful drawings of Palmyra and Baalbec. These drawings were afterwards presented to the king and placed in the royal library at Kew.
It was not till June 1768 that Bruce arrived at Alexandria, and prepared to start on his great exploring expedition. From Cairo he sailed up the river as far as Syene; he then struck across the desert to Kosseir, and reached Jidda in May 1769. He remained for some time in Arabia, set sail from Loheia on September 3 and on September 19 arrived at Massowah. There he was detained for some time; but at last, on February 15, 1770, he made his way to Gondar, the capital of Abyssinia. He gained great favour with the Abyssinian king, and remained with him till October, when he set off up the Bahr-el-Azrek, which he looked upon as the main branch of the Nile. On November 14 he reached the sources of the Bahr-el-Azrek, and proudly imagined himself to have solved the great geographical problem. Slowly and with great difficulty, he made his way back through the deserts of Nubia. On November 29, 1772, he reached Assouan on the Nile. Thence he returned into the heart of the desert to recover his baggage, which had been abandoned in consequence of the death of all his camels.
In January 1773 James Bruce arrived at Cairo. On his way home to England, he spent some time at Paris, where he was warmly received by Buffon and other eminent men of science. The celebrated Travels did not appear till 1790, when they were published in five large quarto volumes, profusely illustrated. The work was received with favor on account of its freshness and interest, but with almost universal incredulity. The Travels were looked upon as veritable travellers' tales, not entitled to any respect as an authentic narrative. Succeeding investigations, however, have thoroughly dispelled these suspicions, and reinstated the book in popular estimation. Bruce died in 1794, in consequence of a fall down the staircase of his own house. The second edition of his work, on which he was engaged at the time of his death, was published in 1804.
James Bruce was a Freemason. He was Initiated in Lodge Canongate Kilwinning, No. 2, on August 1, 1753.
Royal Society of Edinburgh
,
United Kingdom
1774
Royal Society
,
United Kingdom
1776
Personality
James Bruce had an irascible temper, and it is no wonder that so much excitement and mystery surrounded the man. In addition, it was said that Bruce was fluent in 13 languages.
Physical Characteristics:
James Bruce was 6 feet 4 inches tall, large and well proportioned, of strength corresponding to his stature and face elegantly formed, his air noble and commanding.
Connections
On February 3, 1754, James Bruce married Adriana Allan, the daughter of a deceased Scottish wine merchant, who died of consumption a year later.
In May 1776, he married Mary Dundas, the daughter of his neighbour Sir Thomas Dundas, with whom he had three children. On February 10, 1785, aged 31 years, his second wife died.