Background
Thomas Edward Bowdich was born on the 20th of June, 1791 in Bristol, United Kingdom.
Thomas Edward Bowdich was born on the 20th of June, 1791 in Bristol, United Kingdom.
In 1818, Bowdich returned to England, and in 1819 published an account of his mission and of the study he had made of the court of Kumasi, entitled Mission from Cape Coast Castle to Ashantee, &c. (London, 1819). He later presented his Ashanti collections to the British Museum. Bowdich publicly attacked the management of the African committee, and his strictures were instrumental in leading the British government to assume direct control over the Gold Coast.
From 1820 to 1822, Bowdich lived in Paris, studying mathematics and the natural sciences, and was on intimate terms with Georges Cuvier, Alexander von Humboldt and other savants.
During his stay in France he edited several works on Africa, and also wrote scientific works.. Angola and Mozambique (London, 1824).
However, Bowdich died from malaria while in Bathurst on 10 January 1824, leaving his widow Sarah with three children. His widow, Sarah (Wallis) Bowdich Lee, published an account of his last journey, entitled Excursions in Madeira and Porto Santo.
. to which is added A Narrative of the Continuance of the Voyage to its Completion, &c (London, 1825).
Bowdich"s daughter, Mrs Tedlie Hutchison Hale, republished in 1873, with an introductory preface, her father"s Mission from Cape Coast Castle to Ashantee. Bowdich, Thomas Edward (1819). Mission from Cape Coast Castle to Ashantee, with a statistical account of that kingdom, and geographical notices of other parts of the interior of Africa.
London: J. Murray.
Bowdich, T. Edward (1873), Mission from Cape Coast Castle to Ashantee, with a Descriptive Account of that Kingdom, London: Griffith & Farran
Bowdich, T. East. (1822). Elements of Conchology Including the Fossil Genera and the Animals, by T. Edward Bowdich. Treuttel and Würtz.
Thomas Edward Bowdich completed peace negotiations with the Ashanti empire on behalf of the African Company of Merchants, which resulted in the extension of British influence as well as in the annexation of the Gold Coast colony.
