Sir Richard Francis Burton (1821-1890), soldier and writer, was born at Barham House, Hertfordshire, on 19 March 1821. He entered Trinity College, Oxford, in 1840, but did not graduate. He became a cadet in the Indian army in 1842, and was appointed ensign to the 18th regiment of the Bombay native infantry, eventually becoming captain. While in India he studied languages and developed a knowledge of Mu culture. He returned to England in 1849, and published three philological works on Asiatic languages in 1849, and volumes on India, 1851-1853. He made a pilgrimage to Mecca in 1853, and explored Somaliland during 1854. After serving in the Crimea in 1855, he was part of an expedition to the Nile, 1856-1859, then travelled in North America, 1860. He was British consul at Fernando Po, 1861-1865, Santos, 1865-1869, Damascus, 1869-1871, and Trieste, 1872, and during this period he went on journeys to explore the surrounding areas. He visited the Gold Coast in 1881-1882 before spending his later years writing. He died at Trieste on 20 October 1890.

Charles Edward Jewel Whitting (1900-1973) was the author of 'Hausa and Fulani proverbs' (Lagos, 1940).