Alexander Gordon Laing

Major Alexander Gordon Laing (27 December 179426 September 1826) was a Scottish explorer and the first European to reach Timbuktu, arriving there via the north-to-south route in August 1826. He was killed five weeks after he departed Timbuktu.

Early life Laing was born in Edinburgh in late 1794. He was educated by his father, William Laing, who was a private teacher of classics, and at the University of Edinburgh. In 1811, he went to Barbados as clerk to his maternal uncle Colonel Gabriel Gordon.

Military service Through General Sir George Beckwith, the governor of Barbados, he obtained an ensigncy in the York Light Infantry Volunteers in 1813. He was promoted lieutenant without purchase in 1815 and transferred to the 2nd West India Regiment after his former regiment was disbanded in 1817. In 1822 he transferred into the Royal African Colonial Corps as a captain. In that year, while with his regiment at Sierra Leone, he was sent by the governor Sir Charles MacCarthy, to the Mandingo country, with the double object of opening up commerce and endeavouring to abolish the slave trade in that region. Later that year, Laing visited Falaba, the capital of the Solimana country, and ascertained the source of the Rokel. He endeavoured to reach the source of the Niger, but was stopped by the natives. He was, however, able to fix it with approximate accuracy. Joseph Banks, president of the African Association, supported his project, hoping that the expedition would reveal the location of Timbuktu. Henry, 3rd Earl Bathurst, then secretary for the colonies, instructed Captain Laing to undertake a journey, via Tripoli and Timbuktu, to further elucidate the hydrography of the Niger basin. Laing left England in February 1825, and at Tripoli on 14 July he married Emma Warrington, daughter of the British consul. Two days later, leaving his bride behind, he started to cross the Sahara, accompanied by a sheikh who was subsequently accused of planning his murder. Ghadames was reached, by an indirect route, in October 1825, and in December Laing reached In Salah in the Tuat territory, where he was well received by one particular group of Tuareg.

Aftermath

Laing's papers were never recovered, and his father-in-law, Hanmer Warrington, accused the French (who also wanted to reach Timbuktu) of interference and having procured Laing's journal; however, there has never been any evidence for this.

In 1903, the French government placed a tablet bearing Laing's name and the date of his visit on the house occupied by him during his 38-day stay in Timbuktu. This house, located in the Djingareiber district, inside the old town, was declared a National Heritage by decree of 18 December 1992.