June’s trivia is truly a fascinating personality. Sir Samuel Baker was a world renowned author, hunter and explorer. Several of his books were some of the first to cover ballistics and bullet choice as it applies to hunting. He was one of the world’s best selling authors of his time and was friends with King Edward VII, Queen Alexandra in Egypt. Other friendships were with explorers Henry Morton Stanley, Roderick Murchison, John H. Speke and James A. Grant, with the ruler of Egypt Pasha Ismail The Magnificent, Major-General Charles George Gordon and Maharaja Duleep Singh. He, himself, was a Major General and Pasha of the Ottoman Empire.
As a world famous explorer he discovered Lake Albert while extensively exploring the upper basin of Nile.
Sir Samuel Baker was notorious in Victorian society. On a wild lark with his Royal Highness Maharaja Duleep Singh he took a hunting trip through central Europe. He crossed into present day Bulgaria and attended a slave auction. On a dare they kidnapped one of the “pleasure” slaves on auction, and race across the Balkans and through Hungary. The slave and Sir Baker became a couple, then actually married. Marrying a former slave, especially one from a harem, was not done in Victorian England. Even though Sir Samuel Baker was knighted, and given virtually every accolade and award possible by the British Empire his wife Florence Baker was never allowed to attend court nor was ever accepted by Queen Victoria.
This didn’t phase Sir & Lady Baker one whit. As part of her slave training, she spoke no less than seven languages. She traveled with her husband on his brutally exhausting and dangerous expeditions. She wore men’s clothes and was a crack shot and expert horsewoman. She saved her husband’s life many times.
Animal and mountain named for him….
Subspecies of Roan antelope in his honor: Hippotragus e. bakeri or Baker's antelope.
Mount Baker was named in his honor found in the Rwenzori Mountains of Uganda.