Cockburn, William Alexander Crawford (1863-1924)
Titles
Major, Mr.
Description
William Alexander Crawford Cockburn served in the Niger Coast Protectorate Force from 1896 to 1901. He was the deputy chief of staff on the British Military Campaign on Benin City in 1897 and a commandant in Benin City, 1898–99 (British Museum website[279]). During the colonial expedition, he was responsible for ‘ascertain[ing] the nature of the country between Ceri [Ukhiri] and Ologbo... Read more
William Alexander Crawford Cockburn served in the Niger Coast Protectorate Force from 1896 to 1901. He was the deputy chief of staff on the British Military Campaign on Benin City in 1897 and a commandant in Benin City, 1898–99 (British Museum website).
During the colonial expedition, he was responsible for ‘ascertain the nature of the country between Ceri and Ologbo Beach on both sides of the creek’ (Rawson, 1897). In Benin City, he looted an important number of objects, some of which were lost in the fire: ‘a beautiful Aken'ni Elao (Altar Tusk)"> and some fine Uhunmwu-Ẹkuẹ (Pendant Mask)">’ (Phillips, 2021, 145).
There are seventy-three objects in the collections of the British Museum that were bought in 1897 (sixty-nine pieces) or donated by Cockburn (Hicks, 2020, 156).
Roles
Member of the British Colonial Military Campaign on Benin, February 1897,Soldier,Collected in the fieldPlaces of contact
Benin City, NGExternal biography links
Edo designations
English designations
Categories
Institutions
Provenance names
70 objects
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