Charles Tilstone Beke

Who was Charles Tilstone Beke?

Charles Tilstone Beke was an English traveller, geographer and Biblical critic. Born in Stepney, London, the son of a merchant in the City of London, for a few years Beke engaged in mercantile pursuits. He later studied law at Lincoln's Inn, and for a time practised at the Bar, but finally devoted himself to the study of historical, geographical and ethnographical subjects.

The first fruits of Beke's researches appeared in his work Origines Biblicae or Researches in Primeval History, published in 1834. An attempt to reconstruct the early history of the human race from geological data, it raised a storm of opposition on the part of defenders of the traditional readings of the Book of Genesis; but in recognition of the value of the work the University of Tübingen conferred upon him the degree of Ph.D..

Between 1837 and 1838, Beke held the post of acting British consul in Saxony. From that time until his death, his attention was largely given to geographical studies, chiefly of the Nile valley. Aided by private friends, he visited Ethiopia in connection with the mission to Shewa sent by the Indian government under the leadership of Major William Cornwallis Harris, and explored Gojjam and more southern regions up to that time unknown to Europeans. Among other achievements, Beke was the first to determine, with any approach to scientific accuracy, the course of the Abay River. The valuable results of this journey, which occupied him from 1840 to 1843, he gave to the world in a number of papers in scientific publications, chiefly in the Journal of the Royal Geographical Society.