John Hanning Speke was born in Somerset in 1827, but soon made a life for himself in Kensington. One of the Royal Borough’s most famous sons, Speke became one of the greatest explorers of his time. He achieved what many claimed to bee too dangerous or even impossible by discovering the source of the River Nile. After this great achievement Speke continued his expeditions in Africa and Asia until his untimely death in 1864. The people of Kensington paid for the building of this obelisk in his memory by public subscription.
