Olive MacLeod (later Temple)

Miss (later Mrs) Olive MacLeod (later Temple) SM
Born	1880
Died	1936
Residence	Vinters, Maidstone c/o Mrs Hubert Walter, 50 Cadogan Place, SW [1913] Vinters, Maidstone, Kent [1915] Vintners, Maidstone, Kent [1919] Los Fosos, Generalife, Granada, Spain [1921]
Occupation	explorer
Society Membership membership ordinary fellow left 1923 last listed elected_AI 1912.03.05

Notes

House Notes

1912.02.10 proposed by Andrew Lang, seconded by T.A. Joyce

Mrs Temple from 1913 list onwards

Notes From Elsewhere

The daughter of Sir Reginald Macleod - who has filled many important Government posts - Miss Macleod will go down to posterity as one of the most intrepid of lady explorers. And a pathetic interest is attached to the story of her travels. Her lover, Lieutenant Boyd Alexander, was treacherously murdered by natives in the French Soudan, and it was in order to visit his grave that Miss Macleod undertook a journey of 3,700 miles through Africa, penetrating regions hitherto unknown to travellers. In fact, during her expedition, six months was spent in country never before visited by white women. And the French authorities have paid a tribute to her courage by naming after her certain falls. Miss Macleod made her journey both on foot and on horseback, being carried in litters only on three days through swampy country. She has added much to our knowledge of the Dark Continent, and, needless to say, possesses many souvenirs of her unique journey.

Olive Susan Miranda MacLeod was born on 18 February 1880.1 She was the daughter of Sir Reginald Macleod, 27th of MacLeod and Lady Agnes Mary Cecilia Northcote.2 She married Charles Lindsay Temple, son of Rt. Hon. Sir Richard Temple, 1st Bt. and Mary Augusta Lindsay, on 28 April 1912.2 She died on 16 May 1936 at age 56.1
From 28 April 1912, her married name became Temple.

Discovers Waterfall on River Mao Kali and French Authorities In Country Name Cataract Lea Chutes MacLeod .
London . —Miss Olive MacLeod , who left England in August last to visit the grave of her fiance , Lieut Boyd Alexander , who was murdered by natives In central Africa , recently arrived In England . She was met by her father , Sir Reginald MacLeod , when she landed , and left for Paddlngton . Thence she proceeded by motor car to her beautiful home , Vintners , near Maidstone .
Altogether the African journey consisted of 2 , 700 miles , mostly on foot or horseback . P . A . Talbot , district commissioner of Niagara , and Mrs . Talbot , accompanied her during the whole of the Journey , and were responsible for the arrangements . Among the many trophies that Miss MacCleod brought home were two baby lions , which were presented to her in French Niagara . Miss MacLeod was very eager to take them home with her , but , being now six months old , they were thought to be rather dangerous pets for Maidstone , and have been sent to the zoo . During the journey Miss Macleod traversed land across which no white woman had ever been before . At times the party included as many as 80 natives , these being required to carry stores and food . Miss MacLeod , with her companions , on arriving at the west coast of Africa , traveled up the Niger as far as
Miss Olive MacLeod . she could go in the steamer and canoes . After going through southern and northern Nigeria the expedition reached French Mbangi in October , and the falls of the Mao Kali were located .
According to the testimony of French officers and natives , these falls had never been seen before , and in honor of the brave English girl going to visit her sweetheart s grave , the French authorities asked for permission to name the falls Les Chutes MacLeod . Pushing on into the heart of Africa , Miss MacLeod proceeded through the Tuburi lakes , and eventually reached the Shadi down which she traveled to Lake Chad . Here the picturesque rocks of Hadj-el-Hamia were inspected , which are held In veneration for miles around . The highest peak of these rocks was climbed by Miss MacLeod and her companions—a feat which the natives declared to be Impossible . Lake Chad was then crossed In kotoko canoes . This journey took eight days , five of which were spent out of sight of land . Near Lake Chad the grave of Lieut Boyd Alexander was visited—the pathetic object of Miss MacLeod s long Journey . Discussing her travels at Plymouth , _Mlfls MacLeod said that the greater part of the route chosen was unknown to Britishers .
On arivlng at Lagos she said she was surprised to hear rumors that Miss MacLeod had been massacred and eaten by cannibals !

Olive MacLeod (later known as Mrs Olive Temple after her marriage to Charles Lindsay Temple, Commissioner of the Protectorate of Nigeria – now the northern part of Nigeria ) was an explorer and collector, a rarity for women in the early 20th century. Her family lived locally in Vinters, Maidstone, from 1905.
Her travels from 1910 were published in a series of articles entitled “A Romantic Quest, Incidents of a Woman’s Strange Journey. Specially Written for ‘The London Magazine’ by Olive MacLeod”. Objects from Northern Cameroon and Chad which she collected during this time were passed to the Museum in 1912. They are important in relation to the colonial history of the area around Lake Chad in the early 20th Century, as well as being significant in themselves. In 1915 she published a book on her life in Nigeria with her husband titled ‘Notes on the Tribes, Provinces, Emirates and States of the Northern Provinces of Nigeria’.
MacLeod first travelled to Africa following the murder of her fiancé, the explorer Lieutenant Boyd Alexander by inhabitants of French Sudan, West Africa in 1910 while he was completing a survey of the area. She went to Fort Lamy, the capital of the military territory of Chad, to learn from the French authorities what had happened to her fiancée. During her passage to the coast she passed through Northern Nigeria. She made a particularly detailed account of her adventures on the Logone River on the way to Fort Lamy which she described as “travels packed full of difficulty and incident”.

Publications

External Publications

“A Romantic Quest, Incidents of a Woman’s Strange Journey. Specially Written for ‘The London Magazine’ by Olive MacLeod”

Related Material Details

Other Material

Maidstone Museum