Bovill , Edward William , 1892-1966 , historian

Edward William Bovill was born on 25 December 1892. He was educated at Rugby and Trinity College, Cambridge, and served in the First World War with the 10th Royal Hussars and the W.A.F.F. He was Director of Matheson & Co. Ltd. from 1936-1945 and Chairman of R.C. Treat & Co. Ltd. from 1942-1961. He was a medallist at the Royal Society of Arts in 1935 and became Vice-President of the Hakluyt Society in 1964. Between 1962 and 1966 he researched and wrote the four volume Missions to the Niger (published for the Hakluyt Society at the University Press). He died on 19 December 1966.

Other publications included Caravans of the Old Sahara, 1930; East African Agriculture, 1950; The Battle of Alcazar, 1952; The Golden Trade of the Moors, 1958; The England of Nimrod and Surtees, 1959; English Country Life, 1780-1830, 1962; The Bornu Mission (ed.), 1965.