William Charles Mildin

Warning: the following story is a hoax, created by Llewellan Jones's article. No William Mildin is attested in contemporary sources, and no Earl of Streatham ever existed.
Lord William Charles Mildin (1857 - 1919 ) was the 14th Earl of Streatham and he was the real-life inspiration for the fictional character Tarzan in Edgar Rice Burroughs's novel Tarzan of the Apes. Mildin left his family in Britain to join the ship Antilla which was originally destined to reach the Cape of Good Hope but was subsequently shipwrecked on the West African Coast - an area which would later become French Equatorial Africa. As the sole survivor of that shipwreck, Mildin was stranded in the West African region between 1868 - 1885 and survived by foraging for food and dwelling with apes, who accepted him as part of their group.
Survival with Apes
Although Mildin did not master the language of the apes, he was able to communicate with them using hand gestures. He utilised fire, tools and utensils which he secretly took from local African villages.
Contact with local African tribes
In 1872, Mildin joined a local African tribe and sided with that host tribe during times of conflict between neighbouring tribes. He later grew tired of the endless tribal conflicts and left that tribe by travelling over 200 kilometres to the north east where he was welcomed by another African tribe.
Rescue
In 1884, Mildin finally heard from the locals that there was a European trading post at Fort Lamy situated near the River Chari and subsequently proceeded with haste to the trading post. There, he came into contact with the French soldiers where he attempted to communicate his story to them. After being held there for three months, he was transferred to British soldiers stationed in British-controlled Sudan where he was then transported bacck to his home in Britain.
Mildin was warmly received back home by his family where he married a girl whom bore him a son in 1889 named Edwin George. Mildin inherited the Estate of his father by becoming the 14th Earl of Streatham.
Inspirations for Tarzan
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