Oswell, William Cotton (1818–1893)

British explorer. He hunted extensively in India and South Africa, and was one of the earliest big game hunters to visit the interior plains of Africa. In 1849 Oswell, David Livingstone, and Mungo Murray were the first Europeans to visit Lake Ngami (in Botswana) and also explored the Kalahari desert.

He was born at Leytonstone, Essex. He joined the East India Company and became an enthusiastic hunter in India. Bad health forced him to leave for South Africa, where he spent five years during the 1840s.