Jonathan Spencer

Historian and author Jonathan Spencer is from southeast London, the great-grandson of a clippership captain who brought tea from China, and a relative of a midshipoman who fought at the Battle of the Nile, on HMS Leander. He served in the Canadian Armed Forces, studied ancient and modern history, and has lectured at universities and private associations on the subject of Napoleonic Egypt. He writes historical non-fiction under the name Jonathan Downs, his major work a revised account of the discovery and British acquisition of the Rosetta Stone, 'Discovery at Rosetta', (London & NY, 2008; Cairo & London, 2020); he has written articles for the printed press and periodicals about repatriating the Rosetta Stone, the Parthenon Marbles nad the Bust of Nefertiti. He has lived abroad all his life, enjoys languages, has trained with the former Russian National Fencing Team coach in sabre and epee, and currently lives in Cape Town in South Africa.