Benjamin D'Urban

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Sir Benjamin D'Urban

Sir Benjamin D'Urban , GCB , KCH , KCTS , FRS (born February 16, 1777 in Halesworth , † May 25, 1849 in Montreal ) was a British lieutenant general and governor . Among other things, he led the Cape Colony in Southern Africa .

Life

D'Urban was the youngest son of doctor John D'Urban and Elizabeth Gooch, the daughter of a surgeon. Contrary to the wishes of his parents to pursue a medical career as well, he took up military service.

In 1793 he joined the British Army ( 2nd Dragoons ) as a cornet and fought in numerous wars, including the Napoleonic Wars on the Iberian Peninsula (1808-1814). In the course of his military service, which lasted until 1819, he received many awards.

In 1819 he became governor of Antigua , in 1824 lieutenant governor of Demerara - Essequibo . In 1831 Demerara-Essequibo was united with Berbice to form British Guiana ; D'Urban was the first governor of the colony for two years.

In 1834 he was appointed governor and commander of the British troops of the Cape Colony. During his term of office, slavery was abolished in the British Empire and - as a result - the start of the Great Trek , when many Boers moved north and east across the Orange River out of dissatisfaction with their situation from the Cape Colony . D'Urban refused to take the Boers land and tried in vain to punish them with the Cape of Good Hope Punishment Act of 1836 . He first introduced municipal councils in the Cape Colony with municipal councils .

D'Urban attacked the Xhosa in the Sixth Border War . He annexed the area east of the Cape Colony between the Keiskamma River and Great Kei River , which he named Queen Adelaide Province . He threatened the indigenous tribes to drive them "forever" behind the Kei River . He also allowed settlers of European descent to set up farms in this area. A forced coexistence developed. For the first time in African history, Africans were under direct rule (for example: "direct rule") of the British. D'Urban had the head of the local Xhosa group, Hintsa, murdered from behind. Because he also had Hintsa's ears cut off, he was criticized by some of his compatriots. The annexation had to be reversed in 1836 by order of the British Colonial Minister Lord Glenelg . The missionary John Philip reported to a committee of the British House of Commons about D'Urban's misconduct, so that in May 1837 the government decided to dismiss him as governor. However, he remained in office until January 1838, when he was replaced by Sir George Thomas Napier .

D'Urban remained the troop commander of the Cape Colony until 1846. In 1843 he occupied the Boer Republic of Natalia . The area was initially added to the Cape Colony and later formed part of the Natal Colony. In 1846, D'Urban was appointed commander of the Canadian troops . He lived in Montreal from 1847 and died there in 1849.

His funeral took place with great sympathy in the old military cemetery in Montreal on Papineau Avenue . Later, in 1944, his remains were reburied in the Field of Honor in Pointe-Claire near Montreal, and a memorial was erected there.

family

D'Urban married his future wife Anna on August 7, 1797. She was the daughter of William and Mary Wilcocks of Norwich. From this marriage a son and two daughters were born. A daughter later married William Musgrave, the chief magistrate of the Cape Colony.

Anna D'Urban was very committed to supporting charitable activities. This includes the founding (1836) of the Female School of Industry in Wynberg . She died on August 23, 1843 in Wynberg.

The son, William James D'Urban also embarked on a military career and was involved in the British occupation of Natal in 1842. After following his father to Canada as Deputy-Master-General, he later returned to the Cape Colony, from where he commanded British troops in the Ciskei .

His grandson was the naturalist William Stewart Mitchell D'Urban (1836-1934).

Honors

After him, Port Natal was renamed Durban in the later colony of Natal and the settlement of Durbanville near Tygerberg was given its name in 1836.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Willem Johannes de Kock, Daniel Wilhelmus Krüger (ed.): Dictionary of South African Biography. Vol. II . Human Science Research Council, Pretoria 1972, p. 205.
  2. ↑ a b c d Entry in Encyclopedia Britannica (English), accessed on February 18, 2015
  3. ↑ a b c d portrait at sahistory.org.za (English), accessed on February 22, 2016
  4. ↑ Willem Johannes de Kock, Daniel Wilhelmus Krüger (Ed.): Dictionary of South African Biography. Vol. II . Human Science Research Council, Pretoria 1972, p. 206.
  5. ↑ a b c d e Willem Johannes de Kock, Daniel Wilhelmus Krüger (ed.): Dictionary of South African Biography, Vol. II . Human Science Research Council, Pretoria 1972, p. 207
personal data
SURNAME D'Urban, Benjamin
ALTERNATIVE NAMES D'Urban, Sir Benjamin
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British Army Officer and Governor
DATE OF BIRTH February 16, 1777
PLACE OF BIRTH Halesworth
DATE OF DEATH May 25, 1849
Place of death Montreal