SPEECHES, LETTERS, AND SELECTIONS FROM IMPORTANT PAPERS, OF THE LATE JOHN MITFORD BOWKER (1864)

'Speeches, Letters, and Selections from Important Papers, of the Late John Mitford Bowker, some years Resident and Diplomatic Agent with certain Kafir and Fingo tribes.'

Publisher's original printed wraps.

ix + 275pp.

Given the age, this copy is in exceptional condition with the original publisher's wraps showing only minimal age-associated wear. Contents clean.

'There is a short biographical sketch of Mr. Bowker, who died in the midst of the Kaffir War of 1847. Chapter I contains an epitome of Frontier History, and Chapter II private correspondence with Sir B. D'Urban, and the other chapters record speeches and letters to officials and private friends respecting the state of the Eastern Province from 1837–1847. It is stated that the volume will be found to contain "a picture by an eye-witness, an actor and a sufferer, of the life of a British Colonial subject in the Eastern Province of the Cape of Good Hope."' - Mendelssohn Vol.I, page 168

'Bowker saw service in the sixth Frontier War (1834-5) and was specially mentioned for his bravery. He was subsequently appointed government agent for the Fingo people settled in the neighbourhood of Fort Peddie and to other tribes living adjacent to the frontier. In 1839 he was removed from this office because his administrative methods met with official disapproval, and he was moreover an implacable critic of the Stockenström treaty system under which he operated. These papers give valuable insight into the mind of a white frontier farmer during a turbulent period of frontier history.' - DSAB Vol.III, page 95

This important title was reprinted as the first volume in the Struik Collectanea Series, 1962.