Henry Francis Fynn

Last updated

Henry Francis Fynn (29 March 1803 in Grosvenor Square, London, England 20 September 1861 in Durban, Natal, South Africa) was an English traveler and trader. He was among the first Europeans to make contact with Shaka Zulu. Fynn, Coenraad De Buys, John Dunn and Nathaniel Isaacs were among the most famous of South Africa's so-called White Chiefs.

Contents

Early life

Henry Francis Fynn was born in London in 1803. He was the first of five children of Henry and Elizabeth Fynn. His father worked for the East India Company, serving aboard an EIC ship sailing between London and Cape Town, until losing his post in 1806.

By 1807, his father and mother had sold their property in England and had moved to Cape Town. Fynn, however, stayed in London with his aunt, who in 1809 successfully petitioned for his admission to Christ's Hospital. In 1816, Fynn left Christ's and, despite a request from his father that he join his family in the Cape, worked for two years in England as a surgeon's apprentice. [1]

Life in South Africa

Fynn quit being a surgeon's apprentice in 1818 and decided to join his family in Cape Colony. After working several jobs, Fynn ventured to Grahamstown, where he eventually was hired as supercargo aboard Henry Nourse's trading vessel Jane. Late in 1823, Francis George Farewell agreed to include Fynn in a trading venture to the Bay of Natal using the sloop Julia.

By July 1824, Fynn was part of the trading post at Port Natal. During his time at Port Natal, Fynn amassed a group of his own followers, who became known as the iziNikumbi (locusts). [2] He was noted for wearing a blanket and a crownless straw hat after his European clothing had worn out. [3] By 1832, however, he was back in the Cape Colony. He did not return to Natal until 1852, where he worked as a resident magistrate. [4]

Personal life

During his time at Port Natal, Fynn took four African wives, with whom he had twelve children. His great wife was the Zulu princess Mavundlase. She is said to have succeeded to his chieftaincy upon his death. Fynn's son by a junior wife, also named Henry Francis Fynn, attended St. Andrew's College, Grahamstown in 1858 and 1859. [5]

Several years after his return to the Cape, in 1841, he married a European woman, Christina Brown, with whom he had a son, Henry Francis Fynn Junior, in 1846. [6]

Fynn died in Durban in September, 1861.

He was played by Robert Powell in the 1986 television drama Shaka Zulu .

See also

Notes

  1. Pridmore, Julie (2004). "Diaries and Despatches: The Life and Writing of Henry Francis Fynn (1803–61) and Henry Francis Fynn Junior (1846–1915)". Kleio. Routledge. 36 (1): 128–129. doi:10.1080/00232080485380061. S2CID   161936973.
  2. Wylie, Dan (January 1995). ""Proprietor of Natal:" Henry Francis Fynn and the Mythography of Shaka". History in Africa. African Studies Association. 22: 417. doi:10.2307/3171924. JSTOR   3171924.
  3. Knight, Ian (1994). Warrior Chiefs of Southern Africa. Firebird Books. p. 11. ISBN   1-85314-106-2.
  4. Pridmore, Julie (2004). "Diaries and Despatches: The Life and Writing of Henry Francis Fynn (1803–61) and Henry Francis Fynn Junior (1846–1915)". Kleio. Routledge. 36 (1): 130–131, 135–139. doi:10.1080/00232080485380061. S2CID   161936973.
  5. Laurie 1914, p. 104.
  6. Pridmore, Julie (2004). "Diaries and Despatches: The Life and Writing of Henry Francis Fynn (1803–61) and Henry Francis Fynn Junior (1846–1915)". Kleio. Routledge. 36 (1): 134–135. doi:10.1080/00232080485380061. S2CID   161936973.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shaka</span> King of the Zulu Kingdom (1787–1828)

Shaka kaSenzangakhona, second name Shaka Zulu and Sigidi kaSenzangakhona, was the king of the Zulu Kingdom from 1816 to 1828. One of the most influential monarchs of the Zulu, he ordered wide-reaching reforms that re-organized the military into a formidable force.

Nandi KaBhebhe was a daughter of Bhebhe, a past Elangeni chief and the mother of Shaka kaSenzangakhona, King of the Zulus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Great Trek</span> 1836–1852 Boer migrations away from the British Cape Colony

The Great Trek was a northward migration of Dutch-speaking settlers who travelled by wagon trains from the Cape Colony into the interior of modern South Africa from 1836 onwards, seeking to live beyond the Cape's British colonial administration. The Great Trek resulted from the culmination of tensions between rural descendants of the Cape's original European settlers, known collectively as Boers, and the British Empire. It was also reflective of an increasingly common trend among individual Boer communities to pursue an isolationist and semi-nomadic lifestyle away from the developing administrative complexities in Cape Town. Boers who took part in the Great Trek identified themselves as voortrekkers, meaning "pioneers", "pathfinders" in Dutch and Afrikaans.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Durban</span> Third largest city in South Africa

Durban, nicknamed Durbs, is the third most populous city in South Africa after Johannesburg and Cape Town and the largest city in KwaZulu-Natal. Durban forms part of the eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality, which includes neighbouring towns and has a population of about 3.44 million, making the combined municipality one of the largest cities on the Indian Ocean coast of the African continent. Durban was also one of the host cities of the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mfecane</span> 1815–1840 period of civil conflict in southern Africa

The Mfecane, also known by the Sesotho names Difaqane or Lifaqane, is a historical period of heightened military conflict and migration associated with state formation and expansion in Southern Africa. The exact range of dates that comprise the Mfecane varies between sources. At its broadest, the period lasted from the late eighteenth century to the mid-nineteenth century, but scholars often focus on an intensive period from the 1810s to the 1840s. The concept first emerged in the 1830s and blamed the disruption on the actions of Shaka Zulu, who was alleged to have waged near-genocidal wars that depopulated the land and sparked a chain reaction of violence as fleeing groups sought to conquer new lands. Since the latter half of the 20th century, this interpretation has fallen out of favor among scholars due to a lack of historical evidence.

Dingiswayo was a Mthethwa king, well known for his mentorship over a young Zulu general, Shaka Zulu, who rose to become the greatest of the Zulu Kings. His father was the Mthethwa king, Jobe kaKayi. It was under Dingiswayo that the Mthethwa rose to prominence, mostly employing diplomacy and assimilation of nearby chiefdoms to strengthen his power base. According to Mthethwa (1995), the Mthethwas are descended from the Nguni peoples of northern Natal and the Lubombo Mountains, whose modern identity dates back some 700 years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Port Edward, South Africa</span> Seaside town in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

Port Edward is a small resort town situated on the south coast of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa and lies on the border between KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape. It is situated on the R61 road between Port Shepstone and Lusikisiki.

The following lists events that happened during 1823 in South Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Umgeni River</span> River in South Africa

The Umgeni River or Mgeni River is a river in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It rises in the "Dargle" in the KZN Midlands, and its mouth is at Durban, some distance north of Durban's natural harbour. It is generally agreed its name means "the river of entrance" in Zulu, though other meanings have been suggested.

Francis George Farewell (1784–1829) was the founder of the Port Natal Colony in South Africa.

Nathaniel Isaacs (1808–1872) was an English adventurer who played a part in the history of Natal, South Africa. He wrote a memoir spread over two volumes called Travels and Adventures in Eastern Africa (1836). This book subsequently became one of the principal sources quoted by writers of the history of Natal, including Morris , Ritter and Bulpin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1820 Settlers</span> British colonists in South Africa

The 1820 Settlers were several groups of British colonists from England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales, settled by the government of the United Kingdom and the Cape Colony authorities in the Eastern Cape of South Africa in 1820.

<i>Shaka Zulu</i> (TV series) 1986 SABC miniseries

Shaka Zulu is a 1986 South African television series directed by William C. Faure and written by Joshua Sinclair for the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC), based on his 1985 novel of the same name.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Piet Retief</span> South African Voortrekker leader (1780-1838)

Pieter Mauritz Retief was a Voortrekker leader. Settling in 1814 in the frontier region of the Cape Colony, he later assumed command of punitive expeditions during the sixth Xhosa War. He became a spokesperson for the frontier farmers who voiced their discontent, and wrote the Voortrekkers' declaration at their departure from the colony.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Colony of Natal</span> British colony from 1843 to 1910

The Colony of Natal was a British colony in south-eastern Africa. It was proclaimed a British colony on 4 May 1843 after the British government had annexed the Boer Republic of Natalia, and on 31 May 1910 combined with three other colonies to form the Union of South Africa, as one of its provinces. It is now the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of South Africa (1815–1910)</span> Formation of the Nation of South Africa

During the Napoleonic Wars, the Cape Colony was annexed by the British and officially became their colony in 1815. Britain encouraged settlers to the Cape, and in particular, sponsored the 1820 Settlers to farm in the disputed area between the colony and the Xhosa in what is now the Eastern Cape. The changing image of the Cape from Dutch to British excluded the Dutch farmers in the area, the Boers who in the 1820s started their Great Trek to the northern areas of modern South Africa. This period also marked the rise in power of the Zulu under their king Shaka Zulu. Subsequently, several conflicts arose between the British, Boers and Zulus, which led to the Zulu defeat and the ultimate Boer defeat in the Second Anglo-Boer War. However, the Treaty of Vereeniging established the framework of South African limited independence as the Union of South Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nguni people</span> Southern African Bantu cultural group

The Nguni people are a cultural group in southern Africa made up of Bantu ethnic groups from South Africa, with offshoots in neighboring countries in Southern Africa. Swazi people live in both South Africa and Eswatini, while Northern Ndebele people live in both South Africa and Zimbabwe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zulu Kingdom</span> 1816–1897 state in southern Africa

The Zulu Kingdom, sometimes referred to as the Zulu Empire or the Kingdom of Zululand, was a monarchy in Southern Africa. During the 1810s, Shaka established a modern standing army that consolidated rival clans and built a large following which ruled a wide expanse of Southern Africa that extended along the coast of the Indian Ocean from the Tugela River in the south to the Pongola River in the north.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles Rawden Maclean</span>

Charles Rawden Maclean, also known as "John Ross", was born on 17 August 1815 in Fraserburgh and died 13 August 1880 at sea on the RMS Larne while en route to Southampton. In a tribute to him during the re-dedication of his grave in Southampton in 2009, the Zulu War author and broadcaster Ian Knight said:

Maclean was a champion of liberty and his stone will be one of the few inscriptions in a British cemetery which commemorates a positive interaction between the British and Zulu people; most existing memorials commemorate individuals who were involved in Anglo-Zulu conflict.

Ivan Mitford-Barberton (1896–1976) was a sculptor, writer and authority on heraldry.

References

This article draws heavily on the de:Henry Francis Fynn article in the German-language Wikipedia, which was accessed in the version of 19 July 2011.