James Stevenson-Hamilton
Encyclopedia
Colonel James Stevenson-Hamilton
Father of the Kruger National Park Parks Board
Life before the Sabie Game reserve:
James Stevenson-Hamilton was born the eldest of nine children in Scotland on the 2nd of October 1876. Being first born he was the legal heir to their family title and home at Fairholm, by Larkham in Scotland. He was then educated at Rugby and Sandhurst yet opted for a career in the military division.
Serving as part of the 6th (Inniskilling) Dragoon Guards; “He saw active service with the Inniskillings in Natal in 1888” (myfundi online encyclopedia). In 1898 he had joined Cape-to-Cairo expedition under the leadership of Maj A St H Gibbons. After “they had tried to steam up the Zambesi in flat bottomed launches and fought their way well beyond the Kariba Gorge” (Cartwright 1960) they had to abandon their boats and explored Barotseland on foot. Stevenson-Hamilton then “trekked across Northern Rhodesia to the Kafue” (Cartwright 1960). After the expedition he returned to the military and fought in the Second-Anglo-Boer War receiving the Queen’s medal and the King’s medal for his service.
Short History of the Sabie Game reserve:
Stephanus Johannes Paulus Kruger, commonly known as Paul Kruger was the President of the South African Republic from 1883 to 1902. It was he who first plead “for setting aside certain areas where game could be protected and where nature could remain unspoilt as the Creator made it” (Labuschagne 1958). His vision was however not shared with other members of his parliament as his efforts to conserve land in especially the areas between Swaziland and Zululand and in the Zoutpansberg area met strong opposition.
In 1891 he managed to amend existing Game Laws and the state started providing protection for various animal species. After managing to declare other smaller areas game reserves and on the 26th of March 1898 he proclaimed the ‘Goewerments Wildtuin’ (Government’s Reserve) between the Sabie and Crocodile rivers (Paynter and Nussey 1986) and this was the Sabie Nature Reserve. After the end of the Anglo-Boer-War and the demise of Paul Kruger, the reserve had almost been forgotten until Lord Milner re-issued the proclamation for the reserve.
Stevenson-Hamilton and the Sabie Game reserve:
In 1902 Sir Godfrey Lagden (the newly appointed Commissioner for Native Affairs in South-Africa) appointed James Stevenson-Hamilton as the warden of the Sabie Game reserve. As a “bachelor, a man of means and a professional soldier” (Cartwright 1960) Lagden deemed him fit for the job even though the post was viewed as unusual and unheard of. Stevenson-Hamilton signed a 2 year contract as warden, found a map of the area and set off with a wagon, oxen, provisions and ammunition for a an unchartered and malaria filled land described to him as the “white man’s grave” ( Panter and Nussey 1986). Game-ranging was still a new term and this allowed Stevenson-Hamilton to have free over reign over the Sabie Game reserve, his only order from Lagden being “to make himself generally disagreeable” (Cartwright 1960 ) and try and put an end to poaching. In 1902 he reached Nelspruit.
His first order of business was to announce that no shooting was to be allowed and that if he and his servant could live on tinned meat, so could the white-men and natives who were inclined to shoot an impala whenever they felt the need to. He believed “that if there were no shooting, if animals where left to live in the veld as they had lived before man came on the scene, they would lose their fear of human beings and flock to an area that had once been described as ‘red with impala’” (Cartwright 1960). He then moved his headquarters from Crocodile-Bridge to Sabie-Bridge and appointed two rangers, the most famous of them Harry Wolhuter, and together they trained native rangers. Poachers soon realised that he was serious about the ‘no shooting’ rule and many were caught. “Including, on one occasion a party of senior policemen” (Duggan 1990) who were caught killing a giraffe and wildebeest and were convicted and fined for their crimes.
After this Cartwright (1960) says that “what he did is now a matter of history. He trained his rangers, thinned out the lions and the wild dogs, declared war on the poachers and patrolled the whole area.” He also became the magistrate, customs collector and border guard as well as watcher of the railway line to the south of the reserve.
After this his focus went back to Johannesburg and Pretoria where he started to convince companies in the vicinity to lend him land , eventually giving him a huge block in a remote corner of Transvaal. By doing this he created the space that is known today as the Kruger National Park. Extending the reserve from the original 1200 square miles to 14 000 square miles. Game could therefore roam freely from the Crocodile to the Limpopo River.
In 1904 he was summoned back to war and his 2 year contract had expired. James Stevenson-Hamilton was destined to become the commander of his regiment, the 6th (Inniskilling) Dragoons. Yet he was unable to resign and asked for leave instead. He had grown too fond of Africa and as he later said of himself ; “ For me the pathless jungle, the reedfringed rivers with the wild call of the fisheagle ringing down the long reaches, and still, warm, nights, their silence punctuated by the throb of the lion’s roar” ( Labuschagne 1958). His stay in London did not last long and England lost a soldier and South-Africa gained a warden.
In the 20 years following this Stevenson-Hamilton created history through his ability to protect and regulate the park. As in 1921 when coal companies “asked for more land and the right to kill all wild animals” (Labuschagne 1958). In 1912 he first presented his idea for the nationalization of the park to then Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jan Smuts. The idea was to transform the reserve into a national park, but to do this he needed “the support of the public, but to gain that support visitors should be allowed into the park” (Paynter and Nussey 1986). Unfortunately the war temporarily paused these events. In 1926 Piet Grobler established the National Parks Bill in parliament as encouraged by Stevenson-Hamilton and presented the park as a realization of the dreams of Paul Kruger and therefore renamed the Sabie Game reserve the Kruger National Park of South Africa. “In 1927, the Park was opened to the public who where charged a £1 fee” (Siyabona Africa).
Later:
“ He served the game reserve for 44 years-from 1902 to 1946”(Cartwright 1960 ) and after his retirement settled down in White River. At the age of 63 he married Hilda Chomondeley (who was 34 years younger than he was) and they had three children together; Hilda, James and Caroline. He died in 1957 at the age of ninety.
His Legacy:
Stevenson-Hamilton was dubbed “Skukuza” by the Tsonga Shangaans who lived on the reserve, meaning ‘the man who has turned everything upside down’ or ‘the man who swept clean’. This refers to his efforts towards eliminating poaching in the reserve and may also refer to the Tsonga peoples attitude towards him after he had evicted them out of what had been their territory. Sabie Bridge’s name was changed to Skukuza, the main camp in the park, in honour of him. Yet after his death “the old men of the kraals, some of whom he had sent to prison for poaching, said: ‘A great man has gone’”(Cartwright 1960). A bronze statue, created by the artist Phil Minnaar can be seen in Skukuza depicting Paul Kruger, Piet Grobler and Stevenson-Hamilton. The founding fathers of the park. The Stevenson-Hamilton library is also situated in Skukuza camp.
His legacy also contains a series of books of which he was the author, namely:
A South African Eden (1937)
Animal Life in Africa (1912)
The Low-Veld; Its Wildlife and its People (1929)
Wildlife in South Africa (1947)
Yet perhaps the greatest legacy of James Stevenson-Hamilton cannot be depicted on paper. It can only be experienced on that piece of land to the east of Transvaal. His true legacy lies in the species the Kruger National Park has saved, the safety of the animals there against poaching, the enjoyment of the visitors and the natural beauty that he helped save.
Bibliography:
]]
Father of the Kruger National Park Parks Board
Life before the Sabie Game reserve:
James Stevenson-Hamilton was born the eldest of nine children in Scotland on the 2nd of October 1876. Being first born he was the legal heir to their family title and home at Fairholm, by Larkham in Scotland. He was then educated at Rugby and Sandhurst yet opted for a career in the military division.
Serving as part of the 6th (Inniskilling) Dragoon Guards; “He saw active service with the Inniskillings in Natal in 1888” (myfundi online encyclopedia). In 1898 he had joined Cape-to-Cairo expedition under the leadership of Maj A St H Gibbons. After “they had tried to steam up the Zambesi in flat bottomed launches and fought their way well beyond the Kariba Gorge” (Cartwright 1960) they had to abandon their boats and explored Barotseland on foot. Stevenson-Hamilton then “trekked across Northern Rhodesia to the Kafue” (Cartwright 1960). After the expedition he returned to the military and fought in the Second-Anglo-Boer War receiving the Queen’s medal and the King’s medal for his service.
Short History of the Sabie Game reserve:
Stephanus Johannes Paulus Kruger, commonly known as Paul Kruger was the President of the South African Republic from 1883 to 1902. It was he who first plead “for setting aside certain areas where game could be protected and where nature could remain unspoilt as the Creator made it” (Labuschagne 1958). His vision was however not shared with other members of his parliament as his efforts to conserve land in especially the areas between Swaziland and Zululand and in the Zoutpansberg area met strong opposition.
In 1891 he managed to amend existing Game Laws and the state started providing protection for various animal species. After managing to declare other smaller areas game reserves and on the 26th of March 1898 he proclaimed the ‘Goewerments Wildtuin’ (Government’s Reserve) between the Sabie and Crocodile rivers (Paynter and Nussey 1986) and this was the Sabie Nature Reserve. After the end of the Anglo-Boer-War and the demise of Paul Kruger, the reserve had almost been forgotten until Lord Milner re-issued the proclamation for the reserve.
Stevenson-Hamilton and the Sabie Game reserve:
In 1902 Sir Godfrey Lagden (the newly appointed Commissioner for Native Affairs in South-Africa) appointed James Stevenson-Hamilton as the warden of the Sabie Game reserve. As a “bachelor, a man of means and a professional soldier” (Cartwright 1960) Lagden deemed him fit for the job even though the post was viewed as unusual and unheard of. Stevenson-Hamilton signed a 2 year contract as warden, found a map of the area and set off with a wagon, oxen, provisions and ammunition for a an unchartered and malaria filled land described to him as the “white man’s grave” ( Panter and Nussey 1986). Game-ranging was still a new term and this allowed Stevenson-Hamilton to have free over reign over the Sabie Game reserve, his only order from Lagden being “to make himself generally disagreeable” (Cartwright 1960 ) and try and put an end to poaching. In 1902 he reached Nelspruit.
His first order of business was to announce that no shooting was to be allowed and that if he and his servant could live on tinned meat, so could the white-men and natives who were inclined to shoot an impala whenever they felt the need to. He believed “that if there were no shooting, if animals where left to live in the veld as they had lived before man came on the scene, they would lose their fear of human beings and flock to an area that had once been described as ‘red with impala’” (Cartwright 1960). He then moved his headquarters from Crocodile-Bridge to Sabie-Bridge and appointed two rangers, the most famous of them Harry Wolhuter, and together they trained native rangers. Poachers soon realised that he was serious about the ‘no shooting’ rule and many were caught. “Including, on one occasion a party of senior policemen” (Duggan 1990) who were caught killing a giraffe and wildebeest and were convicted and fined for their crimes.
After this Cartwright (1960) says that “what he did is now a matter of history. He trained his rangers, thinned out the lions and the wild dogs, declared war on the poachers and patrolled the whole area.” He also became the magistrate, customs collector and border guard as well as watcher of the railway line to the south of the reserve.
After this his focus went back to Johannesburg and Pretoria where he started to convince companies in the vicinity to lend him land , eventually giving him a huge block in a remote corner of Transvaal. By doing this he created the space that is known today as the Kruger National Park. Extending the reserve from the original 1200 square miles to 14 000 square miles. Game could therefore roam freely from the Crocodile to the Limpopo River.
In 1904 he was summoned back to war and his 2 year contract had expired. James Stevenson-Hamilton was destined to become the commander of his regiment, the 6th (Inniskilling) Dragoons. Yet he was unable to resign and asked for leave instead. He had grown too fond of Africa and as he later said of himself ; “ For me the pathless jungle, the reedfringed rivers with the wild call of the fisheagle ringing down the long reaches, and still, warm, nights, their silence punctuated by the throb of the lion’s roar” ( Labuschagne 1958). His stay in London did not last long and England lost a soldier and South-Africa gained a warden.
In the 20 years following this Stevenson-Hamilton created history through his ability to protect and regulate the park. As in 1921 when coal companies “asked for more land and the right to kill all wild animals” (Labuschagne 1958). In 1912 he first presented his idea for the nationalization of the park to then Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jan Smuts. The idea was to transform the reserve into a national park, but to do this he needed “the support of the public, but to gain that support visitors should be allowed into the park” (Paynter and Nussey 1986). Unfortunately the war temporarily paused these events. In 1926 Piet Grobler established the National Parks Bill in parliament as encouraged by Stevenson-Hamilton and presented the park as a realization of the dreams of Paul Kruger and therefore renamed the Sabie Game reserve the Kruger National Park of South Africa. “In 1927, the Park was opened to the public who where charged a £1 fee” (Siyabona Africa).
Later:
“ He served the game reserve for 44 years-from 1902 to 1946”(Cartwright 1960 ) and after his retirement settled down in White River. At the age of 63 he married Hilda Chomondeley (who was 34 years younger than he was) and they had three children together; Hilda, James and Caroline. He died in 1957 at the age of ninety.
His Legacy:
Stevenson-Hamilton was dubbed “Skukuza” by the Tsonga Shangaans who lived on the reserve, meaning ‘the man who has turned everything upside down’ or ‘the man who swept clean’. This refers to his efforts towards eliminating poaching in the reserve and may also refer to the Tsonga peoples attitude towards him after he had evicted them out of what had been their territory. Sabie Bridge’s name was changed to Skukuza, the main camp in the park, in honour of him. Yet after his death “the old men of the kraals, some of whom he had sent to prison for poaching, said: ‘A great man has gone’”(Cartwright 1960). A bronze statue, created by the artist Phil Minnaar can be seen in Skukuza depicting Paul Kruger, Piet Grobler and Stevenson-Hamilton. The founding fathers of the park. The Stevenson-Hamilton library is also situated in Skukuza camp.
His legacy also contains a series of books of which he was the author, namely:
A South African Eden (1937)
Animal Life in Africa (1912)
The Low-Veld; Its Wildlife and its People (1929)
Wildlife in South Africa (1947)
Yet perhaps the greatest legacy of James Stevenson-Hamilton cannot be depicted on paper. It can only be experienced on that piece of land to the east of Transvaal. His true legacy lies in the species the Kruger National Park has saved, the safety of the animals there against poaching, the enjoyment of the visitors and the natural beauty that he helped save.
Bibliography:
]]