Johannes Elias Spurgeon Henkel aka John Spurgeon Henkel (1871 in

Peddie, Eastern Cape Peddie (Xhosa: ''iNgqushwa)'' is a town in the Ngqushwa Local Municipality within the Amathole District Municipality in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. The town is situated 55 km south-west of Qonce and 67 km east of Makhand ...

– 5 April 1962 in

Pietermaritzburg Pietermaritzburg (; Zulu: umGungundlovu) is the capital and second-largest city in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It was founded in 1838 and is currently governed by the Msunduzi Local Municipality. Its Zulu name umGungundlovu ...

), was a South African botanist and forester. He was deeply involved in the conservation of forests in southern Africa and the introduction of exotic species such as Eucalyptus to Zululand.

Life and career

Henkel was the son of the soldier, painter and botanist Caesar Carl Hans Henkel (1839-1913) and his wife Auguste Henkel (née Radue). He was the eldest of 12 children. He was educated at

Dale College Dale College Boys' High School (Simply often known as ''Dale College'') is a State school, public English language, English medium high school for boys situated in the town of Qonce in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa; It is one of the ...

King William's Town Qonce, formerly known as King William's Town, is a city in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa along the banks of the Buffalo River. The city is about northwest of the Indian Ocean port of East London. Qonce, with a population of around ...

and in 1888 he joined the Cape Forest Department, working as an assistant to the conservator of forests in the

Eastern Cape The Eastern Cape is one of the provinces of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, but its two largest cities are East London and Gqeberha. The second largest province in the country (at 168,966 km2) after Northern Cape, it was formed in ...

for several years. He was promoted to district forest officer of King William's Town in 1893 and compiled survey maps of

Port Alfred A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ha ...

(in 1894) and the forested area of Bathurst (in 1895). In 1898 he became district forest officer of

Stutterheim Stutterheim is a town with a population of 46,730 in South Africa, situated in the Border region of the Eastern Cape province. It is named after Richard Von Stutterheim. History The area's earliest human population were Bushmen. Khoikhoi groups r ...

. When the

Anglo-Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the Sout ...

broke out he served in the Stutterheim Mounted Troops as captain and was awarded the Queen's Medal. In 1902 he was selected to study forestry at the

Royal Indian Engineering College The Royal Indian Engineering College (or RIEC) was a British college of Civil Engineering run by the India Office to train civil engineers for service in the Indian Public Works Department. It was located on the Cooper's Hill estate, near Egham, ...

at Cooper's Hill, where he obtained a Diploma in Forestry. 700 yr red river gum02

Henkel returned to South Africa and was appointed Assistant Conservator of Forests in the Eastern Conservancy in 1905. He transferred as Assistant Conservator of Forests to the Western Conservancy (in Cape Town) in 1907 and served as lecturer in forestry at the South African School of Forestry (part of the

South African College The South African College was an educational institution in Cape Town, South Africa, which developed into the University of Cape Town (UCT) and the South African College Schools (SACS). History The process that would lead to the formation of t ...

) until February 1908. In 1909 he moved to Knysna where he succeeded Colin Beddoes McNaughton as Assistant Conservator of Forests and in 1912 was promoted to Conservator of Forests. In 1915 he transferred to

as Conservator of Forests for Natal and Zululand. He initiated

afforestation Afforestation is the establishment of a forest or stand of trees (forestation) in an area where there was no previous tree cover. Many government and non-governmental organizations directly engage in afforestation programs to create forests a ...

in the Zululand coastal region with exotic species including

Eucalyptus ''Eucalyptus'' () is a genus of over seven hundred species of flowering trees, shrubs or mallees in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. Along with several other genera in the tribe Eucalypteae, including '' Corymbia'', they are commonly known as euca ...

. In 1920 he took up an appointment as chief of the newly established Forest Service of

Southern Rhodesia Southern Rhodesia was a landlocked self-governing British Crown colony in southern Africa, established in 1923 and consisting of British South Africa Company (BSAC) territories lying south of the Zambezi River. The region was informally kn ...

(now

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...

). His presentation at the 1919 congress of the South African Association for the Advancement of Science led to a detailed survey of the vegetation of Rhodesia, the first of any African country. He remained in Rhodesia until his retirement in 1931, after which he settled in Pietermaritzburg and wrote a field guide to the woody plants of Natal. He was a personal friend of John William Bews and assisted him in his investigations of the ecology of the Natal vegetation. He also compiled a map of the

Hluhluwe Game Reserve Hluhluwe ( ; ) is a small town in northern KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It is situated between iSimangaliso Wetland Park and Hluhluwe–iMfolozi Park on the banks of the Hluhluwe River. Hluhluwe is situated on the elephant coast, an area known fo ...

in 1936. From 1944 until his death he worked on a guide to the grasses of southern Africa. The plants he collected are in the Bews Herbarium of the University of Natal.

Associations and awards

South African Association for the Advancement of Science The Southern Africa Association for the Advancement of Science (S2A3 or S2A3) is a learned society, originally known as the South African Association for the Advancement of Science (SAAAS). Established in 1902, its principal aim is to increase th ...

- Foundation member 1902, council member 1918. *South African Philosophical Society - member 1907. *

Royal Society of South Africa The Royal Society of South Africa is a learned society composed of eminent South African scientists and academics. The society was granted its royal charter by King Edward VII in 1908, nearly a century after Capetonians first began to conceive of ...

committee of fellows - member 1908. *South African Biological Society - foundation member and council member 1916. * Natal Museum - board of trustees 1917, 1936 *Rhodesia Scientific Association - member 1920. *Honorary DSc -

University of South Africa The University of South Africa (UNISA), known colloquially as Unisa, is the largest university system in South Africa by enrollment. It attracts a third of all higher education students in South Africa. Through various colleges and affiliates, U ...

1932.

Private life

In February 1896 he married Juanita Gutsche and they had one child.

Selected publications

*''The indigenous high forest situated in the divisions of George, Knysna and Humansdorp, Cape Province'', Report of the South African Association for the Advancement of Science, 1912, pp. 68–76 *''Afforestation in Zululand'', Rhodesia Agricultural Journal, 1920, Vol 17, pp. 50–52 *''Forest Progress in the Drakensberg'' - SA Journal of Science, 1916 *''Types of Vegetation in Southern Rhodesia'' - Proceedings of the Rhodesian Science Association, vol.33, 1931 *''Woody Plants of Natal & Zululand'' - Durban, 1934

References

External links

Biography of John Spurgeon Henkel
at the S2A3 Biographical Database of Southern African Science.
John Spurgeon Henkel
on ''Google Scholar''
Bews Herbarium
{{DEFAULTSORT:Henkel, John Spurgeon 1871 births 1962 deaths 20th-century South African botanists South African foresters