Colonel Charles Duncan Griffith (5 September 1830 – 17 October 1906) was a British colonial administrator and army officer. The career of Griffith has been a varied and interesting one, having fought for, and served his country with distinction in a variety of capacities. His father, a captain of the

Royal Marines The Corps of Royal Marines (RM), also known as the Royal Marines Commandos, are the UK's special operations capable commando force, amphibious light infantry and also one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy. The Corps of Royal Marine ...

, landed on the shores of the Cape in 1818. Twelve years later Griffith was born at Grahamstown. He was educated there and at Cape Town; his father introduced merino sheep into the Cape Colony. Colonel Griffith next featured as a fighter in the 1840s; he fought in all the

Kaffir Wars The Xhosa Wars (also known as the Cape Frontier Wars or the Kaffir Wars) were a series of nine wars (from 1779 to 1879) between the Xhosa Kingdom and the British Empire as well as Trekboers in what is now the Eastern Cape in South Africa. The ...

of the period. He was a lieutenant in the Hottentot Levy, also in the Kaffir Police; and was a captain commanding the former in the Kaffir War of 1851–52. For his services he was awarded the medal, and repeatedly commended in General Orders. He was appointed Civil Commissioner and Resident Magistrate of Albert in 1858, and was subsequently promoted to the districts of Queenstown,

Grahamstown Makhanda, also known as Grahamstown, is a town of about 140,000 people in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is situated about northeast of Port Elizabeth and southwest of East London, Eastern Cape, East London. Makhanda is the lar ...

, and Albany. By special request of Sir Philip Wodehouse, he was transferred in 1869 to the important division of

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 ...

. In 1871 he was Governor’s Agent and Chief Magistrate of British Basutoland. Six years later he was again in the “tented field” commanding the Frontier Armed Mounted Police Force. He quelled, in that year, the outbreak of the Galeka and Gaika tribes, at which period he ranked in the Transkei Command as a colonel in His Majesty’s Army, and was commander-in-chief of the Imperial and Colonial Troops on the eastern side of the Kei River. Later he was made Commandant-General of the whole of the Colonial Forces of the colony, and soon afterwards received the cordial thanks of both Houses of Parliament for the great services he had rendered the country. In the field of politics he has not been less successful, as was evidenced in 1888 when he contested the Tembuland and defeated a strong opponent. At the general election of the same year he was returned unopposed for the same seat. Griffith returned to England after his service in the Cape and resided at 30, St. James’ Road, Southernwood, East London, he married Dorothea Mounsey Gilfillan, the daughter of 1820 Settler, Lieutenant William Frederick Anderson Gilfillan, C.C., of the Cradock District.

Sir Henry Barkly Sir Henry Barkly (24 February 1815 – 20 October 1898) was a British politician, colonial governor and patron of the sciences. Early life and education Born on 24 February 1815 at Highbury, Middlesex (now London), he was the eldest son of ...

was appointed High Commissioner of the Cape Colony on 31 December 1871. He annexed

Basutoland Basutoland was a British Crown colony that existed from 1884 to 1966 in present-day Lesotho. Though the Basotho (then known as Basuto) and their territory had been under British control starting in 1868 (and ruled by Cape Colony from 1871), th ...

and Charles Griffith was appointed Chief Magistrate and Governor's Agent.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Griffith, Charles Duncan 1830 births 1906 deaths 19th-century British military personnel British colonial army officers People from Makhanda, Eastern Cape British colonial police officers Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George Military personnel from the Eastern Cape