St Vincent Whitshed Erskine (1846 - 1918), Surveyor General of South Africa, was an early explorer in

Gazaland Gazaland is the historical name for the region in southeast Africa, in modern-day Mozambique and Zimbabwe, which extends northward from the Komati River at Delagoa Bay in Mozambique's Maputo Province to the Pungwe River in central Mozambique. Hi ...

and was the first European to travel down the length of the

Limpopo river The Limpopo River rises in South Africa and flows generally eastward through Mozambique to the Indian Ocean. The term Limpopo is derived from Rivombo (Livombo/Lebombo), a group of Tsonga settlers led by Hosi Rivombo who settled in the mountaino ...

to its mouth.

Family

Erskine was born on 7 February 1846 in

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

, the second son of Lieutenant Colonel The Honourable David Erskine (son of

David Erskine, 2nd Baron Erskine David Montagu Erskine, 2nd Baron Erskine (12 August 1776 – 19 March 1855) was a British diplomat and politician. Background and education A member of Clan Erskine, Erskine was the eldest son of Thomas Erskine, 1st Baron Erskine, fourth son of ...

of Restmorel) and his first wife (m. 12 November 1839) Anne Maria Spode, daughter of Josiah Spode and great-granddaughter of

Josiah Spode Josiah Spode (23 March 1733 – 18 August 1797) was an English potter and the founder of the English Spode pottery works which became famous for the high quality of its wares. He is often credited with the establishment of blue underglaze tran ...

. David Erskine married secondly Emma Florence Mary Harford the daughter of Captain Charles Joseph Harford,

12th Lancers The 12th (Prince of Wales's) Royal Lancers was a cavalry regiment of the British Army first formed in 1715. It saw service for three centuries, including the First World War and the Second World War. The regiment survived the immediate post-war ...

. St Vincent Erskine married in 1870 to Alice Lindley Buchanan 5th daughter of David Dale Buchanan (born 1819, died 4 Sep 1874 in Cape Town), the founder of the "Natal Witness" (

The Witness (South African newspaper) ''The Witness'' (previously ''The Natal Witness'') is a daily newspaper published in Pietermaritzburg. It mainly serves readers in Pietermaritzburg, Durban and the inland areas of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It is the oldest continuously ...

) and his wife Mary Ann. St Vincent Erskine and Alice Buchanan had six children: * Charles Howard Erskine (b. 1871; d. 1918) m. Mildred Charlotte Greathead * Echo Emmeline Erskine (d. 18 November 1876; bur Commercial Road Cemetery Pietermaritzburg) * Gyneth Erskine * Iris Erskine m. Frederic Townsend-Moorland * Esme Nourse Erskine (b. 1884; d. 1962) m. Elizabeth Susan Matilda Reinders (d. 1972) * Renira Erskine m. Percy Grant-Dalton St Vincent Erskine was a friend of

Thomas Baines (John) Thomas Baines (27 November 1820 – 8 May 1875) was an English artist and explorer of British colonial southern Africa and Australia. Life and work Born in King's Lynn, Norfolk, on 27 November 1820, Baines was apprenticed to a coach ...

the well known artist of African Exploration, who had accompanied

David Livingstone David Livingstone (; 19 March 1813 – 1 May 1873) was a Scottish physician, Congregationalist, and pioneer Christian missionary with the London Missionary Society, an explorer in Africa, and one of the most popular British heroes of t ...

along the Zambezi in 1858. St Vincent Erskine died from the

Spanish flu The 1918–1920 influenza pandemic, commonly known by the misnomer Spanish flu or as the Great Influenza epidemic, was an exceptionally deadly global influenza pandemic caused by the H1N1 influenza A virus. The earliest documented case was ...

on 8 July 1918 aged 72 years and is buried in the Maitland Cemetery, Cape Town. Alice Erskine died on 22 October 1922 at

Uitenhage Uitenhage ( ; ), officially renamed Kariega, is a South African town in the Eastern Cape Province. It is well known for the Volkswagen factory located there, which is the biggest car factory on the African continent. Along with the city of Port El ...

, South Africa.

Explorations in Africa

St Vincent Erskine carried out a number of exploratory journeys in Southern Africa between 1868 and 1875 from Natal northwards into Gazaland and down to the mouth of the River Limpopo.

(modern day Mozambique and Zimbabwe extending northward from the Komati River at Delagoa Bay in Mozambique's Maputo Province to the Pungwe River in central Mozambique) records - “Probably the first European to penetrate any distance inland from the Sofala coast since the Portuguese gold-seekers of the 16th century was St. Vincent W. Erskine, who explored the region between the Limpopo and Pungwe (1868-1875).” St Vincent Erskine's four journeys are reported in the Journal of the

Royal Geographical Society The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), often shortened to RGS, is a learned society and professional body for geography based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical scien ...

, London: * ''Journey of Exploration to the Mouth of the River Limpopo, By St Vincent W Erskine'' * ''Journey to Umzila’s, South East Africa in 1871-1872. By Mr St Vincent Erskine, special Commissioner from the Natal government to Umzila, King of Gasa''; and * ''Two Journeys of Mr St Vincent Erskine in Gasa Land during the years 1873, 1874 and 1875''

Later career

Following his exploratory journeys St Vincent Erskine worked as a surveyor in Natal, the Transvaal and Cape Province. He settled with his family in Cape Town where he died in 1918.

Source material

St Vincent Erskine’s "My journal on the Limpopo River" and Alice Erskine’s diary are lodged with the University of Natal. Extracts from Alice Erskine’s diary can be found in “Buchanan Family Records, James Buchanan and his descendants". She reports the family living in Kokstad,

East Griqualand Griqualand East (Afrikaans: ''Griekwaland-Oos''), officially known as New Griqualand (Dutch: ''Nieuw Griqualand''), was one of four short-lived Griqua states in Southern Africa from the early 1860s until the late 1870s and was located between t ...

in 1878 where they were attacked by the

Griquas The Griquas (; af, Griekwa, often confused with ''!Orana'', which is written as ''Korana'' or ''Koranna'') are a subgroup of heterogeneous former Khoe-speaking nations in Southern Africa with a unique origin in the early history of the Cap ...

who were in rebellion. St Vincent and Alice Erskine both suffered broken legs when the powder magazine exploded. Alice Erskine required to go to England for treatment to save her leg. Having returned from England and lived in Kostad the family moved a year later to

Vryheid Vryheid ( zu, IVryheid) is a coal mining and cattle ranching town in northern KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Vryheid is the Afrikaans word for "freedom". History After Boer farmers, who lived in the Vryheid area, had helped King Dinuzulu defeat his ...

, describing the rigours of the difficult journey by ox wagon. Material about St Vincent Erskine is also held by the

National Archives of South Africa The National Archives and Records Service is an institutional network, operating on a centralized and decentralized provincial basis under central government control. The National Archives and Records Service of South Africa was established by p ...

which include claims for payment of the work; applications to practice as a land surveyor; to be a magistrate at

Inanda Division Inanda may refer to: * Inanda, Gauteng, a suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa * Inanda, KwaZulu-Natal Inanda or eNanda ( isiZulu: ''pleasant place'', also possibly, ''level-topped hill'') is a township in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa that is situ ...

; applications by Alice Erskine for assistance in the education of her children; references to land transactions and to courts cases involving St Vincent etc. and the Royal Geographical Society archives which are mainly manuscripts for his articles, maps and sketches and in the UK National Archives including a letter from Major D Erskine (father of St. Vincent Erskine) dated Dec 22, 1880, to Lord Aberdare, asking support for son's application to be employed on the Transvaal survey GS/CB6/742http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/A2A/advanced-search.aspx?tab=1. - and click on RGS

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Erskine, St Vincent Whitshed 1846 births 1918 deaths South African explorers Deaths from Spanish flu