Grant of Baronetcy to Sir Henry Bartle Edward Frere

Grant of baronetcy, 24th May 1876.

Sir Henry Bartle Edward Frere, 1st Baronet (1815-1884), KCB, GCB (1876), was educated at Bath and Haileybury, entering the Bombay Civil Service in 1834. He assisted in the investigation and reform of land-assessment, was resident at Sattara, 1846 and commissioner upon its annexation, 1847, though he was personally opposed to such a move. He was Chief Commissioner of Sind, 1850-1859, conciliating dispossessed amirs, opening up the country through public works and sending forces to the relief of the Punjab during the Indian Mutiny, and was the first non-Bengali appointed to the Viceroy's Council, 1859. He was confidential advisor to Lord Canning, and made Governor of Bombay, 1862-1867, where he instituted the municipality and checked speculation but aroused criticism for his conduct regarding the Bombay Bank. He returned to England in 1867 as a member of the Council of India. He became President of the Asiatic Society, 1872 and of the Geographical Society, 1873. He was sent to Zanzibar to negotiate the suppression of the slave trade, 1872, was made Privy Councillor, and accompanied the Prince of Wales to India, 1875. He was installed as Governor of the Cape and first High Commissioner of South Africa, 1877, becoming involved in the Kaffir and Zulu Wars. Despite his popularity within South Africa, he was censured by the British Government for exceeding his instructions during the Zulu War and recalled, 1880, after a conference with the Boers in which he promised to call for the redress of some of their grievances. In the early 1880s he replied to the Government's charges by means of his published correspondence and his book Afghanistan and South Africa... (London J. Murray; 1881).

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Collection level description created by Paul Davidson, Bodleian Library of Commonwealth and African Studies at Rhodes House.

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Letters and memoranda concerning Sir Henry Bartle Frere's scheme for suppressing the slave trade of East Africa, 1873 (Bodleian ref. MSS. Dep. Monk Bretton 42); drafts for speeches, minutes for ministers, by various persons, including Sir Henry Bartle Frere, 1877 (ref. MSS. Afr. s. 23/3); family letters, 1885-1902 (ref. MSS. Afr. s. 422).