Francis Farewell

Who was Francis Farewell?

Lieutenant Francis George Farewell, the founder of the Port Natal Colony in South Africa, was born at Holbrook House near Wincanton in the Blackmore Vale in 1784. His father was Reverend Samuel Farewell, who died when Francis was young.

Francis and the rest of the Farewell family then moved from Holbrook to Tiverton, Devon. There he became a Scholar at Blundell's School until the age of 13, when he left to become a Midshipman in the Royal Navy.

He fought against the French in the Napoleonic Wars, including the Battle of Trafalgar.

He later left England for the Cape Colony. There, under the leadership of Governor Lord Charles Henry Somerset, in 1823 he planned to establish an ivory business in Natal, in order to make contact with King Shaka of the Zulus. In 1824 he left for Natal, accompanied by his crew, which included his friend Henry Francis Fynn, a physician.

Their ship was caught in a storm in the Indian Ocean, but they managed to reach the shores of Natal. There they met with the Zulus.

Farewell and his team of men went with the Zulu soldiers to Bulawayo, near present-day Eshowe, the Zulu Royal Kraal and home to King Shaka Zulu himself.

In late 1824, Farewell asked for Shaka's permission to establish a trading post in Natal. Shaka agreed, and Farewell established Port Natal as a place for ships travelling to India to stop at, and also for Farewell to trade with the Zulus for ivory.