John Spurgeon Henkel

Who was John Spurgeon Henkel?

John Spurgeon Henkel, was a South African botanist and forester.

He was the son of soldier and botanist Caesar Carl Hans Henkel. He joined the Cape Forest Department in 1888, working in the Eastern Cape for several years. Chosen to attend the Royal Indian Engineering College at Cooper's Hill, he received the College Diploma.

When the Anglo-Boer War broke out he served as captain, receiving the Queen's Medal. After the war he was appointed Assistant Conservator of Forests in the Eastern Conservancy in 1905, and Conservator of Forests for Natal and Zululand in 1912. In 1918, he became Chief of the Rhodesian Forest Service.

He was a founder member of the SA Association for the Advancement of Science, a founder member of the Royal Society of South Africa, and was awarded an honorary DSc by the University of South Africa. His father, Cäsar Carl Henkel, is commemorated in Podocarpus henkelii.