The Upfill-Brown Collection

The Matabele War medal awarded to A. H. F. Duncan, Chief Magistrate in Bulawayo in 1893, Acting Administrator prior to the arrival of Earl Grey in 1896 and saviour of the beleaguered whites at Abercorn

BRITISH SOUTH AFRICA COMPANY MEDAL 1890-97, reverse Rhodesia 1896 (A. H. F. Duncan, Staff. B. F. F.), nearly extremely fine

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, The AA Upfill-Brown Collection.

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Andrew Henry Farrell Duncan served in the Royal Navy from 1868 to 1883 during which time, as a Lieutenant in H. M. S. Boadicea, he was with the Naval Brigade in Transvaal from 6 January, 1881, to 18 April, 1881. He qualified at the University of the Cape of Good Hope as a surveyor in 1884, and was Surveyor General in British Bechuanaland from 1886 to 1891. In that year he was appointed the first Surveyor General of Rhodesia and was made responsible for surveys, the disposal of land and also a number of departments including the Post Office, Stores and Transport, Public Works, and Woods and Forests. He was Chief Magistrate in Bulawayo in 1893 and was a great personal friend of Dr. L. S. Jameson. He became a member of the Executive Council in 1894 and was gazetted Acting Administrator in the course of the same year. Shortly after the outbreak of the Matabele rebellion in 1896 Duncan handed over his duties to Earl Grey, but not before he had organised the defence of Bulawayo, at that time seriously short of men, arms and munitions, owing to the Jameson Raid. He was a member of the staff of the Bulawayo Field Force and accompanied Captain Hon. C. White's column as far as Charter From there, and with only one companion who became seriously ill on the journey, DUNCAN, seated in centre. Duncan rode to Fort Salisbury through the enemy lines, travelling by night, part of the way by foot, as he was obliged to support the sick man on his horse. The latter repeatedly urged Duncan to leave him and save himself, but in spite of every difficulry, he succeeded in bringing him safely into Salisbury. The next day news came in that men in Abercorn were in grave danger. The district was some 70 miles distant in the worst part of the enemy's country. Duncan the same evening organised a patrol to relieve the white residents at Abercorn. In an incredibly short space of time, accompanied by 40 of the Natal Troop, and 25 volunteers from the Salisbury Field Force, he left the laager en route for Abercorn, where in due course he and his contingent safely arrived. Altogether about 17 people had sought refuge at Abercorn where they had been besieged for 23 days, repeatedly attacked by overwhelming numbers of rebellious natives, and as a result two men were killed and five were wounded. Duncan was presented with a magnificent illuminated scroll, now in The National Army Museum at Chelsea, by members of the Salisbury Field Force who accompanied him to Abercorn, bearing both their signatures and also those of some of the rescued men. The testimonial sums up with the following sentence:'When this unfortunate rebellion is at an end and we can calmly review its history, your brave exploit will stand out as a conspicuous event, destined to remain one of the most cherished memories of the people of Rhodesia. ' Duncan volunteered for service, on the outbreak of the South African War in 1899 and served with the Royal Engineers and the Intelligence Department. He died at Pretoria on 22nd September, 1931, at the age of 77 years.