John Barrow
Sir John Barrow (1764-1848)[1] was an English explorer, geographer, diplomat and author.
He traveled to South Africa in 1797 as private secretary to Lord Macartney and was sent to the interior , "entrusted with the task of reconciling the Boer settlers and the native Black population and of reporting on the country in the interior" ([2]), drawing much needed maps. His published accounts of these travels, Travels into the interior of Southern Africa (volumes I and II, published by London, T. Cadell and W. Davies, 1806). This work and his many subsequent works made a great contribution to the geographical knowledge of time, earned him fame as author, explorer and geographer. It is also a very useful source of incidental information about late 18th century culture and performance in Southern Africa, and has been used by Bosman, Fletcher, Juta and others. (The book was apparently also published in Dutch as Reizen in de Binnelanden van het Zuidelyk Deel van Afrika in de Jaren 1797 en 1798 Haarlem, 1803.)
Barrow later worked as a diplomat in the Cape Colony, having married a local botanic artist, and settled in South Africa in 1800. In 1804 he returned to England and was appointed Second Secretary to the Admiralty, a post he would hold till 1845.
Over the years he eagerly promoted British exploration of West Africa and the North Polar Regions, and (Barrow Strait, Barrow Sound and Barrow Point in the Arctic and Cape Barrow in the Antarctic were all named in his honour for example). In addition he was a founder member and key figure in the influential Royal Geographical Society.
Sources
F.C.L. Bosman, 1928. Drama en Toneel in Suid-Afrika, Deel I: 1652-1855. Pretoria: J.H. de Bussy. [3]
Jill Fletcher. 1994. The Story of Theatre in South Africa: A Guide to its History from 1780-1930. Cape Town: Vlaeberg.
http://www.sahistory.org.za/dated-event/sir-john-barrow-84-explorer-interior-sa-dies-london
