John Clark Collection
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Henry Francis Fynn (1803-61). One of the greatest of the early Natal settlers and one of the few Europeans who could speak from personal acquaintance with the great Shaka. Later the British government employed him in special missions among the Cape Kaffirs and Pine, lieutenant-governor of Natal, appointed him resident magistrate of the Lower Umkomaas, now Umzinto. His latter years were soured by the refusal of the Natal colonial government to grant him a farm and his widow lived on public charity until her death. A man with a gift for writing, he kept a fragmentary diary, papers, and maps covering his travels and experiences among the Zulus. His history - for such it was - was later edited and published in 1950 under the title of The Diary of Henry Francis Fynn. It is of the greatest value to historians in its account of the Natal tribes before the coming of the Voortrekkers and the British colonial administration.