Hi Brett,
Dartnell suggests that influence seems to have played a part in early promotions. He then implies this ended when he got the Government to consent to all promotions in the corps being made through the ranks. This was still in the early days so who exactly were these men that were promoted due to political influence? And by the same token I guess that we can take it that all promotions after this weren't due to political influence. He can only be referring to the pre Zulu War promotions here.
Dartnell in the intro to Holt says of the formation of the NMP that "I wanted to send home for men, but this the Government would not sanction, so I had to start
recruiting from amongst the flotsam and jetsam of the colony, and a very rough lot they proved to be,..." Certainly truth in that but then again it seems to suggest that no suitable recruits could be found in Natal. Were all the colonials really that bad?
He then goes on to say "Three officers were appointed to assist me, viz., Mr. G. Mansel (now Colonel Mansel, C.M.G., who later raised and commanded the Zululand Native Police), Mr. F. Campbell (a relative of the Speaker of the Legislative Council), and Mr. F. Phillips (son of Judge Phillips of the Supreme Court of the colony). Later on I got the Government to consent to all promotions in the corps being made through the ranks, in order to avoid any undue political influence being brought to bear in the appointment of officers; I also wanted to induce a good class of men to enlist in the force by the prospect of promotion, and I achieved my object, for after a few years about a third of the men were gentlemen. Some of them were University men, and there were boys from nearly every public school in England."
With "boys from nearly every public school in England it would be very surprising if there wasn't the 'Old Boys' network at play behind the scenes. Was Dartnell perhaps having a bit of a dig at Campbell and Phillips? Were these the officers appointed and promoted because of political influence. Dartnell seemed to get on very well with Mansel and Campbell for many years. Campbell and Mansel had entered as Sub-Inspectors and were promoted to Inspector in 1878. Political interference?
I don't know the backgrounds of Mansel and Phillips other than Phillips being the son of a judge but if we took Campbell for example could Campbell be seen as not being suitable for an appointment as a police inspector? Campbell was the son of Natal's first Presbyterian minister. He was reasonably well educated and spoke both Zulu and Dutch. He was known to be shy but there is no evidence to suggest that this ever became an issue in his career with the force that spanned more than three decades.
He had been born in Scotland in 1848 but had grown up in Natal. He had served as an aid to Shepstone on the Cetshwayo Coronation expedition in 1873. He had served as an officer under Capt Allison in the column that went into Basutoland during the 1873 Rebellion. Allison's column was certainly more successful than the Bushman's River Pass one. He was a noted cricketer and tennis player and was known to be a very fine shot. He was shown to be an able administrator and stood in as an acting resident magistrate on several occasions over the years. He also was appointed to the 1878 Boundary Commission.
Dartnell wrote the above late in life. Could it be that the senior men of the NP that had been with him from the early days of the NMP and weren't part of his inner circle late in the Boer War looked on in disapproval as he and his circle claimed KSAs that they weren't entitled to? Did this have something to do with Dartnell suggesting that men of the early crowd, regardless of decades of good service were only there because of their use of undue political influence?
Sorry, after all that I've turned this thread into a discussion on the internal politics of the Natal Police. Perhaps we need to start another thread if we want to continue with the NP. Brett, I would certainly be most interested in hearing more on the NP during the course of the ABW.
Cheers,
Mark
