Charles Saunders (administrator)
Encyclopedia
Sir Charles Saunders was the Chief Commissioner and Resident Magistrate of Zululand
Zulu Kingdom
The Zulu Kingdom, sometimes referred to as the Zulu Empire or, rather imprecisely, Zululand, was a monarchy in Southern Africa that extended along the coast of the Indian Ocean from the Tugela River in the south to Pongola River in the north....

. He was responsible for the annexation of the territory in Southern Africa then called British Maputaland (now called Southern Maputaland or the Elephant Coast of KwaZulu-Natal
KwaZulu-Natal
KwaZulu-Natal is a province of South Africa. Prior to 1994, the territory now known as KwaZulu-Natal was made up of the province of Natal and the homeland of KwaZulu....

). He set up magistracies in Ubombo and Ingwavuma.

"Sir Charles was among the important public servants in Natal, a Zulu linguist of note and an authority on Zulu law and custom. 1876 Saunders became and administrator of native law. In 1887 he went to Tongoland and ther ratified a treaty between the ruler and the British government. In the following years he was directed to define the boundary between Tongaland and Zululand, and in 1895 he took ove rthe Ingwavuma district for the British crown. When Zululand was annexed to Natal in 1897 he became chief magistrate of the territory. He was Knighted in 1907 and retired fromr the public service before the Union.

The Zulus called him 'uMashiqela', meaning the autocrat, and by his work over thirty years he was one of the men who made Natal." LANTERN PUBLICATION, March 1974.

He was the son of very well known Katherine Saunders, plant
Plant
Plants are living organisms belonging to the kingdom Plantae. Precise definitions of the kingdom vary, but as the term is used here, plants include familiar organisms such as trees, flowers, herbs, bushes, grasses, vines, ferns, mosses, and green algae. The group is also called green plants or...

 collector and botanical artist in the Colony of Natal
Colony of Natal
The Colony of Natal was a British colony in south-eastern Africa. It was proclaimed a British colony on May 4, 1843 after the British government had annexed the Boer Republic of Natalia, and on 31 May 1910 combined with three other colonies to form the Union of South Africa, as one of its...

. Like his mother, Sir Charles collected plants and a number of species are named after him, including Pachypodium saundersii
Pachypodium saundersii
Pachypodium saundersii, the Kudu Lily, is a succulent plant belonging to the Apocynaceae family.It is found naturally in Southern Africa, on the Lebombo Mountains and other areas in KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga and Swaziland....

and Ornithogalum saundersii. 426 plants were contributed to Kew Gardens between 1881-1889. 16 plant species were named in honour of Katherine Saunders and family members by Kew Gardens.

Kathleen Carola (died 1945), only daughter of the Lady Saunders of Melmoth and Sir Charles Saunders married Philip Edward Laughton of Dundee.

Sir Charles Saunders is buried Eshowe.
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