OTHER BRITISH AFRICA / FOREIGN AFRICA
Saint Helena to Zanzibar
UGANDA
LUGARD
The following early Uganda have been removed from a printed album page, endorsed at base 'Certified that the above stamps were received direct from Uganda and are genuine (signed) F Lugard'. As such, one can consider them a 'new issue' of the time. All are in remarkably fine condition for these delicate primitives, having remained in an album until recently.
FREDERICK LUGARD, 1st Baron Lugard: After he left Nyasaland in April 1889, Lugard joined the Imperial British East Africa Company. In their service, he explored the Sabaki river and the neighbouring region, in addition to elaborating a scheme for the emancipation of the slaves held by Arabs in the Zanzibar mainland. In 1890, Lugard was sent by the company to Uganda, where he secured British predominance of the area and put an end to the civil disturbances. The efforts came with severe fighting, chiefly notable for an unprovoked attack by the French on the British faction. After the successful efforts to end disturbances, Lugard became Military Administrator of Uganda from 26 December 1890 to May 1892. While administering Uganda, he journeyed round Ruwenzori to Albert Edward Nyanza, mapping a large area of the country. He also visited Albert Nyanza, and brought away some thousands of Sudanese who had been left there by Emin Pasha and H. M. Stanley during the Emin Pasha Relief Expedition. When Lugard returned to England in 1892, he successfully dissuaded Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone and his cabinet from abandoning Uganda. In 1894, Lugard was despatched by the Royal Niger Company to Borgu, where he secured treaties with the kings and chiefs acknowledging the sovereignty of the British company, while distancing the other colonial powers that were there. From 1896 to 1897, Lugard took charge of an expedition to Lake Ngami on behalf of the British West Charterland Company. From Ngami he was recalled by the British government and sent to West Africa, where he was commissioned to raise a native force to protect British interests in the hinterland of the Lagos Colony and Nigeria against French aggression. In August 1897, Lugard organized the West African Frontier Force, and commanded it until the end of December 1899, when the disputes with France were composed.