British physician, naturalist and administrator (1832–1922)
John Kirk
Sir John KirkGCMG,KCB,FRS (19 December 1832 – 15 January 1922) was a British physician, naturalist, companion to explorer David Livingstone, and a British administrator in Zanzibar, East Africa, where he was instrumental in ending the slave trade in that country, with the aid of his political assistant, Ali bin Saleh bin Nasser Al-Shaiban, and Alexander Mackay, a missionary in Zanzibar.
He was born on 19 December 1832 in Barry, Angus, near Arbroath, Scotland, the second of four children of the Rev Maitland Kelly (1842-1929) and his second wife, Elfreda Blanche Carey (d. 1891). Kirkearned his medical degree from the University of Edinburgh, presenting his thesis On functional disease of the heart. Kirk worked for a year as a doctor in the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary before volunteering for the Crimean War.[1][2]
From 1858 to 1864, John Kirk, accompanied by his assistant Ali bin Saleh bin Nasser Al-Shaibani, an Omani-born historian who lived in Zanzibar, worked with Dr David Livingstone on the Second Zambezi Expedition as a botanist.[3] This visit later encouraged his work to end the East African slave trade, assisted by Al-Shaibani. In this trip, they visited the Zomba Plateau and Lake Chilwa in present-day Malawi, and in September 1859 he and Al-Shaibani accompanied Livingstone up the Shire River to Lake Malawi, which they explored by boat.[4] Kirk found Livingstone an inept leader and in 1862 wrote, "I can come to no other conclusion than that Dr. Livingstone is out of his mind and the most unsafe leader".[5]
The Kirk Range, which lies west of the Shire River and forms part of the Malawi-Mozambique border, is named after Kirk.[6]
In 1866, Livingstone began his next and final expedition, to find the source of the Nile, from Zanzibar. From Livingstone's subsequent correspondence during the expedition it seems that Kirk remained in Zanzibar and did not continue with the rest of the party.[7] After Livingstone's death in 1873, Kirk and Al-Shaibani pledged to continue his work to end the East African slave trade.[2]
Dr Livingstone's ship the Ma Robert, photographed on the Zambesi at Lupata by John Kirk
Kirk arrived in southern Somalia in 1873 during a period of great economic prosperity with the region being dominated by the Geledi Sultanate and the Hiraab Imamate. Trade between the ports of Mogadishu, Merca and the interior Geledi Sultanate flourished during Geledi Sultan Ahmed Yusuf's reign. Kirk noted a variety of other things. Roughly 20 large dhows were docked in both Mogadishu and Merka respectively filled with grain produced from the farms of the Geledi in the interior. Kirk met the Hirab Imam Mahmood who reigned over Mogadishu. The Shabelle river itself was referred to as the 'Geledi river' by Kirk, perhaps in respect of the sheer volume of produce that the Sultanate output. In Barawa there was little grain instead a large quantity of ivory and skins which had already been loaded onto ships destined for Zanzibar.[8] He stated that Sultan Ahmed Yusuf controlled a vast territory stretching from Mogadishu to the Jubba region and had 50,000 troops at his command.[9][2]
From his appointment in 1865 the British Consul in Zanzibar, Henry Adrian Churchill worked on the abolition of the slave trade on the island, however his heavy workload and the adverse climate took a toll on his health in 1869 and Kirk, who was his physician and Vice Consul, advised him to leave for London for the sake of his health. Churchill left in December 1870 leaving Kirk to undertake his duties as acting Consul.[10][2]
Kirk, together with his assistant, Ali bin Saleh Al-Shaibani, continued Churchill's work on the slave trade and in June 1873 he received simultaneous contradictory instructions from London on the Zanzibar slave trade, one to issue an ultimatum to Sultan Bargash, under threat of blockade that the slave trade should be stopped and the slave market closed, and the other not to enforce a blockade which might be taken as an act of war pushing Zanzibar towards French protection. Kirk only showed the first instruction to Barghash, who capitulated within two weeks.[11]
In August 1873 he was appointed British Consul in Zanzibar[12] in 1875 he was appointed Consul in the Comoro Islands,[13] and in 1881 was appointed Consul general in Zanzibar, and made Al-Shaibani as his political advisor with the task of smoothing out tensions between the British and the Sultan of Zanzibar.[14] One of his Vice-Consuls, appointed in 1883, was Lieutenant Charles Stewart Smith, who had earlier served in the anti-slaving patrols launched from HMS London. For years he negotiated with Sultan Barghash, with the help of Al-Shaibany, gaining his confidence and promising to help enrich the East African domain through legitimate commerce. By 1885 the region was larger and more profitable. It is a role that Al-Shaibany proved to be crucial in aiding the British to reach a settlement with Sultan Barghash to abolish slavery in Zanzibar.
Kirkia which is a genus of plant in family Kirkiaceae. It was previously placed in family Simaroubaceae, but was transferred into Kirkiaceae, together with Pleiokirkia, it was published by Oliv. in Hooker's Icon. Pl. vol.11 on page 26 in 1868.[18]
He studied the wildlife in East Africa and published many papers. He collected many birds from Zanzibar and East Africa.[22]
In 1892, he was credited with the third largest elephant tusk among animal trophy hunters.[23]
He collected many specimens of Lake Malawi fish on the Zambezi expedition.[4]
According to sources,[24] Kirk first drew zoologists' attention to the Zanzibar red colobus,[25] which is also commonly known as Kirk's red colobus. This species, Procolobus kirkii, which is endemic to Zanzibar, is named after him.
Patron's Medal of the Royal Geographical Society, 1882, "for unremitting services to Geography, as a naturalist, as second-in-command to Dr. Livingstone, and as H.M. Consul-General at Zanzibar,"[29]
Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George, First Class, 1886.[30]
Kirk J (1864). "Account of the Zambezi District, in South Africa, with a Notice of Its Vegetable and Other Products". Transactions of the Botanical Society8: 197–202.
Kirk J (1864-1865). "Ascent of the Rovuma". Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society of London9: 284–288.
Kirk J (1865). "Dimorphism in the Flowers of Monochoria Vaginalis ". Journal of the Linnean Society: Botany8: 147.
Kirk J (1859). "Extracts of a Letter of Dr. Kirk to Alex Kirk, Esq., Relating to the Livingstone Expedition". Report of the British Association for the Advancement of Science. pp. 185–186.
Kirk J (1864). "Hints to Travellers – Extracts from a Letter from John Kirk". Journal of the Royal Geographical Society34: 290–292.
Kirk J (1865). "Letter Dated 28 February Replying to Dr. Peters". Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London1865: 227.
Kirk J (1862). "Letter from Dr. John Kirk (of the Livingstone Expedition), Dated H.M. Ship Pioneer, River Shire, East Africa, 14 December 1861". Transactions of the Botanical Society7: 389–392.
Kirk J (1859). "Letter from Dr. John Kirk, Physician and Naturalists to the Livingstone Expedition, Relative to the Country near Lake Shirwa, in Africa". Transactions of the Botanical Society6: 317–321 + Plate VII.
Kirk J(1864). "Letter from John Kirk to Professor Balfour". Transactions of the Botanical Society8: 110–111.
Kirk J (1864). "List of Mammalia Met with in Zambesia, East Tropical Africa". Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London1864: 649–660.
Kirk J (1865). "Notes on the Gradient of the Zambesi, on the Level of Lake Nyassa, on the Murchison Rapids, and on Lake Shirwa". Journal of the Royal Geographical Society35: 167–169.
Kirk J (1865). "Notes on Two Expeditions up the River Rovuma, East Africa". Journal of the Royal Geographical Society35: 154–167.
Kirk J (1864). "On a Few Fossil Bones from the Alluvial Strata of the Zambesi Delta". Journal of the Royal Geographical Society34: 199–201.
Kirk J (1867). "On a New Dye-Wood of the Genus Cudranea, from Tropical Africa". Journal of the Linnean Society: Botany9: 229–230.
Kirk J (1864). "On a New Genus of Liliaceæ from East Tropical Africa". Transactions of the Linnean Society24: 497–499.
Kirk J (1866-1867). "On a New Harbour Opposite Zanzibar". Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society of London11: 35–36.
Kirk J (1867). "On Musa Livingstoniana, a New Banana from Tropical Africa". Journal of the Linnean Society: Botany9: 128.
Kirk J (1865). "On the "Tsetse" Fly of Tropical Africa (Glossina morsitans, Westwood)". Journal of the Linnean Society: Zoology8: 149–156.
Kirk J (1864). "On the Birds of the Zambezi Region of Eastern Tropical Africa". Ibis6: 307–339.
Kirk J (1867). "On the Palms of East Tropical Africa". Journal of the Linnean Society: Botany9: 230–235.
Kirk J (1861-1862). "Report on the Natural Products and Capabilities of the Shire and Lower Zambesi Valleys". Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society of London6: 25–32.
Kirk J (1896). Report by Sir John Kirk on the Disturbances at Brass. Great Britain: Colonial Office.
^Kirk, John (1873). Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society of London, Volume 17; Volumes 1872-1873. Edward Stanford. p. 341.
^Kirk, John (1873). Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society of London, Volume 17; Volumes 1872-1873. Edward Stanford. p. 341.
^"Papers Respecting the Slave Trade on the East Coast of Africa and the System Pursued for its Suppression", British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, pp. 31,57,59,60. IOR/L/PS/18/B83, in Qatar Digital Library [1] [accessed 6 November 2023].
^Lloyd, Christopher (1968). The Navy and the Slave Trade: The Suppression of the African Slave Trade in the Nineteenth Century. Abingdon-on-Thames: Routledge. pp. 264-268.
^Inventory Acc.942 Papers of Sir John Kirk GCMB KCB and Lady Kirk née Helen Cooke. National Library of Scotland: Manuscripts Division.
^Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN978-1-4214-0135-5. ("Kirk", p. 142).
^Christopher Scharpf; Kenneth J. Lazara (26 October 2018). "Order BLENNIIFORMES: Family BLENNIIDAE". The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database. Christopher Scharpf and Kenneth J. Lazara. Retrieved 24 February 2019.
^Chancery of the Order of Saint Michael and Saint George (2 February 1886). "The Queen has been graciously pleased to give..."The London Gazette (TheGazette.co.uk) (25555): 506. Retrieved 6 November 2023.
Foskett, Reginald, editor (1965). The Zambesi Journal and Letters of Dr. John Kirk, 1858–63. Edinburgh: Oliver & Boyd.
Martelli, George (1970). Livingstone's River: A History of the Zambezi Expedition, 1858–1864. London: Chatto & Windus.
Liebowitz, Daniel (1999). The Physician and the Slave Trade: John Kirk, the Livingstone Expeditions, and the Crusade against Slavery in East Africa. New York: W.H. Freeman and Company.
Ferguson, Niall (2003). Empire: How Britain Made the Modern World. London: Penguin Books. pp. 156–158, 236–237, 239.
Dritsas, Lawrence (2005). "From Lake Nyassa to Philadelphia: A Geography of the Zambesi Expedition, 1858–64". British Journal for the History of Science38 (1): 35–52.
Hazell, Alastair (2012). The Last Slave Market: Dr John Kirk and the Struggle to End the East African Slave Trade. London: Constable.
