18 Facts About James Stevenson-Hamilton

James Stevenson-Hamilton was born in Dublin, Ireland on 2 October 1867 to Colonel James Stevenson-Hamilton and Eliza Hamilton.

James Stevenson-Hamilton was educated at Lockers Park School in Hertfordshire, Rugby and Sandhurst before opting for a career in the military.

James Stevenson-Hamilton was promoted to lieutenant on 20 February 1890, and to captain on 1 June 1898, the same year as he joined the Cape-to-Cairo expedition under the leadership of Major Alfred St Hill Gibbons.

James Stevenson-Hamilton received the brevet rank of major on 29 November 1900 for his service in the war, and after the end of hostilities was promoted to the substantive rank of major on 12 November 1902.

James Stevenson-Hamilton's vision was not shared by other members of his parliament; his efforts to conserve land, especially in the areas between Swaziland and Zululand and in the Zoutpansberg area, met with strong opposition.

James Stevenson-Hamilton signed a two-year contract as warden, found a map of the area and set off with a wagon, oxen, provisions and ammunition for an uncharted and malaria-filled land described to him as the "white man's grave".

Game-ranging was still a new term and this allowed James Stevenson-Hamilton to have free rein over the Sabi Nature Reserve, his only order from Lagden being "to make himself generally disagreeable" and to try to eliminate poaching.

James Stevenson-Hamilton stationed himself briefly on the banks of the Crocodile River in South Africa, familiarising himself with the land and animals, but soon moved and settled at Sabi Bridge, which is called Skukuza.

James Stevenson-Hamilton believed "that if there were no shooting, if animals were left to live in the veld as they had lived before man came on the scene, they would lose their fear of human beings and flock to an area that had once been described as 'red with impala'".

James Stevenson-Hamilton then moved his headquarters from Crocodile-Bridge to Sabi-Bridge and appointed two rangers, including Harry Wolhuter, and together they trained native rangers.

James Stevenson-Hamilton trained his rangers, thinned out the lions and the wild dogs, declared war on the poachers and patrolled the whole area.

James Stevenson-Hamilton's focus then went back to Johannesburg and Pretoria where he started to convince companies in the vicinity to lend him land, eventually giving him a huge block in a remote corner of Transvaal.

In 1926, Piet Grobler established the National Parks Bill in parliament as encouraged by James Stevenson-Hamilton and presented Kruger National Park as a realization of the dreams of Paul Kruger.

James Stevenson-Hamilton served the game reserve for 44 years from 1902 to 1946.

James Stevenson-Hamilton died on 10 December 1957 at the age of 90.

James Stevenson-Hamilton was a good friend and fellow of the Tsonga people and he was dubbed "Skukuza" by the Tsonga who lived on the reserve, meaning 'the man who has turned everything upside down' or 'the man who swept clean'.

James Stevenson-Hamilton understood Tsonga language as well as Tsonga culture and was taught hunting skills by the Tsonga, who were expert in hunting big game, such as elephant, rhino, leopard and lion.

James Stevenson-Hamilton is commemorated in the scientific name of a species of African gecko, Lygodactylus stevensoni.