Douglas Flemmer Gilfillan (1865–1948) was a South African lawyer and plant collector.

Biography

Gilfillan went to school in

Cradock, Eastern Cape Cradock, officially Nxuba, is a town in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa, in the upper valley of the Great Fish River, by road northeast of Gqeberha. The town is the administrative seat of the Inxuba Yethemba Local Municipality in the ...

, where his father Edward practised as a solicitor. After serving as an

articled clerk Articled clerk is a title used in Commonwealth countries for one who is studying to be an accountant or a lawyer. In doing so, they are put under the supervision of someone already in the profession, now usually for two years, but previously three ...

in the

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

law firm of Reid & Nephew, he was admitted as a

solicitor A solicitor is a lawyer who traditionally deals with most of the legal matters in some jurisdictions. A person must have legally defined qualifications, which vary from one jurisdiction to another, to be described as a solicitor and enabled to p ...

and

notary A notary is a person authorised to perform acts in legal affairs, in particular witnessing signatures on documents. The form that the notarial profession takes varies with local legal systems. A notary, while a legal professional, is distin ...

to the Supreme Court of the Cape Colony. He moved to Barberton in 1888 and carried on a legal practise there until 1893. During that time he joined the Barberton Scientific and Literary Society and met the plant collector Ernest Edward Galpin: this meeting initiated a life-long friendship between the two. Gilfillan married Sophia Maria Magdalena de Jong, and Galpin married her sister, Marie Elizabeth. In 1893 Gilfillan moved to

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

and founded a law firm now known as

Bowman Gilfillan Bowmans is a global law firm headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa. Staffed by over 650 lawyers, it comprises nine offices in six African countries: South Africa, Namibia, Tanzania, Zambia, Mauritius, and Kenya. It is one of the so-called ...

. During the early part of his time in Johannseburg, which was then part of the

Transvaal Republic The South African Republic (, abbreviated ZAR; ), also known as the Transvaal Republic, was an independent Boer republic in Southern Africa which existed from 1852 to 1902, when it was annexed into the British Empire as a result of the Second ...

he became a member of the Reform Committee, an organisation of ''

Uitlanders An uitlander, Afrikaans for "foreigner" (), was a foreign (mainly British) migrant worker during the Witwatersrand Gold Rush in the independent Transvaal Republic following the discovery of gold in 1886. The limited rights granted to this group ...

'' who were looking for an increased political role for immigrants. Gilfillan was jailed with many others following the

Jameson Raid The Jameson Raid (Afrikaans: ''Jameson-inval'', , 29 December 1895 – 2 January 1896) was a botched raid against the South African Republic (commonly known as the Transvaal) carried out by British colonial administrator Leander Starr Jameson ...

. The Reform Committee members were tried and sentenced to death. This sentence was later reduced to a fine of £2000. Sir

Abe Bailey Sir Abraham Bailey, 1st Baronet (6 November 1864 – 10 August 1940), known as Abe Bailey, was a South African diamond and gold tycoon, politician, financier and cricketer. Early years Bailey's mother, Ann Drummond McEwan, was Scottish by bi ...

paid Gilfillan's fine and he was released and continued his legal practice. Gilfillan served as a captain in the

Imperial Light Horse Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor/empress, or imperialism. Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to: Places United States * Imperial, California * Imperial, Missouri * Imperial, Nebraska * Imperial, Pennsylvania * Impe ...

regiment in the

Boer War The Second Boer War (, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, Transvaal War, Anglo–Boer War, or South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer republics (the South African Republic an ...

. When the Boer War ended Gilfillan was appointed a member of the special criminal court for Johannesburg and acting magistrate for Boksburg and Germiston. Gilfillan collected over 500 botanical specimens. These were collected in the areas around Johannesburg (1898- 1899),

Middelburg, Eastern Cape Middelburg () is a town in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa, in the Great Karoo. It lies in the Upper Karoo, 1,279 m above sea level, with a population of 19,000.

(1899),

Heidelberg, Gauteng Heidelberg is a town with 35,500 inhabitants in the Gauteng province of South Africa, some 50 kilometres south-east of Johannesburg, close to the Mpumalanga border. It sits at the eastern end of the Suikerbosrand Nature Reserve, next to the N3 hig ...

and

Witbank Witbank (), officially eMalahleni, is a city situated on the Highveld of Mpumalanga, South Africa, within the Emalahleni Local Municipality, Mpumalanga, Emalahleni Local Municipality. The name Witbank is Afrikaans for "white ridge", and is named ...

(1905). Gilfillan sent his specimens to Galpin, who incorporated them in his herbarium under Gilfillan's name. Galpin's herbarium later formed the nucleus of the government herbarium in

Pretoria Pretoria ( ; ) is the Capital of South Africa, administrative capital of South Africa, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to the country. Pretoria strad ...

Commemoration

The following plant species were named in his honour: ''

Canthium ''Canthium'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae. They are shrubs and small trees. The leaves are deciduous and the stems are usually thorny. Distribution ''Canthium'' species were predominantly found in Southeast Asia, espe ...

gilfillanii'', ''

Zygophyllum ''Zygophyllum'' is the type genus of the flowering plant family Zygophyllaceae. The generic name is derived from the Greek language, Greek words ζυγόν (''zygon''), meaning "double", and φυλλον (''phyllon''), meaning "leaf". It refer ...

gilfillanii'', '' Europs gilfillanii''.

Notes and references

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gilfillan, Douglas Flemmer 1865 births 1948 deaths 20th-century South African botanists Cape Colony lawyers People from Cradock, Eastern Cape Cape Colony botanists 20th-century South African lawyers People convicted of treason against South Africa