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Sidney Langford Hinde (23 July 1863 – 18 October 1930) was a medical doctor and colonial administrator in East Africa. He was involved in the
Congo–Arab war The Congo Arab war was a colonial war between the Congo Free State and Swahili people, Arab-Swahili warlords associated with the Indian Ocean slave trade in the eastern regions of the Congo Basin between 1892 and 1894. The war was caused by the F ...
in the service of King
Leopold II of Belgium Leopold II (9 April 1835 – 17 December 1909) was the second king of the Belgians from 1865 to 1909, and the founder and sole owner of the Congo Free State from 1885 to 1908. Born in Brussels as the second but eldest-surviving son of King Leo ...
. He is commemorated in the scientific names of several African animals.


Early life

Sidney Hinde was born at Niagara, Ontario. His father was George Langford Hinde of the Army Medical Department. The elder Hinde was a veteran of the Crimean War who retired in 1892 with the rank of Surgeon-Major-General. Hinde attended
Clare College, Cambridge Clare College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. The college was founded in 1326 as University Hall, making it the second-oldest surviving college of the Unive ...
and received his medical education at St Bartholomew's Hospital Medical College. He practiced medicine at hospitals in
Stafford Stafford () is a market town and the county town of Staffordshire, England. It is located about south of Stoke-on-Trent, north of Wolverhampton, and northwest of Birmingham. The town had a population of 71,673 at the 2021–2022 United Kingd ...
, England and London before entering the service of the
Congo Free State The Congo Free State, also known as the Independent State of the Congo (), was a large Sovereign state, state and absolute monarchy in Central Africa from 1885 to 1908. It was privately owned by Leopold II of Belgium, King Leopold II, the const ...
.


Career


Congo

He took part in the
Congo–Arab war The Congo Arab war was a colonial war between the Congo Free State and Swahili people, Arab-Swahili warlords associated with the Indian Ocean slave trade in the eastern regions of the Congo Basin between 1892 and 1894. The war was caused by the F ...
of 1892 to 1894 with the rank of
captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...
. For part of that time he was second in command to Francis Dhanis. For his services King Leopold of Belgium awarded him the cross of the
Royal Order of the Lion Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family or royalty Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Ro ...
and the Étoile de service. In 1894 he was involved in exploration of the
Lualaba District Lualaba District was a district of the pre-2015 Katanga Province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The district dates back to the days of the Congo Free State and the Belgian Congo. The original Lualaba District was merged into Katanga in 1 ...
. In 1895 he presented a paper about his experiences in the Congo Free State to the
Royal Geographical Society The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), often shortened to RGS, is a learned society and professional body for geography based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical scien ...
. His book about the Congo–Arab war, entitled ''The Fall of the Congo Arabs'', was published by Methuen & Co. in 1897. A contemporary review in ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' describes it as "full of interest and stirring incidents" and written with "a naturalness and a directness which are admirable".


Kenya

In 1895 Hinde began working for the British
Foreign Office Foreign may refer to: Government * Foreign policy, how a country interacts with other countries * Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in many countries ** Foreign Office, a department of the UK government ** Foreign office and foreign minister * United ...
. He was posted to Machakos Fort in the
East Africa Protectorate East Africa Protectorate (also known as British East Africa) was a British protectorate in the African Great Lakes, occupying roughly the same area as present-day Kenya, from the Indian Ocean inland to the border with Uganda in the west. Cont ...
Service where he was appointed
resident Resident may refer to: People and functions * Resident minister, a representative of a government in a foreign country * Resident (medicine), a stage of postgraduate medical training * Resident (pharmacy), a stage of postgraduate pharmaceut ...
to the Maasai chief and collector of Maasailand. In 1897 Hinde married Hildegarde Beatrice Ginsburg, a daughter of the biblical scholar
Christian David Ginsburg Christian David Ginsburg (, 25 December 1831 – 7 March 1914) was a Polish-born British Bible scholar and a student of the Masoretic tradition in Judaism. He was born to a Jewish family in Warsaw but converted to Christianity at the age of 15 ...
. Her sister had married the English geographer
Halford Mackinder Sir Halford John Mackinder (15 February 1861 – 6 March 1947) was a British geographer, academic and politician, who is regarded as one of the founding fathers of both geopolitics and geostrategy. He was the first Principal of University Ext ...
. In his capacity as colonial administrator, then stationed in Nairobi, Hinde facilitated Mackinder's expedition to climb
Mount Kenya Mount Kenya (Meru people, Meru: ''Kĩrĩmaara,'' Kikuyu people, Kikuyu: ''Kĩrĩnyaga'', Kamba language, Kamba: ''Ki nyaa'', Embu language, Embu: ''Kĩ nyaga'') is an extinct volcano in Kenya and the Highest mountain peaks of Africa, second-highe ...
in 1899. Hildegarde and Sidney Hinde were joint authors of ''The Last of the Masai'', a book published by William Heinemann in 1901. It contains field notes describing some East African animals and birds and photographs including one showing a "lion shot by Mrs. S.L. Hinde". In the book's preface Sidney Hinde explained that the word "last" in the title referred to "the last of the rapidly decreasing band of pure blood, whose tendencies, traditions, customs and beliefs remain uncontaminated by admixture with Bantu beliefs and contact with civilization". Hinde retired from the
Colonial Office The Colonial Office was a government department of the Kingdom of Great Britain and later of the United Kingdom, first created in 1768 from the Southern Department to deal with colonial affairs in North America (particularly the Thirteen Colo ...
in 1915. He served as a major in the
Royal Army Medical Corps The Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) was a specialist corps in the British Army which provided medical services to all Army personnel and their families, in war and in peace. On 15 November 2024, the corps was amalgamated with the Royal Army De ...
during
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
. He died at
Haverfordwest Haverfordwest ( , ; ) is the county town of Pembrokeshire, Wales, and the most populous urban area in Pembrokeshire with a population of 14,596 in 2011. It is also a Community (Wales), community consisting of 12,042 people, making it the secon ...
on 18 October 1930.


Legacy

Mackinder named the Hinde Valley on Mount Kenya after Sidney Hinde. Hinde Falls on
Athi River Athi River is a town outside Nairobi, Kenya in Machakos County. The town is named after the Athi-Galana-Sabaki River, Athi River, which passes through. It is also known as Mavoko. Athi River hosts the Mavoko Municipal Council and is the headq ...
is also named after the Hindes. Hinde, an amateur naturalist and collector, contributed African artifacts and natural history specimens to the
British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...
.
George Albert Boulenger George Albert Boulenger (19 October 1858 – 23 November 1937) was a Belgian-British zoologist who described and gave scientific names to over 2,000 new animal species, chiefly fish, reptiles, and amphibians. Boulenger was also an active botani ...
named a species of venomous snake '' Montatheris hindii'' in honour of Sidney Hinde. Three species of African mammal were named in his honour by
Oldfield Thomas Michael Rogers Oldfield Thomas (21 February 1858 – 16 June 1929) was a British zoologist. Career Thomas worked at the Natural History Museum, London, Natural History Museum on mammals, describing about 2,000 new species and subspecies for ...
: Hinde's lesser house bat (''Scotoecus hindei''),
Hinde's rock rat Hinde's rock rat (''Aethomys hindei'') is a species of rodent in the family Muridae found in Burundi, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as th ...
(''Aethomys hindei''), and
Lesser hamster-rat The lesser hamster-rat or long-tailed pouched rat (''Beamys hindei'') is a species of rodent in the family Nesomyidae. It is found in Kenya and Tanzania. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland coastal forests. It is threaten ...
(''Beamys hindei''). Hinde's babbler (''Turdoides hindei''), a species of bird endemic to Kenya, was named in his honour by
Richard Bowdler Sharpe Richard Bowdler Sharpe (22 November 1847 – 25 December 1909) was an English people, English zoologist and ornithology, ornithologist who worked as curator of the bird collection at the British Museum of natural history. In the course of his car ...
in 1900.


Bibliography

Hinde wrote two books and an article for an ornithological journal: *(1897). ''The Fall of the Congo Arabs''. London: Methuen & Co. *(1898). "On birds observed near Machako's Station, in British East Africa". ''The Ibis'' 4: 576-587. *(1901). ''The Last of the Masai''. (with Hildegarde Beatrice Hinde) London: William Heinemann.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hinde, Sidney Langford British military medical officers 1863 births 1930 deaths Congo Free State people Royal Army Medical Corps officers British Army personnel of World War I