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By Keith Snedegar

This is a biographical research of Alexander William Roberts, a loose Church of Scotland missionary educator who in 1883 used to be published to the Lovedale establishment at Alice, South Africa. encouraged via the evening sky of the southern hemisphere, Roberts grew to become a number one observer of variable stars and an early contributor to the idea of shut interacting binary stars. He actively promoted the improvement of colonial medical tradition and used to be elected president of the South African organization for the development of technology in 1913. His educating profession at Lovedale fostered a dedication to the pursuits of his African scholars and their groups. In 1920 Roberts used to be appointed to the South African senate to symbolize “native” Africans; he additionally served as senior member of the local Affairs fee. regardless of his liberal instincts he acquiesced to the stream towards racial segregation as complicated within the Natives (Urban components) and local management Acts. Roberts still militated opposed to the erosion of the Cape non-racial franchise rights; he resigned from the local Affairs fee simply because the all-white parliament was once poised to take away Africans from the typical electorate’ roll. His engagement with the politics of race interfered with Roberts’s astronomical examine. even supposing he released approximately 100 papers in clinical journals so much of his observational info remained unknown till the Boyden Observatory’s Roberts archive used to be digitized in 2006. His impact as a challenge educator additionally has been little recognized, even supposing between his students have been journalist and educational D.D.T. Jabavu, the surgeon James Moroka, and Swazi king Sobhuza I.

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Additional info for Mission, Science, and Race in South Africa: A. W. Roberts of Lovedale, 1883-1938

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He had existed something under Stewart’s shadow, quietly teaching and exploring natural history. 16 From his brother, Smith had obtained a surveyor’s theodolite, which Roberts used to determine the latitude and longitude of the mission. 17 Smith was also inquisitive about 24 Chapter 2 terrestrial magnetism, and wondered if Roberts could make magnetic observations at Lovedale. 18 At all events, Roberts continued Smith’s record taking of local atmospheric conditions (temperature, air pressure, and rainfall), and between 1888 and 1910, reported the data to the Cape Meteorological Commission, which was chaired by Andrew’s brother, Charles Abercrombie Smith.

Accordingly, sympathy for Roberts’s personal research and private opinions would have to come from his far-flung acquaintances, particularly David Gill. Roberts confided in Gill that he differed with many of his Lovedale coworkers on what they were doing as missionaries. 40 They could strive to raise the Africans’ spiritual level, Roberts believed, but they could not dictate change. African custom and unwritten law would continue to hold for quite some time. Meanwhile, individual land tenure should be encouraged, which implied African participation in electoral politics.

11 Lizzie’s first two pregnancies were difficult. After Annie was born, Lizzie took some months to recover. Christine’s birth also took a toll on her mother. Alex was concerned enough about Lizzie’s well-being that he requested a leave of absence so she could recuperate in the company of her family. The Roberts family sailed for Scotland in November 1888 for what they expected to be a six-month furlough. Alex, however, got his wife pregnant again. While he was able to postpone their departure for the Cape Colony for a short while, the FMC compelled Alex to return to Lovedale the following September.

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