Samuel Wiltshire

Abstract

Samuel Wiltshire was born on the 24th of May 1844 in Longhope, Gloucestershire, England and died on the 1st of March 1923 in Gloucester, England. He qualified as a veterinarian in London in 1872 and was appointed in 1874 to the "Office of Colonial Veterinary Surgeon and Inspector of cattle at the Port of Natal", the first official appointment of a veterinarian in Natal and in South Africa. His appointment was mainly a result of the report of the Natal Redwater Commission of 1873 (see James W. Winter). Arriving in October 1874, his first report, published in the Government Gazette of 29 December 1874, dealt with glanders at Durban. During the next few years he also reported to the government on quarter-evil (1877), redwater (1877), horse-sickness (1878), and heartwater in sheep and goats (Veterinary Journal, 1881). In 1880 Wiltshire also took over the control of all sheep inspectors. His measures to control stock diseases were met with opposition by the farmers and all his attempts to convince the authorities of the necessity of legislation to enforce them failed. Wiltshire was married to Clare Isabella Goodwill. After her death in 1903 he married Harriet Vans. (Source: S2A3 Biographical Database of Southern African Science https://www.s2a3.org.za/bio/Biograph_final.php?serial=3164)