Frere, Sir Henry Bartle Edward [key], 1815–84, British colonial administrator; nephew of John Hookham Frere. He served (1850–59) as chief commissioner of Sind, distinguishing himself during the Indian Mutiny, and was (1862–67) governor of Bombay. In 1872 he negotiated a treaty with the sultan of Zanzibar for the suppression of the slave trade. Appointed (1877) governor of Cape Colony and high commissioner of British South Africa, Frere had to cope with Boer discontent in the newly annexed Transvaal and with Zulu unrest. Intent on breaking the military power of the Zulus, he precipitated (1878) the Zulu War. His action was disapproved in London, and although he was popular in the Cape he was recalled to England in 1880. He was created Baron Frere in 1876.
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