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Menu Home Upfront Now Up Books Towns Structures People Firms Lexicon ALEXANDER, James Edward Born: 1803 10 16 Died: 1885 04 02 Engineer Captain (later Sir) JE ALEXANDER was a Scotsman from Clackmannanshire. He was a ROYAL ENGINEER and in his short, but influential time in South Africa, aide-de-camp to the then Governor, Sir Benjamin D'Urban, his report of 15 August 1835 being published in the Grahamstown Journal of 20 August 1835 'On the means of defending farmhouses' (see Lewcock 1963: 245), incidentally the first locally illustrated publication in South Africa, at the same time recommending that the thatch roofs be replaced by 'zinc', because of the fire hazard posed when under attack. This was almost immediately republished as a pamphlet. His account of the campaign following the Sixth Frontier War was illustrated by CC MICHELL, his father-in-law. He thereafter undertook a journey by oxwagon to the desert region of what is now Namibia for the Royal Geographic Society, the account published in two volumes. See also Wikipedia, Books by ALEXANDER Alexander, James Edward. 1967. An expedition of discovery into the interior of Africa : In Two Volumes : Vol I. Cape Town: C. Struik Alexander, James Edward. 1967. An expedition of discovery into the interior of Africa : In Two Volumes : Vol II. Cape Town: C. Struik Books citing ALEXANDER HSRC. 1977. Dictionary of South African Biography Volume III. Pretoria: Tafelberg for The Human Sciences Research Council. pp 15 Lewcock, Ronald. 1963. Early Nineteenth Century Architecture in South Africa : a study of the interaction of two cultures, 1795-1837. Cape Town: AA Balkema. pp 162n, 167-168, 227n, 321, 443 (name entry only, no bio notes) Potgieter, DJ (Editor-in-chief). 1970. Standard Encyclopaedia of South Africa [SESA] Volume 1 Aan-Bac. Cape Town: Nasou. pp 297-298