For the Love of Frances: Colonel Anthony Durnford of Isandlwana-a Romantic Perspective

The battle of iSandlwana in 1879 was the worst defeat suffered by a British army in the colonies. The names of some of the combatants resound even today in the chronicles of the Victorian era. One of them was Colonel Anthony Durnford, Irish-born Royal Engineer, an enigmatic man both loved and maligned, and seen in some quarters to have contributed to the appalling defeat. Yet others see in him a man ahead of his time, a man of liberal views and steadfast integrity. But who was this man? Where did he serve, who did he love? Above all, was he responsible for the defeat at iSandlwana? Judge for yourself in this sweeping tale which begins with Durnford’s first posting in Ceylon as an eager and inexperienced 21-year- old Lieutenant. For the Love of Frances salutes the three women in his life: his wife Frances whom he met and married in Ceylon; his daughter Frances, born on the isle of Malta; and the woman he loved in his later life, Frances Colenso, the daughter of John Colenso, the Bishop of Natal.