Dictionary of National Biography, 1927 supplement/Selous, Frederick Courteney
SELOUS, FREDERICK COURTENEY (1851–1917), hunter and explorer, was born in London 31 December 1851, the son of Frederick Lokes Selous, chairman of the Stock Exchange, by his wife, Ann Sherborn. He was sent to Bruce Castle School, Tottenham, and subsequently, in 1866, to Rugby, where he distinguished himself principally for his proficiency in games and his interest in wild bird life. His conduct and tastes as a schoolboy, his inborn spirit of adventure, and his love of natural history and sport determined his future career; and the presence of mind and resource which saved his life in a skating disaster in Regent's Park in 1867 stood him in good stead in many moments of danger in after-life.
On leaving Rugby in 1868 Selous went abroad to learn French and German before entering on a medical career. That career, however, had no attractions for him, and, deciding to take his chance, he went to South Africa in 1871, determined upon the open-air life of a sportsman. The next ten years of his life as a hunter and ivory-trader were years of strenuous effort, exciting adventures, privation, and anxiety for the future. In quest of game he traversed the interior of South Africa from east to west and penetrated as far north as Matabeleland, thus acquiring an intimate acquaintance with the natives, animals, and topography of the country.
During a short visit to England in 1881, Selous wrote his first book, A Hunter's Wanderings in Africa, which was instrumental in securing for him commissions from museums and dealers for trophies of big game; and since the ivory-trade was by that time practically dead in South Africa, he devoted the next few years to fulfilling those orders and acting as guide to hunting and prospecting parties. During this period his explorations resulted in some interesting discoveries, which were published in 1888 by the Royal Geographical Society. Other memoirs followed, and the Society aided him with grants, and in 1892 awarded him the Founder's gold medal. His activities during these years he subsequently described in Travel and Adventure in South-East Africa (1893).
In 1890 Selous embarked upon the most important undertaking of his career. In order to forestall the annexation of Mashonaland by the Portuguese he urged upon Cecil Rhodes [q.v.] the immediate occupation of that country by the British South Africa Company. Acting as intermediary between Rhodes and Lobengula, the Matabele chief, he secured from the latter a concession of the mineral rights of Matabeleland and Mashonaland; and he was appointed by Rhodes guide and chief of the pioneers who made the road to Mashonaland and secured the country for the British Crown. He left the service of the Company in 1892, but again joined it in 1893 when the Matabele War broke out. At its close he came to England, bought a house at Worplesdon, Surrey, and married. He was again in Matabeleland in 1895 and helped to subdue the second Matabele revolt. In Sunshine and Storm in Rhodesia (1896) he gave an account of this campaign. He subsequently devoted his time to writing, birds'-nesting and shooting at home, and to sporting trips abroad, more particularly to East Africa, whither he accompanied Theodore Roosevelt in 1909, and North America.
When the European War broke out in 1914 Selous immediately offered himself for active service; and persevering, despite repeated rejections on account of his age, was ultimately accepted for duty in (German) East Africa, and left England, with a commission in the 25th Royal Fusiliers, in the spring of 1915. He received his captaincy in the following August, and was awarded the D.S.O. in September 1916. He was killed in action at the head of his company, near Kissaki, 4 January 1917.
That Selous was endowed with indomitable courage, enduring energy, and great tenacity of purpose his achievements amply attest. But he was deliberate and painstaking rather than brilliant in his work. He was also a man of high and simple character which, coupled with engaging manners, gained the affection and respect of all who knew him. His extreme modesty was, perhaps, one of the most attractive qualities of his nature. Probably the only exploit of his career which he is known to have spoken of with pride was the part which he played in planting the British flag in Rhodesia. He repeatedly repudiated the false praise of his friends in styling him the greatest hunter of all time; and he would have been the first to protest against the mistaken estimate of his contributions to science which led to the placing of his memorial tablet and bust (see Royal Academy Pictures, 1919) alongside the statue of Darwin and the portrait of Alfred Russel Wallace in the British Museum at South Kensington.
Selous married in 1894 Marie Catherine Gladys, daughter of Canon Henry William Maddy, vicar of Down Hatherley, Gloucestershire, by whom he had two sons. After his death a scholarship was founded in his name at Rugby, and his collection of trophies, including heads and skins of big game, was bequeathed to the trustees of the British Museum (Natural History).
J. G. Millais, Life of Frederick Courteney Selous, 1918; personal knowledge.]