SHEPSTONE, SIR THEOPHILUS British South African statesman, was born at Westbury near Bristol, Eng land, on Jan. 8, 1817. When he was three years old his father, the Rev. William Shepstone, emigrated to Cape Colony. In the Kaffir War of 1835 Shepstone served as headquarters interpreter on the staff of the governor, Sir Benjamin D'Urban, and at the end of the campaign remained on the frontier as clerk to the agent for the native tribes. In 1838 he was one of the party sent from Cape Colony to occupy Port Natal on behalf of Great Britain. This force was recalled in 1839, when Shepstone was appointed British resident among the Fingo and other tribes in Kaffraria. Here he remained until the definite establishment of British rule in Natal and its organization as an administrative entity, when he was made (1845) agent for the native tribes. In 1848 he became captain general of the native levies; in 1855 judicial assessor in native causes; and, in 1856, on the remodelling of the Natal government, secretary for native affairs and a member of the executive and legislative councils. This position he held until 1877. The main line of his policy was to maintain tribal customs as far as consis tent with principles of humanity, and not to attempt to force civilization.
Shepstone's influence with the Zulus was made use of by the Natal government ; in 1861 he visited Zululand and obtained from Panda a public recognition of Cetywayo as his successor. Twelve
years later Shepstone attended the proclamation of Cetywayo as king, the Zulu chief promising Shepstone to live at peace with his neighbours. In 1874 and again in 1876 Shepstone was in London on South African affairs, and to his absence from Natal Cetywayo's failure to keep his promises is, in part, attributed. When in Lon don in 1876 Shepstone received discretionary powers from the 4th earl of Carnarvon, then secretary of state for the colonies un der which he went to Pretoria in Jan. 1877, and on April 12, issued a proclamation announcing the establishment of British authority over the Transvaal. Shepstone remained as administrator of the Transvaal until Jan. 1879; his rule was marked, according to Sir Bartle Frere, who described him as "a singular type of an Africander Talleyrand," by an "apparent absence of all effort to devise or substitute a better system" than that which had characterized the previous regime. Shepstone had been sum moned home to advise the Colonial Office on South African affairs and he reached England in May 1879; on his return to Natal he retired (188o) from the public service. In 1883, however, he was commissioned to replace Cetywayo as king in Zululand. He was active in church matters in Natal, and a friend of Bishop Colenso. He opposed the grant of self-government to Natal. He died at Pietermaritzburg on June 23, 1893.