Frere

Frere, Sir Henry Bartle Edward, 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.

Frere, John Hookham, 1769-1846, British writer and diplomat. He was a member of Parliament (1796-1802) and with his friend George Canning wrote effective parodies and satires for the political newspaper, the Anti-Jacobin. He was undersecretary of state (1799-1800) and minister to Lisbon (1800-1802) and Madrid (1802-4, 1808-9). Thereafter he devoted himself to writing, living most of the time in Malta. Frere's best work is in his metrical translations from Aristophanes (The Acharnians, the Knights, and the Birds, 1840).

Frere is a surname shared by several notable people, among them being:born in the United Kingdom

• Ellenor Fenn nee Frere (1743–1813), English writer
• Sir Henry Bartle Frere (1815–1884), British colonial administrator
• Walter Frere (1863-1938), monk and bishop

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