Joseph Burke

Joseph Burke (12 June 1812 in Bristol, England – 23 January 1873 in Harrisonville, US) was a collector of plants and animals for Lord Derby. 1839–1840 Burke was employed as a gardener for Lord Derby, an enthusiastic natural history collector with his own menagerie at Prescot, Lancashire. In 1839 Lord Derby commissioned Karl Zeyher to collect plants and animals in southern Africa, delegating Burke to organise the expedition. Burke left London on the vessel "Joanna" in December 1839 and arrived in Cape Town in March 1840. From here he went on to "Vygekraal" (about 3 km SE of Table Bay), the home of Rev. Fry and an agent of Lord Derby. Here he arranged for a wagon and oxen to transport him, and set out on 23 May to Uitenhage where he planned to meet up with Zeyher for their joint expedition to the hinterland to the north. A smallpox outbreak in Cape Town caused usually hospitable farmers along the way to bar their homes to visitors, creating accommodation problems for Burke. Exasperated by the slow progress of his wagon, he left it in the vicinity of the Swartberg and went ahead on foot. Arriving in Uitenhage, he found that Zeyher had not prepared for the expedition, and that supplies that were to have been sent to Algoa Bay, had not arrived. Chafing at the delay, Burke returned to Cape Town on 2 August with some animals that Zeyher had obtained for Lord Derby, and arrived back in Algoa Bay on 27 August. Here he awaited the arrival of his supplies which eventually landed on 9 November. At last on 17 November 1840, the expedition, which consisted of a train of three wagons, set out northwards from Uitenhage, arriving at Cradock on 3 December. From here they crossed the Great Fish River and reached the Orange River on 19 December. The Caledon River, which was in spate on Christmas Day, could only be crossed on 29 January 1841, and then only by way of dismantling all the wagons and ferrying them across piecemeal. 1841 They reached Thaba Nchu on 15 February 1841 and continued north across the Vet River. Difficulties with the purchase of horses delayed their departure until mid-April. After crossing the Sand and Vals Rivers, they reached Kroonstad where they spent some days collecting and preserving birds. On 8 May they reached the Vaal River, and were prevented from crossing it until 17 May, by an outbreak of severe weather with snow and rain on 13 May.