Frank Oates

Francis Oates (1840–1875) was a British naturalist, explorer, and uncle of the Antarctic explorer, Lawrence Oates. He was one of the first Europeans to see the Victoria Falls.

Early life

The second son of Edward Oates (1792–1865), of Meanwoodside, near Leeds, Yorkshire and Furnival's Inn, and his wife Susan (d. 1889), daughter of Edward Grace, J.P., Frank Oates was born at Meanwoodside in 1840. The Oates family were landed gentry, owning land around Leeds and Dewsbury since the 16th century. He was educated at Christ Church, Oxford, which he entered late in 1860, but left before taking a degree. This was due to severe ill health, and he was an invalid for some years after 1864.

Oates' first significant expedition was to Central America and North America, and lasted one year, from 1871–1872. Most of this time was spent collecting bird and insect specimens in Guatemala, though he travelled widely and spent some weeks camping in the mountains of California. Upon his return to Britain, he was elected a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society.

African Expedition

Accompanied by his brother (William Edward Oates) Oates set sail for Africa in 1873, leaving Southampton in March and arriving in Natal two months later. His original plan was to travel to the Zambesi and explore the area north of the river then unknown to Europeans. This territory was occasioning much interest at the time: in King Solomon's Mines, published in 1885, Haggard locates the fictional land of Kukuanas there.

After outfitting his party in Pietermaritzburg, Oates travelled to the Transvaal, reaching Pretoria in June. He was not impressed with the town – which, he claimed, lacked even a book shop – or the people: "I fear the English who are here are a bad lot, with few exceptions. One man who cheated me I asked if he had a conscience. He replied that no one here had one".