Life

Born 3 August 1840, he was the second son of Lieutenant-colonel Roberts W. Elton of the 59th regiment, Bengal army

Bengal Army

The Bengal Army was the army of the Presidency of Bengal, one of the three Presidencies of British India, in South Asia. Although based in Bengal in eastern India, the presidency stretched across northern India and the Himalayas all the way to the North West Frontier Province...

, and grandson of Jacob Elton of Dedham

Dedham, Essex

Dedham is a village within the borough of Colchester in northeast Essex, England, situated on the River Stour and on the border of Essex and Suffolk...

, Essex.
When the Indian Mutiny broke out in 1857, Elton entered the Bengal army and saw much active service. Having been with the relieving armies at Delhi and Lucknow he was placed on the staff of the commander-in-chief. Sir Hugh Rose

Hugh Rose, 1st Baron Strathnairn

Field Marshal Hugh Henry Rose, 1st Baron Strathnairn GCB, GCSI, PC was a British Army field-marshal.-Early life:...

 (Lord Strathnairn), to whom he was aide-de-camp

Aide-de-camp

An aide-de-camp is a personal assistant, secretary, or adjutant to a person of high rank, usually a senior military officer or a head of state...

 for some years. His services obtained for him the Indian medal with two clasps.

In 1860 Elton volunteered for service in China, and was present at the taking of Peking and other engagements, receiving the China medal after the campaign. Soon after gaining his captaincy (98th regiment), he left the British service, and in 1866 joined the staff of the French army in Mexico during the reign of the Emperor Maximilian. On his return to England at the conclusion of the war, he published a graphic account of his adventures, entitled With the French in Mexico, 8vo, London, 1867.

In 1868 Elton went to Natal, and occupied himself in travelling about the colony until 1870, when he undertook a long journey of exploration from the Tati

Tati Concessions Land

The Tati Concessions Land was a concession created in the borderlands of the Matabele kingdom and the Bechuanaland Protectorate. The concession was originally made by the Matabele King to Sir John Swinburne...

 gold district down to the mouth of the Limpopo

Limpopo

Limpopo is the northernmost province of South Africa. The capital is Polokwane, formerly named Pietersburg. The province was formed from the northern region of Transvaal Province in 1994, and initially named Northern Transvaal...

, his narrative of which, accompanied by an excellent map, was published in volume xlii. of the Journal of the Royal Geographical Society.

In 1871 Elton was sent to make reports on the gold and diamond fields, and was also employed on a diplomatic mission to settle differences with the Portuguese authorities. In 1872 he was appointed government agent on the Zulu frontier. After some months he returned to Natal to recover from an attack of fever caused. While at Natal, he acted as protector of the immigrant native labourers, and became a member of the executive and legislative councils.

Wishing to be active, in 1873 Elton left Natal with various missions: one of which was to treat with the governor-general of Mozambique and the sultan of Zanzibar, regarding the laying down of a telegraph cable from Aden

Aden

Aden is a seaport city in Yemen, located by the eastern approach to the Red Sea , some 170 kilometres east of Bab-el-Mandeb. Its population is approximately 800,000. Aden's ancient, natural harbour lies in the crater of an extinct volcano which now forms a peninsula, joined to the mainland by a...

; a second, to inquire into the emigration of native labour from Delagoa Bay and to confer with the governor-general of Mozambique; and the third, to meet Sir Bartle Frere at Zanzibar

Zanzibar

Zanzibar ,Persian: زنگبار, from suffix bār: "coast" and Zangi: "bruin" ; is a semi-autonomous part of Tanzania, in East Africa. It comprises the Zanzibar Archipelago in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of the mainland, and consists of numerous small islands and two large ones: Unguja , and Pemba...

, and assist in considering the slave-trade question.

During the same year (1873) Elton was appointed by Sir Bartle Frere assistant political agent and vice-consul at Zanzibar, with a view to assist Dr. Kirk in the suppression of the East Africa

East Africa

East Africa or Eastern Africa is the easterly region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics. In the UN scheme of geographic regions, 19 territories constitute Eastern Africa:...

n slave-trade. While occupying this post he made an interesting journey along the coast country between Dar-es-Salaam and Quiloa, or Kilwa, an account of which, enriched with observations on the products of the country, was published, with a map supplied by him, in volume xliv. of the 'Journal' of the Royal Geographical Society.

Elton In March 1875 he was promoted to the office of British consul

British Consul

British Consul may refer to:-*The Consul who represents Great Britain in various foreign countries, a tanker sunk during the Second World War...

 in Portuguese territory, with residence at Mozambique

Mozambique

Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique , is a country in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west and Swaziland and South Africa to the southwest...

. He was here engaged in many expeditions for the suppression of the slave-trade from this and other parts of the east coast, in the course of which he made numerous journeys by sea and land, to the south as far as Delagoa Bay, and over the Indian Ocean

Indian Ocean

The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by the Indian Subcontinent and Arabian Peninsula ; on the west by eastern Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and...

 to the Seychelle Islands and Madagascar

Madagascar

The Republic of Madagascar is an island country located in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa...

.

Early in 1877 he started from Mozambique on an expedition to the west and north-west, into the heart of the Makua country, returning to the coast at Mwendazi or Memba Bay; thence he went northward, a journey of four hundred and fifty miles on foot, through the curious craggy peaks of Sorisa, and up the Iurio, to the Sugarloaf Hills and the cataracts of Pomba, descending again to Ibo

Ibo, Mozambique

Ibo is one of the Quirimbas Islands in the Indian Ocean off northern Mozambique. It is part of Cabo Delgado Province. It grew as a Muslim trading port. Vasco da Gama reportedly rested on the island in 1502...

. He also visited all the Kerimba Islands, and explored the coast up to the limit of the Zanzibar mainland territory, beyond the Bay of Tongue, which occupied him three months. In July of the same year Elton left Mozambique for the Zambesi and the Shiré

Shire

A shire is a traditional term for a division of land, found in the United Kingdom and in Australia. In parts of Australia, a shire is an administrative unit, but it is not synonymous with "county" there, which is a land registration unit. Individually, or as a suffix in Scotland and in the far...

 rivers, his intention being to visit the British mission stations on Lake Nyassa, explore the lake and surrounding country, visit various chiefs connected with the slave-trade, and ascertain the possibility of a route from the north end of the lake to Quiloa, at which seaport he proposed to embark in a steamer for Zanzibar, hoping to reach the latter place in November or early in December.

His mission to the chiefs and the circumnavigation of the lake were successfully accomplished, but with the land journey troubles began; "the country was devastated by wars among the different tribes, porterage and food wore often unobtainable, and instead of taking a direct route to the east Elton was compelled to travel by a very circuitous one to the north". He struggled on "full of hope", energetic to the last until within a few miles of the town of Usekhe in Ugogo, on the caravan-route between the coast opposite Zanzibar and Unyanyembe

Unyanyembe

Unyanyembe is a town in Tanzania . It was one of the locations visited by Henry Morton Stanley during his search for Dr Livingstone. The town is located in the Shinyanga Region.-See also:Vicariate Apostolic of Unyanyembe...

, when he sank from malarious fever, brought on by exposure and privation. He died 19 December 1877, aged 37, and was buried about two miles from his last camp, under a large baobab tree which overlooks the plains of Usekhe. His four companions, Mesrs. Cotterill, Rhodes, Hoste, and Downie, marked the spot by a large wooden cross, and carved his initials on the tree which overshadows his grave.

Works

His journals were edited and completed by H. B. Cotterill under the title of Travels and Researches among the Lakes and Mountains of Eastern and Central Africa

Central Africa

Central Africa is a core region of the African continent which includes Burundi, the Central African Republic, Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Rwanda....

.... With maps and illustrations [and a preface, by Horace Waller

Horace Waller

Horace Waller VC was an English recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for "gallantry in the face of the enemy" awarded to British and Commonwealth forces....

, containing a brief memoir of J. F. Elton], London, 1879. A portrait accompanies the work.