Island Conservation-James Spurs |24 October 2005

He was not a great hero; in fact one gets the impression he was a bit of a rogue, but we find rogues fascinating, and James Spurs has always fascinated me.

He was the son of Thomas Spurs -who is just as interesting as his son, if not more- whose arrival in Seychelles was unconventional.  He was mate aboard the Tiger, which was wrecked on Astove in 1836.  Major Sterling, one of the survivors, was dubious about the man.

"Previous to this affair we had reason to think unfavourably of Mr Spurs," he wrote.
"He frequently allowed the sailors to commit great excesses with impunity and had most unkindly left us in an ill-constructed tent – close to the men; while he, with the officers and doctor, erected a comfortable one for themselves." Spurs redeemed himself with the major when he bravely set off in a small boat to try and find help.

As it turned out, those on Astove were rescued and arrived at Mho before Spurs did. 
Spurs reached Zanzibar where he and his small party were kindly received by the Sultan.

In due course they found a schooner whose captain was willing to go back to Astove with them in search of the shipwrecked party.  Finding Major Sterling and the others gone from Astove, the schooner took them on to Mho.  The major later heard that Mr. Spurs had remained in Seychelles and married a French lady.

Now much of the Tiger's valuable cargo subsequently vanished in mysterious circumstances.  The Civil Commissioner, Mylius, felt the cargo had been "most unlawfully – dealt with", but nothing could be proved. 

In 1841 it was alleged that some of the cargo had been concealed on Aldabra and Providence.  Mr Spurs, the chief mate of the Tiger, was still in Seychelles, it was noted.

Thomasí son James worked as plantation manager on Diego Garcia for 18 years, and on Farquhar for five, before taking on the five-year lease of Aldabra in 1891. 

Spurious claims had been made to the atoll, and it was hoped the permanent presence of a British subject on the island would reinforce the point that the atoll was British territory. 
Just to make sure, a visit was paid by a gunboat, HMS Redbreast, and Spurs was given two Union flags to fly from a new flagstaff.  They found Spurs rather depressed because there was an insufficient water supply and cultivation was difficult. 

However, British administrator Griffiths was pleased with his choice of tenant.  "He is an observant man and a lover of nature, nor do I think that he is likely – to use an old and homely phrase – to kill the goose that lays the golden eggs by exhibiting that rapaciousness which has characterised the actions of others who have been there before him."

The jury must remain out on that issue.  Just to begin with, he intended to take about 12,000 turtles a year from Aldabra, and he introduced goats, which was a disaster. 

The harm such introductions can cause in delicate island ecosystems was not so well understood in the 1890's, so we must make some allowances, and because there appeared to be a never-ending supply of turtles around the atoll, it must have seemed the numbers were inexhaustible. 

They did not know, as we know now, that the impact of taking such numbers of adults does not show until several years down the line.

There were rumours reaching the Foreign Office that Mr. Spurs was selling giant tortoises to passing ships.  The authorities in London were determined Spurs should go, and when he applied for a renewal of his lease in 1900, being much happier with his profits from Aldabra by then, he failed to secure it.

However this was not the end of his career on Aldabra.  He was back again three years later as manager for the new lessee, Adolphe d'Emmerez de Charmoy who re-established a mangrove bark industry until Biggerstaff & Co took over in 1914, hoping to take guano.
 If it was not one thing it was another!  As for James Spurs: hard-working entrepreneur or tortoise-rustler, he died on Mahé in 1928.

by Judith Skerrett