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Name: DUNN, James Benjamin
Birth Date: 7 Nov 1866 London
Death Date: 14.5.1894 Lamu, drowned
Nationality: New Zealander
First Date: 1894
Last Date: 1894
Profession: International Freeland Assoc. Sailor (1st List) Harness Maker (2nd List, FO 403); arr. Lamu 2/4/1894; died on 14/5/1894, Lamu drowned in boating accident
Area: Lamu
Married: In Willesden 3 Sep 1892 Kate Lawrence b. 1864 Dartford
Book Reference: North
General Information:
North - said by Freeland Association to have been a New Zealander but he had a house on Heligoland and his father lived in Tunbridge Wells. Drowned when he tried to swim out to the Freelander's launch when drunk; 'an alcoholist of a few years already' (Kaufmann, FO 2)
On his marriage licence he was a plumber
https://lizadaly.com/pages/utopian-novels/freeland.html Dunn was a young harnessmaker who joined the expedition seeking adventure, and ended it by drowning in the waters just off the beach adjacent to Freeland House. British officials conducted an official inquiry into his death and interviewed many non-European locals, a unique opportunity to hear their perspectives on these reckless would-be colonists.
By May of 1894, Dunn had tired of the expedition but was flat broke. “I want to go home to my little daughter,” he complained to a bartender. “I told Dr. Wilhelm so, the last time I saw him, and asked for passage home, but he replied that he had no money.” Dunn could not even pay his bar tab and attempted to pawn a ring; when refused he threw it to the floor and began to cry: “Here I am without money and none of my people care for me.” When the bartender stepped away, he stole several more beers and left for the beach where several Freelanders were working on their steamship moored off the coast.
Abdulla bin Hamid, an administrator of Lamu, observed “a European swimming from the beach” towards the Freelanders’ ship. “At the time of the accident there were no boats on the beach, so I was unable to render any assistance,” but he saw “three natives who were pulling very hard” attempting to save him despite a tremendous rain squall.
Saidi Awathi was one of those who attempted to rescue Dunn. He was a young man who rented a small boat that would ferry the Freelanders to their steamship. From his vessel, he watched Dunn try to push a canoe into the water, then, giving up, leap in the water to swim after the steamer. Awathi was alarmed and yelled to the Freelanders on the steamship, but none of them spoke Kiswahili and waved him off. Awathi and his friends risked their own lives in the stormy sea to approach, but before they could reach Dunn the man vomited, sunk like a stone, and did not come up again. “We looked carefully all around and remained there for an hour, but we could see nothing of the drowned man.”
By May of 1894, Dunn had tired of the expedition but was flat broke. “I want to go home to my little daughter,” he complained to a bartender. “I told Dr. Wilhelm so, the last time I saw him, and asked for passage home, but he replied that he had no money.” Dunn could not even pay his bar tab and attempted to pawn a ring; when refused he threw it to the floor and began to cry: “Here I am without money and none of my people care for me.” When the bartender stepped away, he stole several more beers and left for the beach where several Freelanders were working on their steamship moored off the coast.
Abdulla bin Hamid, an administrator of Lamu, observed “a European swimming from the beach” towards the Freelanders’ ship. “At the time of the accident there were no boats on the beach, so I was unable to render any assistance,” but he saw “three natives who were pulling very hard” attempting to save him despite a tremendous rain squall.
Saidi Awathi was one of those who attempted to rescue Dunn. He was a young man who rented a small boat that would ferry the Freelanders to their steamship. From his vessel, he watched Dunn try to push a canoe into the water, then, giving up, leap in the water to swim after the steamer. Awathi was alarmed and yelled to the Freelanders on the steamship, but none of them spoke Kiswahili and waved him off. Awathi and his friends risked their own lives in the stormy sea to approach, but before they could reach Dunn the man vomited, sunk like a stone, and did not come up again. “We looked carefully all around and remained there for an hour, but we could see nothing of the drowned man.”