William Alexander Elder, veterinarian, was the son of John or Robert Elder and his wife Elizabeth, born Patterson. He qualified (MRCVS) in 1902 and obtained his FRCVS in 1914 with a thesis on East African Coast Fever. An article by him on "The East Coast Fever campaign in Swaziland" was published in the Agricultural Journal of the Union of South Africa (Vol. 4) in 1912. At that time he was affiliated with the Veterinary Office, Swaziland, but earlier (1906) had been employed in the Transvaal Colony. He became a member of the Transvaal Veterinary Medical Association in 1903, the year it was founded, and in 1920 had his membership transferred to the newly formed South African Veterinary Medical Association. He was still a member of the latter in 1929, residing in Mbabane, Swaziland. He appears to have been employed there for most of his career, as he attended both the 1909 and 1929 Pan African Veterinary Congresses held in Pretoria as an official representative of that country. In 1912 he resided in Inhambane, Swaziland, from where he corresponded with the Transvaal Stud Book Association. In 1914 he represented both Swaziland and the Bechuanaland Protectorate (now Botswana) at the International Veterinary Congress in London. In 1941 he was Honoured as a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (OBE). At that time he held an appointment as principal veterinary and agricultural officer of Swaziland. He died in Swaziland in 1946 and was survived by his wife, Valerie Estcourt Elder, born Eady. They had two sons and a daughter.

List of sources:

Agricultural Journal (Union of South Africa), 1912, Vol. 4, article by Elder.

Curson, H.H. The veterinary profession in South Africa... Transvaal Veterinary Medical Association. Journal of the South African Veterinary Medical Association, 1931, Vol. 2(1), pp. 3-22.

Elder, W.A. East African Coast Fever. FRCVS Collection, London, 1914, Series 1, Number 211.

FamilySearch: William Alexander Elder. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:2XVX-LTS and https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F3NL-6ZN

National Automated Archival Information Retrieval System (NAAIRS). http://www.national.archives.gov.za/naairs.htm Documents relating to Elder, William Alexander / Elder, W.A.

1941 Birthday Honours. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1941_Birthday_Honours

Posthumus, P.J. Past Veterinarians in South Africa, Vol. 1, 10th edition, [1992].

Register of veterinarians of the Union of South Africa and South-West Africa, along with members of the SAVMA in other countries. Journal of the South African Veterinary Medical Association, 1929, Vol. 1(3), pp. 77-83.

The Family Elder, at. http://www.pelteret.co.za/pdf/genealogy/elder_family.pdf as on 2016-10-5.

Compiled by: D.W. Verwoerd

Last updated: 2024-04-05 10:15:17