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- Swanzie Lady Agnew of Lochnaw
Roving wife of an itinerant baronet who became a geography professor in Malawi but fell foul of Banda's regime
SWANZIE LADY AGNEW OF LOCHNAW, who has died aged 84, was the widow of Sir Fulque Agnew of Lochnaw, 10th Bt, and was formerly Professor of Geography at Malawi University; she taught in Africa for many years, and was twice landed in hot water there by her liberal views.
Lady Agnew had strong connections with southern Africa. Her grandfather, the explorer St Vincent Erskine, had discovered the mouth of the Limpopo, while her great-grandfather had been secretary to the Governor of Natal in the 1850s. She herself had been born and had grown up in Transvaal before studying in France and Edinburgh, where she had met her husband.
He was even better travelled. Sir Fulque, whose family had been hereditary sheriffs of Wigton since the 15th century, and baronets since 1629, had run away from school at 16 to fight in the First World War. He had joined the Machine Gun Corps as a private and had later flown with the Royal Flying Corps.
He survived being shot down and, having embarked on an itinerant life, emerged unscathed after sinking while sailing around the world. He then served with the US Army in China before carrying out intelligence work for MI6 in the Germany of the 1930s.
During the Second World War, he was a conscientious objector and drove an ambulance in Crete. He had inherited the baronetcy from his uncle in 1928, but did not use the title and soon discovered that the estate had all gone. Accordingly, in 1948, he and Lady Agnew decided to go out to South Africa, where they began to farm.
In 1952, however, Sir Fulque applied for the post of Registrar at Fort Hare University, in Cape Province, the only institution in the country which gave black students degrees recognised in Europe. Since there was a vacancy for a geographer - Lady Agnew's subject - she also found herself with a job.
The adventurous spirit of the campus suited them both. Both had progressive views about teaching methods and allied themselves with opponents of apartheid. But it was a dangerous time to show open hostility to the regime in Pretoria. In 1958, the students at Fort Hare went on strike and in 1960, during a clampdown on unrest, the army was sent in to take control of the university.
Sir Fulque and Lady Agnew were singled out for particularly close observation. Under the Bantu Education Act of 1960, the government was empowered to take over the administration of the university and and to implement apartheid policies. The Agnews protested strongly when this duly happened, but like the other British members of staff were expelled from the country. The South African teachers were put on trial.
While her husband then went to work for Cambridge University's Department of Education, Lady Agnew was appointed headmistress of the junior side of the Royal Ballet School at White Lodge, Richmond, in south-west London. It was a post she much enjoyed, allowing her to give rein to her own enthusiasm for dance and music while teaching students (including Wayne Sleep) to appreciate subjects other than just movement.
By 1965, however, the Agnews were missing Africa and were greatly pleased when, thanks to a friendship with its chancellor, Lady Agnew was elected the first Professor of Geography at Malawi University, then based at Blantyre. Sir Fulque, who was nearing retirement, became assistant registrar for a year or two until a local replacement had been trained.
The years following Malawi's independence from Britain were difficult but invigorating. Lady Agnew, who wrote several monographs on the physical geography of the new country, encouraged her students in their studies and other interests, while they admired her trenchant belief in personal freedom.
But the firmly held views of the Agnews were not shared by Hastings Banda's government. After being made to live and work in increasingly intolerable conditions, Lady Agnew eventually resigned her post in protest.
She was born Swanzie Erskine in Heidelberg, Transvaal, on June 9 1916. Her father, Major Esme Erskine MC, a kinsman of the earls of Buchan, had settled in South Africa (where he had grown up) after working for a time for the British Council in Abyssinia. His wife was of Dutch farming stock and their daughter was christened Swanzie, which means "Little Swan" in Dutch.
She was educated in Pietermaritzburg and in 1932, at her father's suggestion, went to Edinburgh University, where she read Geography, specialising in its physical aspects. She played tennis for the university, and on graduating in 1937 went to Montpellier University to work on her doctoral thesis. She returned to Edinburgh University on the outbreak of war and taught Geography there until the return of peace.
She married Sir Fulque Agnew in 1937. They had met while doing the same course in botany, and after the wedding bicycled from Scotland to Montpellier together. After his death in Malawi in 1975, Swanzie Agnew returned to Edinburgh, where she devoted herself to poetry and painting.
Throughout her life she was interested in the latest developments in art - modern painting, poetry, films. She was a great supporter of those who wanted to do unorthodox things with their lives, and helped out many artists and students. She corresponded with many of them when they returned to their own countries, and they often came to see her in Edinburgh.
She is survived by her only child, Sir Crispin Agnew of Lochnaw, Bt.
(Obituary-The Telegraph Tuesday 20 Dec 2011)
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1916 - 2000 (84 years)