Exit pursued by a bear: Oliver the Spy and the imperial context of British political history

Abstract

In the wake of the Pentridge uprising of 1817, the notorious agent provocateur known as ‘Oliver the Spy’ disappeared from the political scene. Or did he? In fact controversies over the alleged spy had a prolonged afterlife at the Cape of Good Hope. This article considers the way in which Oliver’s career has been separated into two phases, and treated separately in two historiographies – one South African and one British. In Oliver’s own lifetime, however, no such easy divide was made. These connections allow us to explore the relation between British and colonial politics in the early nineteenth century.This article has been peer reviewed.