James Rorke

James "Jem" Rourke (c. 1827 – 24 October 1875) was a settler and trader of Irish-descent in southern Africa. He served as a civilian in the British Army commissariat in 1846 during the Seventh Xhosa War. In 1849, Rorke purchased a farmstead in the Colony of Natal, on the border with Zululand near a river crossing that became known as Rorke's Drift. He established a trading post that led to good relations with the Zulu. Rorke committed suicide in 1875. His homestead played a key role in the 1879 Anglo-Zulu War and was the site of the Battle of Rorke's Drift.