List of governors of British South African colonies facts for kids

This article tells you about the important leaders who governed the British colonies in South Africa. These leaders included both governors and prime ministers. We'll look at the time from 1797 to 1910. During this period, what we now call South Africa was divided into four main British colonies: the Cape Colony, Natal Colony, Orange River Colony, and Transvaal Colony.

After 1910, these colonies joined together to form the Union of South Africa. The areas then became four provinces within the new Union: Cape Province, Natal Province, Orange Free State Province, and Transvaal Province.

A map of South Africa in July 1885, before the Second Boer War. It shows British areas, the two Boer Republics, and other countries.

Cape Colony: Leaders and History

The Cape Colony was a very important British territory in South Africa. Before the British took over, it was a Dutch colony.

This map shows the Cape Colony in orange within South Africa.

Governors of the Cape Colony

Governors were like the main leaders appointed by the British government. They were in charge of the colony.

The flag used by the governor of the Cape Colony from 1876 to 1910.

Tenure	Portrait	Incumbent	Notes
Governors
5 May 1797 to 20 November 1798		George Macartney, 1st Earl Macartney
20 November 1798 to 9 December 1799		Francis Dundas	Served as acting governor for the first time.
10 December 1799 to 20 April 1801		Sir George Yonge, 5th Baronet
21 April 1801 to 20 February 1803		Francis Dundas	Served as acting governor for the second time.
Commissioner-general
21 February 1803 to 25 September 1804		Jacob Abraham de Mist	Represented the Batavian Republic (Dutch rule).
Governors
1 March 1803 to 18 January 1806		Jan Willem Janssens	Also represented the Batavian Republic.
10 January 1806 to 17 January 1807		Sir David Baird, 1st Baronet	A military governor, acting.
17 January 1807 to 21 May 1807		Henry George Grey	Served as acting governor for the first time.
22 May 1807 to 4 July 1811		Du Pre Alexander, 2nd Earl of Caledon
5 July 1811 to 5 September 1811		Henry George Grey	Served as acting governor for the second time.
6 September 1811 to 6 April 1814		John Cradock, 1st Baron Howden
18 October 1813 to 7 January 1814		Robert Meade	Acted for Governor Cradock.
6 April 1814 to 5 March 1826		Lord Charles Somerset
13 January 1820 to 30 November 1821		Sir Rufane Shaw Donkin	Acted for Governor Somerset.
5 March 1826 to 9 September 1828		Richard Bourke	Served as acting governor.
9 September 1828 to 10 August 1833		Sir Galbraith Lowry Cole
10 August 1833 to 16 January 1834		Thomas Francis Wade	Served as acting governor.
10 January 1834 to 20 January 1838		Sir Benjamin D'Urban
22 January 1838 to 18 March 1844		Sir George Thomas Napier
18 March 1844 to 27 January 1847		Sir Peregrine Maitland
Governors and High Commissioners for Southern Africa
27 January 1847 to 1 December 1847		Sir Henry Pottinger
1 December 1847 to 31 March 1852		Sir Harry Smith, 1st Baronet
31 March 1852 to 26 May 1854		George Cathcart
26 May 1854 to 5 December 1854		Charles Henry Darling	Served as acting governor.
5 December 1854 to 15 August 1861		Sir George Grey
20 August 1859 to 4 July 1860		Robert Wynyard	Served as acting governor for Grey (first time).
15 August 1861 to 15 January 1862			Served as acting governor (second time).
15 January 1862 to 20 May 1870		Sir Philip Wodehouse
20 May 1870 to 31 December 1870		Charles Craufurd Hay	Served as acting governor.
31 December 1870 to 31 March 1877		Sir Henry Barkly
31 March 1877 to 15 September 1880		Sir Henry Bartle Frere	He was involved in the Anglo-Zulu War and the First Boer War.
15 September 1880 to 27 September 1880		Henry Hugh Clifford	Served as acting governor.
27 September 1880 to 22 January 1881		Sir George Strahan	Served as acting governor.
22 January 1881 to 1 May 1889		Sir Hercules Robinson	Served his first term.
30 April 1881 to August 1881		Sir Leicester Smyth	Served as acting governor for Robinson (first time).
25 April 1883 to 26 March 1884			Served as acting governor for Robinson (second time).
7 April 1886 to 7 July 1886		Sir Henry Torrens	Served as acting governor for Robinson.
1 May 1889 to 13 December 1889		Henry Augustus Smyth	Served as acting governor.
13 December 1889 to 30 May 1895		Henry Loch, 1st Baron Loch
14 January 1891 to 1 December 1892		Sir William Gordon Cameron	Served as acting governor for Loch (first time).
May 1894 to July 1894			Served as acting governor for Loch (second time).
30 May 1895 to 21 April 1897		Sir Hercules Robinson	Served his second term.
21 April 1897 to 5 May 1897		Sir William Howley Goodenough	Served as acting governor.
5 May 1897 to 6 March 1901		Alfred Milner, 1st Viscount Milner
2 November 1898 to 14 February 1899		Sir William Butler	Served as acting governor for Milner.
6 March 1901 to 31 May 1910		Sir Walter Hely-Hutchinson
17 June 1909 to 21 September 1909		Sir Henry Scobell	Served as acting governor for Hely-Hutchinson.

Prime Ministers of the Cape Colony

The Prime Minister was the head of the elected government in the Cape Colony.

Tenure	Portrait	Incumbent	Party	Notes
1 December 1872 to 5 February 1878		John Charles Molteno	n-p
6 February 1878 to 8 May 1881		John Gordon Sprigg	n-p	Served his first term.
9 May 1881 to 12 May 1884		Thomas Charles Scanlen	n-p
13 May 1884 to 24 November 1886		Thomas Upington	n-p
25 November 1886 to 16 July 1890		Sir John Gordon Sprigg	n-p	Served his second term.
17 July 1890 to 12 January 1896		Cecil Rhodes	n-p	He resigned after the Jameson Raid, a failed attempt to overthrow the Transvaal government.
13 January 1896 to 13 October 1898		Sir John Gordon Sprigg	n-p	Served his third term.
13 October 1898 to 17 June 1900		William Schreiner	n-p
18 June 1900 to 21 February 1904		Sir John Gordon Sprigg	PP	Served his fourth term.
22 February 1904 to 2 February 1908		Leander Starr Jameson	PP	He led the Jameson Raid.
3 February 1908 to 31 May 1910		John X. Merriman	SAP

Natal Colony: Leaders and History

The Natal Colony was another important British territory on the eastern coast of South Africa.

This map shows the Natal Colony in orange within South Africa.

Governors of the Natal Colony

Here are the people who served as governors or lieutenant-governors of the Natal Colony.

The flag used by the governor of the Natal Colony from 1905 to 1907.

Tenure	Portrait	Incumbent	Notes
Special Commissioner
10 May 1843 to 31 May 1844		Henry Cloete
31 May 1844 to 4 December 1845		direct rule by Cape Colony	During this time, the Cape Colony governor was Sir Peregrine Maitland.
Lieutenant-governors
4 December 1845 to 1 August 1849		Martin Thomas West
19 April 1850 to 3 Mar 1855		Benjamin Pine	Served his first term.
5 November 1856 to 31 December 1864		John Scott
31 December 1864 to 26 July 1865		John Maclean
26 July 1865 to 26 August 1865		John Wellesley Thomas	Served as acting lieutenant-governor.
26 August 1865 to 24 May 1867		John Jarvis Bisset	Served as acting lieutenant-governor.
24 May 1867 to 19 July 1872		Robert William Keate
19 July 1872 to 30 April 1873		Anthony Musgrave
30 April 1873 to 22 July 1873		Thomas Milles	Served as acting lieutenant-governor.
22 July 1873 to 1 April 1875		Sir Benjamin Pine	Served his second term.
1 April 1875 to 3 September 1875		Sir Garnet Joseph Wolseley	Served as acting lieutenant-governor.
3 September 1875 to 20 April 1880		Sir Henry Ernest Gascoyne Bulwer	Served his first term.
20 April 1880 to 5 May 1880		William Bellairs	Served as acting lieutenant-governor.
5 May 1880 to 2 July 1880		Henry Hugh Clifford	Served as acting lieutenant-governor.
Governors
2 July 1880 to 27 February 1881		Sir George Pomeroy Colley
17 August 1880 to 14 September 1880		Henry Alexander	Served as acting governor for Colley.
27 February 1881 to 3 April 1881		Sir Evelyn Wood	Served as acting governor.
3 April 1881 to 9 August 1881		Redvers Buller	Served as acting governor.
22 December 1881 to 6 March 1882		Charles Mitchell	Served as acting governor for the first time.
6 March 1882 to 23 October 1885		Sir Henry Ernest Gascoyne Bulwer	Served his second term.
18 February 1886 to 5 June 1889		Sir Arthur Havelock
1 December 1889 to July 1893		Charles Mitchell	Served his second term.
July 1893 to 27 September 1893		Francis Seymour Haden	Served as acting governor.
28 September 1893 to 6 May 1901		Sir Walter Hely-Hutchinson
13 May 1901 to 7 June 1907		Sir Henry McCallum
2 September 1907 to 23 December 1909		Sir Matthew Nathan
17 January 1910 to 31 May 1910		Paul Methuen, 3rd Baron Methuen

Prime Ministers of the Natal Colony

These individuals led the elected government in the Natal Colony.

Tenure	Portrait	Incumbent	Party	Notes
10 October 1893 to 14 February 1897		Sir John Robinson	n-p
15 February 1897 to 4 October 1897		Harry Escombe	n-p
5 October 1897 to 8 June 1899		Sir Henry Binns	n-p
9 June 1899 to 17 August 1903		Sir Albert Henry Hime	n-p
18 August 1903 to 16 May 1905		George Morris Sutton	n-p
16 May 1905 to 28 November 1906		Charles John Smythe	n-p
28 November 1906 to 28 April 1910		Frederick Moor	n-p

Orange River Colony: Leaders and History

The Orange River Colony was a British colony formed after the Second Boer War. Before that, it was an independent Boer republic called the Orange Free State.

This map shows the Orange River Colony in orange within South Africa.

Governors of the Orange River Colony

These were the governors appointed by the British to lead the Orange River Colony.

The flag used by the governor of the Orange River Colony from 1902 to 1910.

Tenure	Portrait	Incumbent	Notes
23 June 1902 to 1 April 1905		Alfred Milner, 1st Viscount Milner	He was also the governor of the Transvaal Colony at the same time.
2 April 1905 to 7 June 1907		William Palmer, 2nd Earl of Selborne
7 June 1907 to 31 May 1910		Sir Hamilton Goold-Adams

Prime Minister of the Orange River Colony

The Orange River Colony had one prime minister before it joined the Union of South Africa.

Tenure	Portrait	Incumbent	Party	Notes
27 November 1907 to 31 May 1910		Abraham Fischer	ORU	He later became a minister in the government of the Union of South Africa.

Transvaal Colony: Leaders and History

The Transvaal Colony was another British territory in South Africa, also formed after the Second Boer War. It was previously an independent Boer republic called the South African Republic.

This map shows the Transvaal Colony in orange within South Africa.

Governors of the Transvaal Colony

Here are the administrators and governors who served in the Transvaal Colony.

The flag used by the governor of the Transvaal Colony from 1904 to 1910.

Tenure	Portrait	Incumbent	Notes
First British takeover
Administrators
12 April 1877 to 4 March 1879		Sir Theophilus Shepstone
4 March 1879 to 8 August 1881		Owen Lanyon	He acted for Governor Wolseley for a period.
Governor
29 September 1879 to 27 April 1880		Garnet Wolseley, 1st Viscount Wolseley
Second British takeover
Administrator
4 January 1901 to 23 June 1902		Alfred Milner, 1st Viscount Milner	He was also the Administrator of the Orange River Colony at the same time.
Governors
21 June 1902 to 1 April 1905		Alfred Milner, 1st Viscount Milner	He was also the governor of the Orange River Colony at the same time.
2 April 1905 to 31 May 1910		William Palmer, 2nd Earl of Selborne

Lieutenant-Governors of the Transvaal Colony

These individuals served as second-in-command to the governors in the Transvaal Colony.

Tenure	Portrait	Incumbent	Notes
Second British takeover
Lieutenant-Governors
29 September 1902 to 4 December 1905		Sir Arthur Lawley
23 March 1906 to January 1907		Sir Richard Solomon	He acted for Governor Selborne for a period.

Prime Minister of the Transvaal Colony

The Transvaal Colony had one prime minister before it joined the Union of South Africa.

Tenure	Portrait	Incumbent	Party	Notes
4 March 1907 to 31 May 1910		Louis Botha	HV	He later became the first Prime Minister of South Africa from 1910 to 1919.

See also

• High Commissioner for Southern Africa
• Commander-in-Chief of British Forces in South Africa
• List of administrators of former South African provinces