Governor of Cape Colony
Appearance
This article lists the governors of British South Africa.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/60/Cape_Colony_map.png/220px-Cape_Colony_map.png)
Governors[change | change source]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/bf/Flag_of_the_Governor_of_the_Cape_Colony_%281876%E2%80%931910%29.svg/220px-Flag_of_the_Governor_of_the_Cape_Colony_%281876%E2%80%931910%29.svg.png)
Tenure | Portrait | Incumbent | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Governors | |||
5 May 1797 to 20 November 1798 | ![]() |
George Macartney, 1st Earl Macartney | Known for the 1793 Macartney Embassy to China |
20 November 1798 to 9 December 1799 | ![]() |
Francis Dundas | 1st time, acting |
10 December 1799 to 20 April 1801 | ![]() |
Sir George Yonge, 5th Baronet | |
21 April 1801 to 20 February 1803 | ![]() |
Francis Dundas | 2nd time, acting |
Commissioner-general | |||
21 February 1803 to 25 September 1804 | ![]() |
Jacob Abraham de Mist | Represented the Batavian Republic |
Governors | |||
1 March 1803 to 18 January 1806 | ![]() |
Jan Willem Janssens | Represented the Batavian Republic |
10 January 1806 to 17 January 1807 | ![]() |
Sir David Baird, 1st Baronet | Military governor, acting |
17 January 1807 to 21 May 1807 | Henry George Grey | 1st time, acting | |
22 May 1807 to 4 July 1811 | ![]() |
Du Pre Alexander, 2nd Earl of Caledon | |
5 July 1811 to 5 September 1811 | Henry George Grey | 2nd time, acting | |
6 September 1811 to 6 April 1814 | ![]() |
John Cradock, 1st Baron Howden | |
18 October 1813 to 7 January 1814 | Robert Meade | Acting for Cradock; son of Theodosia, Countess of Clanwilliam | |
6 April 1814 to 5 March 1826 | ![]() |
Lord Charles Somerset | |
13 January 1820 to 30 November 1821 | Sir Rufane Shaw Donkin | Acting for Somerset | |
5 March 1826 to 9 September 1828 | ![]() |
Richard Bourke | Acting |
9 September 1828 to 10 August 1833 | ![]() |
Sir Galbraith Lowry Cole | |
10 August 1833 to 16 January 1834 | Thomas Francis Wade | Acting (for D'Urban from 10 January 1834) | |
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 | Acting |
5 December 1854 to 15 August 1861 | ![]() |
Sir George Grey | |
20 August 1859 to 4 July 1860 | ![]() |
Robert Wynyard | 1st time, acting for Grey |
15 August 1861 to 15 January 1862 | 2nd time, acting | ||
15 January 1862 to 20 May 1870 | ![]() |
Sir Philip Wodehouse | |
20 May 1870 to 31 December 1870 | Charles Craufurd Hay | Acting | |
31 December 1870 to 31 March 1877 | ![]() |
Sir Henry Barkly | |
31 March 1877 to 15 September 1880 | ![]() |
Sir Henry Bartle Frere | Known for initiating the Anglo-Zulu War and the First Boer War |
15 September 1880 to 27 September 1880 | ![]() |
Henry Hugh Clifford | Acting |
27 September 1880 to 22 January 1881 | ![]() |
Sir George Strahan | Acting |
22 January 1881 to 1 May 1889 | ![]() |
Sir Hercules Robinson | 1st time |
30 April 1881 to August 1881 | Sir Leicester Smyth | 1st time, acting for Robinson | |
25 April 1883 to 26 March 1884 | 2nd time, acting for Robinson | ||
7 April 1886 to 7 July 1886 | ![]() |
Sir Henry Torrens | Acting for Robinson |
1 May 1889 to 13 December 1889 | ![]() |
Henry Augustus Smyth | Acting |
13 December 1889 to 30 May 1895 | ![]() |
Henry Loch, 1st Baron Loch | |
14 January 1891 to 1 December 1892 | ![]() |
Sir William Gordon Cameron | 1st time, acting for Loch |
May 1894 to July 1894 | 2nd time, acting for Loch | ||
30 May 1895 to 21 April 1897 | ![]() |
Sir Hercules Robinson | 2nd time; from 10 August 1896, Hercules Robinson, Baron Rosmead |
21 April 1897 to 5 May 1897 | ![]() |
Sir William Howley Goodenough | Acting |
5 May 1897 to 6 March 1901 | ![]() |
Alfred Milner, 1st Viscount Milner | |
2 November 1898 to 14 February 1899 | ![]() |
Sir William Butler | Acting for Milner |
6 March 1901 to 31 May 1910 | ![]() |
Sir Walter Hely-Hutchinson | |
17 June 1909 to 21 September 1909 | ![]() |
Sir Henry Scobell | Acting for Hely-Hutchinson |
Prime Ministers[change | change source]
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 | 1st time |
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 | 2nd time |
17 July 1890 to 12 January 1896 | ![]() |
Cecil Rhodes | n-p | Resigned in the aftermath of the Jameson Raid |
13 January 1896 to 13 October 1898 | ![]() |
Sir John Gordon Sprigg | n-p | 3rd time |
13 October 1898 to 17 June 1900 | ![]() |
William Schreiner | n-p | |
18 June 1900 to 21 February 1904 | ![]() |
Sir John Gordon Sprigg | PP | 4th time |
22 February 1904 to 2 February 1908 | ![]() |
Leander Starr Jameson | PP | Leader of the Jameson Raid |
3 February 1908 to 31 May 1910 | ![]() |
John X. Merriman | SAP |