Colonel Frederic Hugh Page Creswell DSO (13 November 1866 –25 August 1948) was a Labour Party politician in South Africa. He was Minister of Defence from 30 June 1924 to 29 March 1933. [1]
The son of Edmund Creswell,Deputy Postmaster-General at Gibraltar and Surveyor of the Mediterranean,by his marriage to Mary M. W. Fraser,Creswell was born in Gibraltar and educated in England at Bruce Castle,Derby School,and the Royal School of Mines. [2]
Creswell's brother Edmund (1849–1931) played for the Royal Engineers in the first FA Cup Final in 1872. [3] Another brother,William (1852–1933),became a vice-admiral and is known as the "father" of the Royal Australian Navy. [4]
Creswell worked as a mining engineer in Venezuela,the Ottoman Empire,Rhodesia and the Transvaal before becoming manager of the Durban Deep Mine,at Roodepoort. At the outset of the Second Boer War in 1899 he was commissioned as a lieutenant in the newly raised Imperial Light Horse. When mining on the Witwatersrand began again,he became General Manager of the Village Main Reef Mine. After strongly opposing Chinese labourers being imported to the Transvaal,he resigned as manager in 1903,going on to take a leading role in the campaign to end the use of Chinese labour and "became the champion of the white labourer",advocating the use of white labour,and white immigration,as the solution to South Africa's labour problems. [5]
At the general election of 1910 he was elected to the House of Assembly of the Union Parliament,representing the new South African Labour Party,of which he was leader from 1910 to 1929. He remained an Assembly member until 1938.
He was arrested and imprisoned for a month for his role in supporting miners' strikes in 1913 and 1914. The Smuts government suppression of the strikes influenced Creswell and Labour to develop an alliance with J.B.M. Hertzog and the National Party with Labour joining a National Party-led coalition government as junior partner,resulting in Creswell entering the cabinet. [5] As well as serving as the South African Minister of Defence from 1924 to March 1933,Creswell was simultaneously Minister of Labour from 1924 to 1925 and again from 1929 to 1933.
The alliance with the Nationalists eventually led to a split in the Labour Party when Hertzog dropped Labour MP Walter Madeley from the cabinet in 1928 due to his support for the multiracial Industrial and Commercial Workers' Union. Creswell and his supporters remained in government and became known as the "Creswell Labour" faction while Madeley and other Labour MPs joined the Opposition and became known as "National Council Labour" due to their being supported by the Labour Party's national council. In 1933,the Creswell Labour faction dissolved with its members joining the Hertzog's party.
Following the 1933 general election,Hertzog formed a coalition with Smuts and his South African Party,with the parties merging to form the United Party,resulting in Creswell being left out of cabinet. He remained a member of the House of Assembly until 1938 when he left politics.
In 1935 he was President of the Annual Conference of the International Labour Organization held at Geneva. [2]
During the South-West Africa campaign of 1914–1915,Creswell was second in command of the Rand Rifles. From 1916 to 1917 he commanded the 8th South African Infantry in the East African campaign,with the rank of lieutenant-colonel. [2]
In 1920,Creswell married Margaret,daughter of the Rev. H. Boys,formerly Rector of Layer Marney,Essex,England. They had no children. Creswell died on 25 August 1948 [2] in Kuilsrivier. His ashes were interred in the Garden of Remembrance in Epping,near Cape Town. [6]
A Fast Attack Craft of the South African Navy was named after him.[ citation needed ]
The Transvaal Colony was the name used to refer to the Transvaal region during the period of direct British rule and military occupation between the end of the Second Boer War in 1902 when the South African Republic was dissolved,and the establishment of the Union of South Africa in 1910. The borders of the Transvaal Colony were larger than the defeated South African Republic. In 1910 the entire territory became the Transvaal Province of the Union of South Africa.
Field Marshal Jan Christian Smuts,was a South African statesman,military leader and philosopher. In addition to holding various military and cabinet posts,he served as prime minister of the Union of South Africa from 1919 to 1924 and 1939 to 1948.
Sir Patrick Duncan,was the sixth Governor-General of the Union of South Africa,holding office from 1937 until his death in 1943.
General James Barry Munnik Hertzog,better known as Barry Hertzog or J. B. M. Hertzog,was a South African politician and soldier. He was a Boer general during the Second Boer War who served as the third prime minister of the Union of South Africa from 1924 to 1939. Hertzog advocated for the development of Afrikaner culture and was determined to prevent Afrikaners from being excessively influenced by British culture. He founded the National Party in 1914.
Jan Hendrik Hofmeyr was a South African politician and intellectual in the years preceding apartheid. In his lifetime he was regarded as one of the cleverest men in the country,and it was widely expected that he would eventually become Prime Minister of South Africa. He came from a well-known Afrikaner family;his uncle,also Jan Hendrik Hofmeyr but known affectionately as "Onze Jan" among fellow Afrikaners,was a famous figure in the Afrikaans language movement.
The Cabinet of South Africa is the most senior level of the executive branch of the Government of South Africa. It is made up of the president,the deputy president,and the ministers.
General elections were held in South Africa on 17 June 1924,electing 135 members of the House of Assembly. Considered a realigning election,rising discontent with the government of Jan Smuts led to the defeat of his government by a coalition of the pro-Afrikaner National Party and the South African Labour Party,a socialist party representing the interests of the white proletariat.
Jan Christiaan Smuts,OM was a prominent South African and Commonwealth statesman and military leader. He served as a Boer general during the Boer War,a British general during the First World War and was appointed field marshal during the Second World War. In addition to various cabinet appointments,he served as prime minister of the Union of South Africa from 1919 to 1924 and from 1939 to 1948. He played a leading part in the post war settlements at the end of both world wars,making significant contributions towards the creation of both the League of Nations and the United Nations.
Jan Christiaan Smuts,OM served as Prime Minister of the Union of South Africa from 1919 to 1924 and from 1939 to 1948. He played a leading part in the post war settlements at the end of both world wars,making significant contributions towards the creation of both the League of Nations and the United Nations.
The leader of the opposition in South Africa is the leader of the largest political party in the National Assembly that is not in government. The House of Assembly was the most important House from 1910 to 1994 and the National Assembly from 1994. The leader of the opposition acts as the public face of the opposition,leading the Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet and the challenge to the government on the floor of Parliament. They thus act as a chief critic of the government and ultimately attempt to portray the opposition as a feasible alternate government.
General elections were held in South Africa on 12 June 1929. The National Party under J. B. M. Hertzog won an outright majority in the House of Assembly. Hertzog had the opportunity to form a government without the aid of the Labour Party. In fact the Pact government continued,with two ministers from the Creswell Labour faction remaining in office. The National Party remained the dominant party,for its second consecutive term.
General elections were held in South Africa on 7 July 1943 to elect the 150 members of the House of Assembly. The United Party of Jan Smuts won an absolute majority.
The South African Labour Party,was a South African political party formed in March 1910 in the newly created Union of South Africa following discussions between trade unions,the Transvaal Independent Labour Party,and the Natal Labour Party. It was a professedly democratic socialist party representing the interests of the white working class.
Vice Admiral Sir William Rooke Creswell,was an Australian naval officer,commonly considered to be the 'father' of the Royal Australian Navy.
Oswald Pirow,QC was a South African lawyer and far-right politician who held office as minister of justice,and later minister of defence for the National and United Party,respectively. Pirow eventually left the UP upon the Second World War and joined Daniel Malan's reunited National Party,but eventually broke when Pirow founded the New Order of South Africa,a marginal fascist group that disbanded before the end of the war. A celebrated jurist,including by future President Nelson Mandela,he served the NP government as a prosecutor in the Treason Trial until his death.
J. B. M. Hertzog became the Prime Minister of South Africa on 30 June 1924,replacing Jan Smuts. Hertzog led four cabinets,serving until 5 September 1939.
Col. Edmund William Creswell was a British soldier,who played for the Royal Engineers in the 1872 FA Cup Final. As a soldier,he was engaged mainly in administrative work and never saw active service.
Walter Bayley Madeley was a leader of the South African Labour Party and a cabinet minister.
Louis Botha became Prime Minister of the Transvaal Colony on 4 March 1907,following the results of the election of 1907,with his Het Volk Party winning 37 out of 69 seats to the Legislative Assembly,ahead of the Progressive Party,the National Association (16),Labour and 2 independents. On the results,the Governor,The Earl of Selbourne,wrote to the Colonial Office:"The clear majority which Het Volk has won over all other parties combined,together with the defeat of Sir Richard Solomon by Sir Percy FitzPatrick,has of course made it necessary for me to send for General Botha,and I have very little doubt that he will form a Ministry consisting mainly,if not entirely,of members of his own party".
Henry William Sampson,often known as "Sammy",was an English-born South African trade unionist and politician.