High Commissioner for Southern Africa

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High Commissioner for Southern Africa
Flag of the High Commissioner for Southern Africa (1907-1931).svg
Flag of the high commissioner for Southern Africa, 1907–1931
Flag of the High Commissioner for Southern Africa (1931-1968).svg
Flag of the high commissioner for Southern Africa, 1931–1968
Formation27 January 1847
First holderSir Henry Pottinger
Final holderSir Hugh Stephenson
Abolished31 July 1964

The British office of high commissioner for Southern Africa was responsible for governing British possessions in Southern Africa, latterly the protectorates of Basutoland (now Lesotho), the Bechuanaland Protectorate (now Botswana) and Swaziland (now Eswatini), as well as for relations with autonomous governments in the area.

Contents

The office was combined with that of Governor of Cape Colony from 1847 to 1901, with that of the governor of Transvaal Colony 1901 to 1910, and with that of Governor-General of South Africa from 1910 to 1931. The British government appointed the Governor-General as High Commissioner under a separate commission. In addition to responsibility for Basutoland, Bechuanaland and Swaziland, he held reserve powers concerning the interests of the native population of Southern Rhodesia. [1] The post was abolished on 1 August 1964. [2]

List of officeholders

NameBeganEnded
Sir Henry Pottinger 27 January 18471 December 1847
Sir Harry Smith 1 December 184731 March 1852
George Cathcart 31 March 185226 May 1854
Charles Henry Darling (acting)26 May 18545 December 1854
Sir George Edward Grey 5 December 185415 August 1861
Robert Henry Wynyard (acting)15 August 186115 January 1862
Sir Philip Wodehouse 15 January 186220 May 1870
Charles Craufurd Hay (acting)20 May 187031 December 1870
Sir Henry Barkly 31 December 187031 March 1877
Sir Bartle Frere 31 March 187715 September 1880
Henry Hugh Clifford (acting)15 September 188027 September 1880
Sir George Strahan (acting)27 September 188022 January 1881
Sir Hercules Robinson 22 January 18811 May 1889
Henry Augustus Smyth (acting)1 May 188913 December 1889
Sir Henry Brougham Loch 13 December 188930 May 1895
Sir Hercules Robinson (from 1896, the Lord Rosmead)30 May 189521 April 1897
William Goodenough (acting)21 April 18975 May 1897
Sir Alfred Milner 5 May 1897May 1905
William Palmer, 2nd Earl of Selborne May 190531 May 1910
Sir Walter Hely-Hutchinson (acting, in the absence of Lord Selborne)19091909
Herbert Gladstone, 1st Viscount Gladstone 31 May 19108 September 1914
Sydney Buxton, 1st Earl Buxton 8 September 191417 July 1920
Beresford Cecil Molyneux Carter
(acting High Commissioner only with Sir James Rose Innes acting Governor General from 17 July 1920)
3 September 192020 November 1920
Prince Arthur of Connaught 20 November 19205 December 1923
Rudolph Bentinck
(acting High Commissioner only with Sir James Rose Innes acting Governor General from 5 December 1923)
10 December 192321 January 1924
Alexander Cambridge, 1st Earl of Athlone 21 January 192426 January 1931
George Villiers, 6th Earl of Clarendon 26 January 19316 April 1931
Sir Herbert Stanley 6 April 19316 January 1935
Sir William Henry Clark 7 January 19353 January 1940
Sir Edward John Harding 3 January 19403 January 1941
Sir Walter Huggard (acting)3 January 194124 May 1941
William Ormsby-Gore, 4th Baron Harlech 24 May 194113 May 1944
Harold Eddey Priestman (acting)13 May 194423 June 1944
Sir Walter Huggard (acting)23 June 194427 October 1944
Sir Evelyn Baring 27 October 19441 October 1951
Sir John Le Rougetel 2 October 19512 February 1955
Sir Percivale Liesching 4 March 1955December 1958
Sir John Maud 15 January 19591963
Sir Hugh Southern Stephenson 196331 July 1964

The high commission territories

The high commissioner was responsible for governing the following territories, in each case represented by a resident commissioner:

See also

References

  1. See Whitakers Almanack, 1928
  2. cahoon, ben. "Botswana". www.worldstatesmen.org. Retrieved 23 April 2018.

Further reading