This article lists the governors of British South African colonies, including the colonial prime ministers. It encompasses the period from 1797 to 1910, when present-day South Africa was divided into four British colonies namely: Cape Colony (preceded by Dutch Cape Colony), Natal Colony, Orange River Colony and Transvaal Colony.
After the colonies were disestablished as a result of the creation of the Union of South Africa, the area was divided into four provinces of the Union: Cape Province, Natal Province, Orange Free State Province and Transvaal Province.
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 Pré 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 |
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 |
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, Sir Peregrine Maitland served as the governor of Cape Colony |
Lieutenant-governors | |||
4 December 1845 to 1 August 1849 | Martin Thomas West | ||
19 April 1850 to 3 Mar 1855 | ![]() | Benjamin Pine | 1st time |
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 | Acting |
26 August 1865 to 24 May 1867 | ![]() | John Jarvis Bisset | Acting |
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 | Acting | |
22 July 1873 to 1 April 1875 | ![]() | Sir Benjamin Pine | 2nd time |
1 April 1875 to 3 September 1875 | ![]() | Sir Garnet Joseph Wolseley | Acting |
3 September 1875 to 20 April 1880 | Sir Henry Ernest Gascoyne Bulwer | 1st time | |
20 April 1880 to 5 May 1880 | ![]() | William Bellairs | Acting |
5 May 1880 to 2 July 1880 | ![]() | Henry Hugh Clifford | Acting |
Governors | |||
2 July 1880 to 27 February 1881 | ![]() | Sir George Pomeroy Colley | |
17 August 1880 to 14 September 1880 | Henry Alexander | Acting for Colley | |
27 February 1881 to 3 April 1881 | ![]() | Sir Evelyn Wood | Acting |
3 April 1881 to 9 August 1881 | ![]() | Redvers Buller | Acting |
22 December 1881 to 6 March 1882 | ![]() | Charles Mitchell | 1st time, acting |
6 March 1882 to 23 October 1885 | Sir Henry Ernest Gascoyne Bulwer | 2nd time | |
18 February 1886 to 5 June 1889 | ![]() | Sir Arthur Havelock | |
1 December 1889 to July 1893 | ![]() | Charles Mitchell | 2nd time |
July 1893 to 27 September 1893 | Francis Seymour Haden | Acting | |
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 |
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 |
Tenure | Portrait | Incumbent | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
23 June 1902 to 1 April 1905 | ![]() | Alfred Milner, 1st Viscount Milner | Simultaneously served as the governor of Transvaal Colony |
2 April 1905 to 7 June 1907 | ![]() | William Palmer, 2nd Earl of Selborne | |
7 June 1907 to 31 May 1910 | ![]() | Sir Hamilton Goold-Adams |
Tenure | Portrait | Incumbent | Party | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
27 November 1907 to 31 May 1910 | ![]() | Abraham Fischer | ORU | Later served as the Minister of the Interior Affairs of South Africa, from 1912 to 1913 |
Tenure | Portrait | Incumbent | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
First annexation | |||
Administrators | |||
12 April 1877 to 4 March 1879 | ![]() | Sir Theophilus Shepstone | |
4 March 1879 to 8 August 1881 | ![]() | Owen Lanyon | From 6 April 1880, Sir William Owen Lanyon; acting for Wolseley 29 September 1879 – 27 April 1880 |
Governor | |||
29 September 1879 to 27 April 1880 | ![]() | Garnet Wolseley, 1st Viscount Wolseley | |
Second annexation | |||
Administrator | |||
4 January 1901 to 23 June 1902 | ![]() | Alfred Milner, 1st Viscount Milner | Simultaneously served as the Administrator of Orange River Colony |
Governors | |||
21 June 1902 to 1 April 1905 | ![]() | Alfred Milner, 1st Viscount Milner | Simultaneously served as the governor of Orange River Colony |
2 April 1905 to 31 May 1910 | ![]() | William Palmer, 2nd Earl of Selborne |
Tenure | Portrait | Incumbent | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Second annexation | |||
Lieutenant-Governors | |||
29 September 1902 to 4 December 1905 | ![]() | Sir Arthur Lawley | Appointed Governor of Madras |
23 March 1906 to January 1907 | ![]() | Sir Richard Solomon | Acting for Selborne 4 December 1905 to 2 October 1906 |
Tenure | Portrait | Incumbent | Party | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
4 March 1907 to 31 May 1910 | ![]() | Louis Botha | HV | Afterwards served as the first prime minister of South Africa, from 1910 to 1919 |