Pieter Jeremias Blignaut

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Pieter Jeremias Blignaut
Acting State President of the Orange Free State
In office
14 July 1888 – 10 January 1889
Preceded byJ.H. Brand
Succeeded byF.W. Reitz
In office
11 December 1895 – 4 March 1896
Preceded byF.W. Reitz
Succeeded byM.T. Steyn
Personal details
Born(1841-08-26)26 August 1841
Paarl, Cape Colony
Died1 November 1909(1909-11-01) (aged 68)
Bloemfontein, Orange River Colony
Occupationcivil servant
Signature

Pieter Jeremias Blignaut (26 June 1841, in

South African War, Blignaut served as member of both the legislative council and the Legislative Assembly of the Orange River Colony. He was also a member of several state commissions.[1]

Biography

Family

Blignaut was a member from an old Cape family, the son of Johannes Jeremias Cornelis Blignaut and Johanna Emerentia de Villiers. He was named after his grandfather Pieter Jeremias Blignaut, a burgher of Stellenbosch, who married 25 October 1801 with Maria Dorothea de Villiers.

Blignaut himself was married twice, first with Caroline Erskine (1850 – 11 February 1883), and after her death with Ms. C.J. Steyn, sister of President Steyn. From his two marriages Blignaut had six children.

Early life and career

Blignaut went to the State School in his birthplace

Basotho threats, President Brand ordered the reorganisation of the Orange Free State defence, and the formulation of clear regulations for the different Volunteer Corps, which were administered by the Landdrosts' offices. For Philippolis Blignaut and J.G. Fraser
attended the conference.

Blignaut held the position of clerk for four years, from 12 January 1865 working in that position in Fauresmith. Here he was promoted to Landdrost on 25 October 1866 and another four years later, on 28 September 1870 he was transferred to Kroonstad in the same position.

Government Secretary

P.J. Blignaut, 1890s

When

South African War (Second Boer War). In both periods Blignaut showed himself an efficient and dedicated civil servant, with a keen eye for both home and foreign affairs. Already in 1880 Blignaut was entrusted with the difficult task of mediating between the British and the Transvaal.[citation needed
] In later years Blignaut was regularly charged with difficult tasks.

Blignaut had a sociable and open personality, which made him popular with both the

Acting State President when President Brand suddenly died in 1888 and after the unexpected resignation of President Reitz in 1895.[3]

When

laissez-passer to travel to his farm Secretarispan near Bloemfontein, where he stayed for the remainder of the war, effectively on leave from his position as Government Secretary
.

His wife, C.J. Steyn, was also active in the war. She set up a Ladies' Committee, initially to supply Boer

prisoners of war
with clothes, and later also to look after the welfare of the women and children in the British concentration camps.

British service

After the signing of the Treaty of Vereeniging on 31 May 1902, Blignaut quickly adapted to the new political situation. Where his counterpart in the South African Republic, State Secretary Reitz, signed the treaty, but on principle did not want to take the oath of allegiance to the British government, Blignaut did so without qualms within a week, on 6 June 1902. Perhaps his months of illness and contact with the British authorities during the last phase of the war influenced Blignaut's thinking about the future of the Orange Free State and his own position therein.

The British government almost immediately appointed Blignaut as member of the Central Repatriation Committee for the Orange River Colony, that was charged with the repatriation and resettlement of the thousands of Free Staters who had fled their homes, were incarcerated in concentration camps, and had been in the field to fight the war. The Central Repatriation Committee was part of the Treaty of Vereeniging. Privately, Blignaut pointed the administration of the Orange River Colony at the poverty and destitution of many white Free Staters, arranging for employment opportunities to be created for them.

In 1903 the British government appointed him to the legislative council of the colony, and in 1907 after the return to responsible government, Blignaut became a member of the Legislative Assembly. A better civil servant than politician, his impact on the proceedings of these two institutions was limited. His expertise was put to better use with his appointment as delegate to the South African Customs Conference of 1903 and as member of the Central Committee of the Conference of Landdrosts in Bloemfontein.

In 1909, while still working, Blignaut got

septicaemia and despite a successful operation, he died the day after in his residence. He was a South African Freemason. He was buried in Bloemfontein
with a Freemason's ceremony, conducted by the members of the Rising Star Lodge, of which he had been a member.

References

Notes

  1. ^ This article is predominantly based on the information derived from Moll, J.C. (c. 1970s). "Blignaut, Pieter Jeremias". Suid-Afrikaanse Biografiese Woordenboek. Vol. 3. Kaapstad & Johannesburg: Raad vir die Geesteswetenskaplike Navorsing. pp. 74–75. and sources mentioned there.
  2. ^ Muller, Hendrik P.N., Oude tyden in den Oranje-Vrystaat. Naar Mr. H.A.L. Hamelberg's nagelaten papieren beschreven. Leiden: E.J. Brill 1907. 258.
  3. ^ For dates see South Africa on Worldstatesman.org.

Literature

  • Muller, H.P.N. (1907). Oude tyden in den Oranje-Vrystaat. Naar Mr. H.A.L. Hamelberg's nagelaten papieren beschreven. Leiden: E.J. Brill. pp. 383p.
  • Moll, J.C. (c. 1970s). "Blignaut, Pieter Jeremias". Suid-Afrikaanse Biografiese Woordeboek. Vol. 3. Kaapstad & Johannesburg. pp. 74–75.

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