William Schreiner
John Gordon Sprigg | |
|---|---|
| Personal details | |
| Born | William Philip Schreiner 30 August 1857 Cape Colony |
| Died | 28 June 1919 (aged 61) Llandrindod Wells, Wales United Kingdom |
| Political party | South African Party |
| Spouse | Frances Hester Reitz |
| Relations | Olive Schreiner (sister) |
| Children | Oliver Schreiner |
| Alma mater | University of the Cape of Good Hope University of London Downing College, Cambridge |
| Profession | Barrister, Politician |
William Philip Schreiner Prime Minister of the Cape Colony from 1898 to 1900, during the Second Boer War.
Early life
Schreiner was born at Wittebergen Mission Station near
Cape Supreme Court
and established a thriving law practice.
Political career
Schreiner became a
Cape Parliament for Kimberley. That same year he became attorney-general in Cecil Rhodes's cabinet, which was supported by Jan Hendrik "Onze Jan" Hofmeyr and the Afrikaner Bond until the Jameson Raid
, when Rhodes's imperial ambitions became clear, causing the resignation of Schreiner and the rest of the ministers in January 1896.
Schreiner was elected member for
Alfred Milner
, who was actively fomenting war. Schreiner was forced to resign from the premiership and from Parliament in June 1900.
He failed to win a seat in 1904, but returned in 1908 as the member for
Queenstown. He now adopted a liberal Bantu policy, influenced by a visit he had made in 1899 to the Transkei and the African leader John Tengo Jabavu. Schreiner advocated integration and equal rights for all "civilised" men. His dedication to this ideal was proved by his resignation from the National Convention in order to represent Dinuzulu
, who was due to stand trial before a special court set up by the Government of Natal for his alleged treasonous participation in the rebellion of 1906.
Schreiner felt that the
British Parliament in 1909. He brought together a multiracial delegation of nine prominent Cape politicians to call for the Cape franchise which allowed all men of property to vote, irrespective of race, to be implemented in the whole of South Africa.[3] Schreiner led the group to London, but the delegation was unsuccessful in its appeal, despite receiving considerable support from the infant Labour Party and other liberal British organisations.[4] It was from this delegation that the African National Congress was formed in 1912.[5]
With the forming of the
Later life
Schreiner was on holiday in England at the outbreak of the
First World War and was asked by Gen. Botha to fill the post of High Commissioner for South Africa in London.[7][8] For his work during the war as High Commissioner, King Albert I of Belgium awarded Schreiner the Grand Officer of the Order of the Crown.[9]
He died in Llandrindod Wells, Wales, on 28 June 1919, the day the Treaty of Versailles was signed.[10]
Schreiner was married in 1884 to Frances Hester Reitz, a sister of President F. W. Reitz. They had four children, including Oliver Schreiner, who became a judge.
Notes
 | This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (February 2014) |
- ^ "Schreiner, William Philip (SCRR878WP)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
- ^ "No. 26120". The London Gazette. 1 January 1891. p. 2.
- ^ Report of Commission of Inquiry regarding Cape Coloured Population of the Union, U.G. 54 – 1937, Government Printer, Pretoria, 1937, p. 213, para 1037
- ^ "Radical Objects: A Menu for Change – The South African Deputation to London, 1909". History Workshop. 16 November 2013.
- ^ Martin Plaut, Promise and Despair, the First Struggle for a Non-Racial South Africa, Jacana Press, 2016
- ^ "No. 12317". The Edinburgh Gazette. 3 January 1911. p. 3.
- ^ "NEW HIGH COMMISSIONER". The Herald. Victoria, Australia. 14 November 1914. p. 12. Retrieved 12 April 2020 – via Trove.
- The Brisbane Courier. Queensland, Australia. 30 June 1919. p. 11. Retrieved 12 April 2020 – via Trove.
- ^ "No. 13447". The Edinburgh Gazette. 20 May 1919. p. 1741.
- ^ "Olive Schreiner Letters Online". www.oliveschreiner.org. Retrieved 30 March 2024.
References
- Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1922). . Encyclopædia Britannica (12th ed.). London & New York: The Encyclopædia Britannica Company.
- Plaut, Martin (February 2017). Promise and Despair, the First Struggle for a Non-Racial South Africa. Cape Town, South Africa: Ohio University Press. ISBN 978-0-8214-2276-2.
External links
- Portraits of William Schreiner at the National Portrait Gallery, London
- The papers of WP Schreiner held by the University of Cape Town Libraries.
 | .svg) | ||
| |||
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
