High Commissioner for Southern Africa

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

Flag of the High Commissioner for Southern Africa, 1907–1931
Flag of the High Commissioner for Southern Africa, 1931–1968

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]

Name Began Ended
Sir Henry Pottinger 27 January 1847 1 December 1847
Sir Harry Smith 1 December 1847 31 March 1852
George Cathcart 31 March 1852 26 May 1854
Charles Henry Darling (acting) 26 May 1854 5 December 1854
Sir George Grey 5 December 1854 15 August 1861
Robert Henry Wynyard (acting) 15 August 1861 15 January 1862
Sir Philip Wodehouse 15 January 1862 20 May 1870
Charles Craufurd Hay (acting) 20 May 1870 31 December 1870
Sir Henry Barkly 31 December 1870 31 March 1877
Sir Bartle Frere 31 March 1877 15 September 1880
Henry Hugh Clifford (acting) 15 September 1880 27 September 1880
Sir George Cumine Strahan (acting) 27 September 1880 22 January 1881
Sir Hercules Robinson 22 January 1881 1 May 1889
Henry Augustus Smyth (acting) 1 May 1889 13 December 1889
Sir Henry Brougham Loch 13 December 1889 30 May 1895
Sir Hercules Robinson (from 1896, the Lord Rosmead) 30 May 1895 21 April 1897
William Goodenough (acting) 21 April 1897 5 May 1897
Sir Alfred Milner 5 May 1897 May 1905
William Palmer, 2nd Earl of Selborne May 1905 31 May 1910
Sir Walter Hely-Hutchinson (acting, in the absence of Lord Selborne) 1909 1909
The Viscount Gladstone 31 May 1910 8 September 1914
The Viscount Buxton 8 September 1914 17 July 1920
Beresford Cecil Molyneux Carter
(acting High Commissioner only with Sir James Rose Innes acting Governor General from 17 July 1920)		 3 September 1920 20 November 1920
Prince Arthur of Connaught 20 November 1920 5 December 1923
Rudolph Bentinck
(acting High Commissioner only with Sir James Rose Innes acting Governor General from 5 December 1923)		 10 December 1923 21 January 1924
The Earl of Athlone 21 January 1924 26 January 1931
The Earl of Clarendon 26 January 1931 6 April 1931
Sir Herbert Stanley 6 April 1931 6 January 1935
Sir William Clark 7 January 1935 3 January 1940
Sir Edward Harding 3 January 1940 3 January 1941
Sir Walter Huggard (acting) 3 January 1941 24 May 1941
The Lord Harlech 24 May 1941 13 May 1944
Harold Eddey Priestman (acting) 13 May 1944 23 June 1944
Sir Walter Huggard (acting) 23 June 1944 27 October 1944
Sir Evelyn Baring 27 October 1944 1 October 1951
Sir John Le Rougetel 2 October 1951 2 February 1955
Sir Percivale Liesching 4 March 1955 December 1958
Sir John Maud 15 January 1959 1963
Sir Hugh Stephenson 1963 31 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
  • Spence, John Edward. "British policy towards the High Commission territories." Journal of modern African studies 2.2 (1964): 221-246.
  • Torrance, David E. "Britain, South Africa, and the high commission territories: an old controversy revisited." Historical Journal 41.3 (1998): 751-772. online
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