John X. Merriman

The Right Honourable John Xavier Merriman
11th Prime Minister of the Cape Colony
In office 3 February 1908 – 31 May 1910
Monarch	Edward VII
Governor	Sir Walter Hely-Hutchinson Sir Henry Jenner Scobell
Preceded by	Leander Starr Jameson
Succeeded by	Louis Botha As Prime Minister of South Africa
Personal details
Born	John Xavier Merriman 15 March 1841(1841-03-15) Street, Somerset, United Kingdom
Died	1 August 1926(1926-08-01) (aged 85) Stellenbosch, Cape Province, Union of South Africa
Political party	South African Party
Spouse(s)	Agnes Vintcent
Alma mater	Diocesan College Radley College
Occupation	Politician

John Xavier Merriman (1841 – 1 August 1926) was the last prime minister of the Cape Colony before the formation of the Union of South Africa in 1910.

Early life

He was born in Street, Somerset, England. His parents were Nathaniel James Merriman, curate of the parish of Street and later third Bishop of Grahamstown, and the former Julia Potter. He emigrated to the Cape Colony with his parents in 1849, aged 8. He was educated at the Diocesan College in Rondebosch, Cape Town, and then at Radley College in England. He returned to South Africa in 1861 and became a farmer.

Political career

He entered politics in 1869, having first been a farmer and surveyor. At this time the Cape Colony was in the transition stage of representative government. He represented, firstly, the district of Namaqualand, then Wodehouse and finally Victoria West. After the granting of responsible government to the Cape Colony in 1872, he served in the cabinet of its first Prime Minister, Sir John Molteno, from 1875 to 1878, then in the Scanlen ministry from 1881 to 1884, his private secretary in this time being Henry Latham Currey, the son of an old friend. He was Treasurer-General under Cecil Rhodes from 1890 to 1893 but he ended his relationship with Rhodes after the Jameson Raid in December 1895.

Thereafter he become an opponent of the mining interests and British imperialism in Southern Africa. This gained him the sympathy and cooperation of the Afrikaner Bond led by Jan Hendrik Hofmeyr. He was a member of the Cape Commission charged with investigating the Jameson Raid and was responsible for writing its report. He again served as Treasurer General of the Cape in the ministry of W.P. Schreiner from 1898 to 1900. He tried but failed to prevent the Second Boer War.

In 1908 his South African Party together with the Afrikaner Bond won control of the Assembly and he served as Prime Minister of the Cape Colony from 1908 until the formation of the Union of South Africa on 31 May 1910.

He was a leading figure in the National Convention which brought about this Union. It was thought that he might become the first Prime Minister of the new union. Lord Gladstone, the first Governor-General, however, asked the Afrikaner statesman, Louis Botha to form a government. Merriman declined to accept a post in the first Union Cabinet.

He continued to serve in the Parliament of South Africa, representing first the constituency of Victoria West, and then Stellenbosch. He carried on a lively correspondence with Jan Christiaan Smuts, constantly warning him about possibilities of rebellion and civil war with Afrikaner sections of the white population who objected to South African cooperation with Great Britain against Germany in World War I, especially the South African invasion of German South West Africa, now Namibia. He was one of only a few members of Parliament who the opposed the Native Land Act, legislation introduced in 1913 which drastically limited African ownership of land.

Personal life

In 1874 he married Agnes Vintcent daughter of Mr. L. Vintcent, a member of the Cape Legislative Council. In 1892 he purchased a farm in Stellenbosch which later became Rustenberg Wines. The company has honoured him by naming their flagship red bordeaux blend after him.

He died, aged 85, in Stellenbosch, South Africa, in 1926. A prominent street in the town is called Merriman Avenue.

References

• The life of John Xavier Merriman by Perceval Maitland Laurence, Richard R. Smith Inc, 1930
•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. 

Political offices
Preceded by ???	Representative of Namaqualand 1869–???	Succeeded by ???
Preceded by ???	Representative of Wodehouse ???–???	Succeeded by ???
Preceded by ???	Representative of Victoria West ???–???	Succeeded by ???
Preceded by ???	Cape Colony Cabinet Member 1875–1878	Succeeded by ???
Preceded by ???	Minister of Agriculture 1892–???	Succeeded by ???
Preceded by ???	Cape Colony Cabinet Member 1881–1894	Succeeded by ???
Preceded by ???	British South Africa Company Treasurer-General 1890–1893	Succeeded by ???
Preceded by ???	Cape Colony Treasurer General 1898–1900	Succeeded by ???
Preceded by Leander Starr Jameson	Prime Minister of the Cape Colony 1908–1910	Merged into Union of South Africa
Party political offices
New title	Leader of the South African Party (Cape Colony) 1908–1910	Merged with others to form South Africa Party