John X. Merriman
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The Right Honourable John Xavier Merriman |
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|---|---|
 |
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| 11th Prime Minister of the Cape Colony | |
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In office 3 February 1908 – 31 May 1910 |
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| 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 Street, Somerset, United Kingdom |
| Died | 1 August 1926 (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.
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 his wife Julia Potter, aunt of John Gerald 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 entered politics in 1869. At the time politicians normally needed to rely on a supplementary career for income, and Merriman found a secure secondary occupation as a wine farmer at Schoongezicht, Stellenbosch, after having unsuccessfully tried a range of different professions, from surveyor to prospector to factory manager to merchant.
The "great object" of Merriman's life was parliament, and his parliamentary career (over 50 years) was one of the longest in Cape history. During this time he gained a reputation for great eloquence, elegant epithet and a brilliant wit, but also for erratic volatility with dramatic changes in his views.
At the time that he entered parliament, the Cape Colony was in the transition stage of representative government. In the Cape Parliament, he represented, firstly the district of Namaqualand, then Wodehouse and finally Victoria West.
He began his career as a conservative and an opponent of "Responsible Government" (government by an elected or "responsible" executive, rather than an appointed one), until it was successfully attained for the Cape Colony in 1872. He then became a leader of the opposition to the Cape's first elected government.
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