Orange River Colony Colony ← 1900 – 1910 → Flag of Orange Colony Flag Orange River Colony Capital Bloemfontein Language(s) Afrikaans, English Religion Dutch Reformed Church, Anglican Government Constitutional monarchy Orange Colony , 1900]]|Colony }} Queen Victoria Governor  - 1900-1901 Viscount Milner  - 1901-1905 Earl of Selborne  - 1905-1907 Sir Hamilton John Goold-Adams Prime Minister  - 1907 - 1910 Abraham Fischer Historical era 19th century  - Occupied May 28, 1900  - Established October 6, 1900  - Treaty of Vereeniging May 30, 1902  - Self-government 1907  - Disestablished May 31, 1910 Currency Pound sterling

The Orange River Colony was a British colony created by the annexation of the Orange Free State in 1900, after the Boer War, till its 1910 transformation into the South African constitutive Orange Free State Province.

History

There still were two Boer State Presidents, in exile since 1900:

• 4 March 1896 - 31 May 1902 Marthinus Theunis Steyn (b. 1857 - d. 1916)
• 30 May 1902 - 31 May 1902 Christiaan Rudolph de Wet (b. 1854 - d. 1922), (acting for Steyn)

Field Marshal Roberts hoisted the Union Flag over Bloemfontein on 28 May 1900, and annexation became official on 6 October.

Sir Alfred Milner (b. 1854 - d. 1925) was appointed the first Governor on 4 January 1901, with Hamilton John Goold-Adams (b. 1858 - d. 1920) as Lieutenant-governor till 23 June 1902 .

Next there were Governors only:

• 21 June 1902 - 1 April 1905 the above Alfred Milner, Viscount Milner
• 2 April 1905 - 7 June 1907 William Waldegrave Palmer, Earl of Selborne (b. 1859 - d. 1942)
• 7 June 1907 - 31 May 1910 the above Sir Hamilton John Goold-Adams

By 1904 sentiment was growing for some form of self-government. The Orange Party, Oranjie Unie, was formally constituted in May 1906, but had been in existence for some months previously. A similar organization, called Het Volk, had been formed by the Transvaal Boers in January 1905. Both unions had constitutions almost identical with that of the Afrikander Bond, and their aims were similar - to secure the triumph of Boer ideals in state and society. Of the Oranjie Unie Mr Abraham Fischer, one of the ablest statesmen on the Boer side in the pre-war period became chairman. Other prominent members being Messrs Hertzog, C. de Wet and Steyn.

A counter-organisation was formed by the ex-burghers who had whole-heartedly accepted the new order of things. They took the title of the Constitutional party, and Sir John Fraser was chosen as chairman. In Bloemfontein the Constitutionalists had a strong following; elsewhere their supporters were numerically weak. It was noteworthy that the programmes of the two parties were very similar, the real difference between them being the attitude with which they regarded the British connexion. While the ideal of the Unie was an Afrikander state, the Constitutionalists desired the perfect equality of both white races.

The colony achieved self-government in 1907, and on 27 November Abraham Fischer (b. 1850 - d. 1913, NPP) of the Oranje Unie became its first Prime Minister (27 Nov 1907 - 31 May 1910). The first government consisted of 29 members of the Oranjie Unie, 5 Constitutionalists and 4 Independents. The cabinet consisted of: Ex-General J.B.M. Hertzog, attorney-general and director of education; Dr A.E.W. Ramsbottom, treasurer; Christian de Wet, minister of agriculture, and Mr C. H. Wessels, minister of public works, and Mr Fischer, besides the premiership, held the portfolio of colonial secretary. The new ministry took office on the 27th of November. Of the members of the first legislative council five were supporters of the Oranjie Unie and five were regarded as Constitutionalists, the eleventh member holding the balance.

In May 1908, the Orange Colony took part in an inter-state conference which met at Pretoria and Cape Town, and determined to renew the existing, customs convention and to make no alteration in railway rates. These decisions were the result of an agreement to bring before the parliaments of the various colonies a resolution advocating the closer union of the South African states and the appointment of delegates to a national convention to frame a draft constitution. In this convention Mr Steyn took a leading and conciliatory part, and subsequently the Orange River legislature agreed to the terms drawn up by the convention for the unification of the four self-governing colonies, the Union of South Africa. Under the imperial act by which unification was established (31 May 1910) the colony entered the union under the style of the Free State Province. Mr Fischer and General Hertzog became members of the first union ministry while Dr A.E.W. Ramsbottom, formerly colonial treasurer, became the first administrator of the Free State as a province of the union.

Postage stamps

Immediately upon annexation, the British overprinted the republic's stamps with "V.R.I." (Victoria Regina Imperatrix 'Victoria Queen-Empress'). There were many minor variations, some rare and prized today.

Stamps of the Cape Colony were also overprinted, with "ORANGE RIVER COLONY" (10 August, before the colony officially xisted).

Only in 1903 did the Orange River Colony get its own stamps. These stamps featured a portrait of King Edward VII, along with small pictures of a springbok and a gnu. They were used until the union in 1910, and are generally readily available and inexpensive today.

Source and references

(incomplete)

• WorldStatesmen- SouthAfrica

See also

• Vicariate Apostolic of Orange River for the Catholic missionary history

•  • [ e] British Empire and Commonwealth of Nations

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