The Right Honourable
''The Right Honourable'' ( abbreviation: ''Rt Hon.'' or variations) is an honorific style traditionally applied to certain persons and collective bodies in the United Kingdom, the former British Empire and the Commonwealth of Nations. The term is ...
Henry Burton,
KC,
PC (2 June 1866 – 25 December 1935) was a South African lawyer and politician.
Biography
Born in
Cape Town
Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...
,
Cape Colony
The Cape Colony ( nl, Kaapkolonie), also known as the Cape of Good Hope, was a British Empire, British colony in present-day South Africa named after the Cape of Good Hope, which existed from 1795 to 1802, and again from 1806 to 1910, when i ...
in 1866, Henry Burton was the eldest son of Henry Burton, civil commissioner and resident magistrate. His great-uncle was the judge Sir William Burton. He claimed to be related to
Robert Burton
Robert Burton (8 February 1577 – 25 January 1640) was an English author and fellow of Oxford University, who wrote the encyclopedic tome ''The Anatomy of Melancholy''.
Born in 1577 to a comfortably well-off family of the landed gentry, Burt ...
, author of ''
The Anatomy of Melancholy
''The Anatomy of Melancholy'' (full title: ''The Anatomy of Melancholy, What it is: With all the Kinds, Causes, Symptomes, Prognostickes, and Several Cures of it. In Three Maine Partitions with their several Sections, Members, and Subsections. Ph ...
''.
Burton was educated at
St Andrew's College, Grahamstown and the
University of the Cape of Good Hope
The University of the Cape of Good Hope, renamed the University of South Africa in 1916, was created when the Molteno government passed Act 16 of 1873 in the Cape of Good Hope Parliament. Modelled on the University of London, it offered examinati ...
, before being called to the Bar by the Cape Colony Supreme Court in 1892. Burton practiced in
Kimberley and became known for his defence of the Cape Colony's black population.
Sol Plaatje
Solomon Tshekisho Plaatje (9 October 1876 – 19 June 1932) was a South African intellectual, journalist, linguist, politician, translator and writer. Plaatje was a founding member and first General Secretary of the South African Native Nation ...
, a founder of the
African National Congress
The African National Congress (ANC) is a Social democracy, social-democratic political party in Republic of South Africa, South Africa. A liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid, it has governed the country since 1994, when ...
, wrote that Burton was "a negrophilist and did a lot for us while I was in Kimberly."
In the
1898 Cape election, Burton stood in Barkly West for the
Afrikaner Bond
The Afrikaner Bond (Afrikaans and Dutch for "Afrikaner Union"; South African Dutch: Afrikander Bond) was founded as an anti-imperialist political party in 19th century southern Africa. While its origins were largely in the Orange Free State, ...
against
Cecil Rhodes
Cecil John Rhodes (5 July 1853 – 26 March 1902) was a British mining magnate and politician in southern Africa who served as Prime Minister of the Cape Colony from 1890 to 1896.
An ardent believer in British imperialism, Rhodes and his Br ...
. In the election, he was supported by prominent figures, including
Olive Schreiner
Olive Schreiner (24 March 1855 – 11 December 1920) was a South African author, anti-war campaigner and intellectual. She is best remembered today for her novel ''The Story of an African Farm'' (1883), which has been highly acclaimed. It deal ...
,
Sol Plaatje
Solomon Tshekisho Plaatje (9 October 1876 – 19 June 1932) was a South African intellectual, journalist, linguist, politician, translator and writer. Plaatje was a founding member and first General Secretary of the South African Native Nation ...
, and
Tengo Jabavu. He lost the election, but filed an election petition against Rhodes, which he also lost.
During the Second Boer War, Burton worked as the legal aide of
Sir Richard Solomon, Attorney-General of the Cape Colony. In 1902, he was elected to the
Cape Legislative Assembly for the constituency of Albert. In 1907, he became a
King's Counsel
In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel ( post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of a queen, is a lawyer (usually a barrister or ...
, and in 1908, he joined the government of
John X. Merriman
John Xavier Merriman (15 March 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 Jame ...
as Attorney-General of the Cape Colony.
In 1910, Burton was elected to the
Union Parliament
The Union Parliament ( my, ပြည်ထောင်စုလွှတ်တော်) was the bicameral legislature of the Union of Burma from 1948 to 1962, when it was disbanded by the Union Revolutionary Council. It consisted of an upper h ...
as member for Albert, and joined the Union Cabinet. He was
Minister of Native Affairs from 1910 to 1912, Minister of Railways and Harbours from 1912 to 1921, and
Minister of Finance
A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation.
A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...
from 1915 to 1917 and from 1920 to 1924. In 1918, he attended the
Imperial War Conference
The Imperial War Cabinet existed concurrently with Imperial Conferences (or "Imperial War Conferences"), which were held from 21 March to 27 April 1917 and from 12 June to 26 July 1918.
In April 1917, the conference passed Resolution IX, which r ...
in London as a delegate; on his return, his ship
SS ''Galway Castle'' was torpedoed in the
Bay of Biscay
The Bay of Biscay (), known in Spain as the Gulf of Biscay ( es, Golfo de Vizcaya, eu, Bizkaiko Golkoa), and in France and some border regions as the Gulf of Gascony (french: Golfe de Gascogne, oc, Golf de Gasconha, br, Pleg-mor Gwaskogn), ...
, and he was rescued from one of the open boats.
Burton was sworn of the
Imperial Privy Council
The Privy Council (PC), officially His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the sovereign of the United Kingdom. Its membership mainly comprises senior politicians who are current or former members of ei ...
in 1924. This gave him the style
The Right Honourable
''The Right Honourable'' ( abbreviation: ''Rt Hon.'' or variations) is an honorific style traditionally applied to certain persons and collective bodies in the United Kingdom, the former British Empire and the Commonwealth of Nations. The term is ...
and the
postnominal letters
Post-nominal letters, also called post-nominal initials, post-nominal titles, designatory letters or simply post-nominals, are letters placed after a person's name to indicate that the individual holds a position, academic degree, accreditation, ...
'P.C.' for the rest of his life.
In retirement, he was the vice-president of the Non-Racial Franchise Association, set up to protect the
Cape Qualified Franchise
The Cape Qualified Franchise was the system of non-racial franchise that was adhered to in the Cape Colony, and in the Cape Province in the early years of the Union of South Africa. Qualifications for the right to vote at parliamentary elections ...
.
Family
Burton was married to
Helen Marie Kannemeyer, one of the founders of
Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden
Kirstenbosch is an important botanical garden nestled at the eastern foot of Table Mountain in Cape Town. The garden is one of 10 National Botanical Gardens covering five of South Africa's six different biomes and administered by the South A ...
; they had nine children. A son was
Flight Officer
The title flight officer was a military rank used by the United States Army Air Forces during World War II, and also an air force rank in several Commonwealth countries, where it was used for female officers and was equivalent to the rank of fligh ...
Percival Ross-Frames Burton, RAF, who was killed when he
rammed his plane into a German plane during the
Battle of Britain
The Battle of Britain, also known as the Air Battle for England (german: die Luftschlacht um England), was a military campaign of the Second World War, in which the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) of the Royal Navy defende ...
. Another son,
Flight Lieutenant
Flight lieutenant is a junior commissioned rank in air forces that use the Royal Air Force (RAF) system of ranks, especially in Commonwealth countries. It has a NATO rank code of OF-2. Flight lieutenant is abbreviated as Flt Lt in the India ...
William Westbrooke Burton
Sir William Westbrooke Burton (31 January 1794 – 6 August 1888) was a judge and President of the Legislative Council, New South Wales, Australia.
Early life
Burton was born in Daventry, Northamptonshire, England, the fifth son of Edmund ...
, RAF, was killed during a bombing raid on Cologne.
References
* https://www.sahistory.org.za/people/henry-burton
{{DEFAULTSORT:Burton, Henry
1866 births
1935 deaths
South African lawyers
South African Queen's Counsel
South African members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom
Cape Colony politicians
South African politicians