Sir John Frost (8 August 1828 – 2 April 1918) was an Anglo-

South African __NOTOC__ South African may relate to: * The nation of South Africa * South African Airways * South African English * South African people * Languages of South Africa * Southern Africa Southern Africa is the southernmost subregion of the Afric ...

landowner, cabinet minister and Member of the

Parliament of the Cape of Good Hope The Parliament of the Cape of Good Hope functioned as the legislature of the Cape Colony, from its founding in 1853, until the creation of the Union of South Africa in 1910, when it was dissolved and the Parliament of South Africa was establish ...

Early life

Frost was the son of William and Maria Frost, landowners in Lincolnshire. He immigrated to the

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 1849 where he built up an estate, Thibet Park, on the upper Black

Kei River The Great Kei River is a river in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is formed by the confluence of the Black Kei River and White Kei River, northeast of Cathcart. It flows for and ends in the Great Kei Estuary at the Indian Ocean wi ...

. He was one of the leading farmers in the Queenstown district and served as an officer in the Frontier Wars of the

Eastern Cape The Eastern Cape is one of the provinces of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, but its two largest cities are East London and Gqeberha. The second largest province in the country (at 168,966 km2) after Northern Cape, it was formed in ...

, including the quelling of the Transkei Rebellion. Lady Frost, his wife, was born Frances Cordelia Powell (born 20 September 1834, died 20 October 1927). She was a niece of Colonial Secretary Richard Southey. Sir John and Lady Frost lived at their country estate, Thibet Park on the Kei River. They also had a house 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 ...

, Eastbrooke House in Rondebosch. They had three daughters and five sons.

Political career

In 1874 he was elected a member of the

House of Assembly House of Assembly is a name given to the legislature or lower house of a bicameral parliament. In some countries this may be at a subnational level. Historically, in British Crown colonies as the colony gained more internal responsible governme ...

, representing the Queenstown district for nearly 40 years in total. In politics he was a pro-imperialist, associated with Sir

Gordon Sprigg Sir John Gordon Sprigg, (27 April 1830 – 4 February 1913) was an English-born colonial administrator, politician and four-time prime minister of the Cape Colony. Early life Sprigg was born in Ipswich, England, into a strongly Puritan fami ...

, in whose cabinet he served without portfolio. He was a

Cabinet Minister A minister is a politician who heads a ministry, making and implementing decisions on policies in conjunction with the other ministers. In some jurisdictions the head of government is also a minister and is designated the ‘prime minister’, � ...

as Secretary for Native Affairs in 1893 in the ministry of

Cecil John 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 Brit ...

and later Secretary for Agriculture. During the

Anglo-Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the Sout ...

he was an advisor of the ill-fated

Sir Redvers Buller General Sir Redvers Henry Buller, (7 December 1839 – 2 June 1908) was a British Army officer and a recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forc ...

. He was knighted as a KCMG in 1904.

References

* ''Dictionary of South African Biography'' 1828 births 1918 deaths Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George British emigrants to the Cape Colony Members of the House of Assembly of the Cape Colony {{EasternCape-politician-stub