Colin Graham Botha (born

Knysna Knysna () is a town with 76,150 inhabitants (2019 mid-year estimates) in the Western Cape province of South Africa. and is one of the destinations on the loosely defined Garden Route tourist route. It lies at 34° 2' 6.3168'' S and 23° 2' 47. ...

15 August 1883; died

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...

1 February 1973) was a South African civil servant, historian, archivist, heraldist, soldier and South African Freemason.

Soldier

He served in home defence units in 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 ...

(1899-1902) and

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

(1914-18). After the world war, he was an officer in the

Duke of Edinburgh's Own Rifles The Chief Langalibalele Rifles (formerly known as the Cape Town Rifles and Duke of Edinburgh's Own Rifles) is a reserve infantry regiment of the South African Army. History Origin The Regiment was founded on 28 November 1855, as the Cape Rifle ...

, and commanded the regiment, with the rank of lieutenant-colonel, from 1935 to 1937. He was awarded the

Colonial Auxiliary Forces Officers' Decoration The Colonial Auxiliary Forces Officers' Decoration, post-nominal letters VD, was established in 1899 as recognition for long and meritorious service as a part-time commissioned officer in any of the organized military forces of the British Colo ...

for long service.Orpen, N. (1985). ''The Dukes''.

Historian and archivist

Botha joined the Cape Colony's civil service in a temporary capacity in 1901, and was appointed to the permanent staff in 1903. Kilpin, E. (Ed) (1910). ''Cape of Good Hope Civil Service List 1910''. He worked in the office of the Master of the Supreme Court, and passed the Civil Service Law Examination in 1904. He also worked part-time in the Colonial Archives, and moved there permanently in 1912. He was head of the Cape Archives Depot from 1912 until 1944. He was also the first Chief Archivist of South Africa from 1919 to 1944. As such, he drafted the Public Archives Act 1922, for which he has been called "the father of the South African archives".''Dictionary of South African Biography'' Volume 5. Botha published numerous books and articles on South African historical subjects. They include ''The French Refugees'' (1919), ''Social Life in Cape Colony in the Eighteenth Century'' (1926) and ''Our South Africa, Past and Present'' (1938). His writings were re-published in 1962 as ''The Collected Works of C. Graham Botha'', in three volumes. He was a member of the Historical Monuments Commission, the

Suid-Afrikaanse Akademie vir Wetenskap en Kuns The Suid-Afrikaanse Akademie vir Wetenskap en Kuns (SAAWK) (literally ''South African Academy for Science and Arts'') is a multidisciplinary organization dedicated to promoting science, technology and the arts in Afrikaans, as well as promoting ...

, and various historical and literary societies in the United Kingdom, the United States of America, and the Netherlands. Botha received three honorary degrees : Master of Arts from

University of South Africa The University of South Africa (UNISA), known colloquially as Unisa, is the largest university system in South Africa by enrollment. It attracts a third of all higher education students in South Africa. Through various colleges and affiliates, U ...

in 1936, and doctorates from the

University of Cape Town The University of Cape Town (UCT) ( af, Universiteit van Kaapstad, xh, Yunibesithi ya yaseKapa) is a public research university in Cape Town, South Africa. Established in 1829 as the South African College, it was granted full university statu ...

in 1943 and the

University of the Witwatersrand The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (), is a multi-campus South African Public university, public research university situated in the northern areas of central Johannesburg. It is more commonly known as Wits University or Wits ( o ...

in 1952.

Heraldist

Botha was interested in heraldry, and dealt with many heraldic enquries at the Archives. He designed some coats of arms, including those of

Paarl Paarl (; Afrikaans: ; derived from ''Parel'', meaning "pearl" in Dutch) is a town with 112,045 inhabitants in the Western Cape province of South Africa. It is the third-oldest city and European settlement in the Republic of South Africa (after ...

(1951). He was a founding member of the

Heraldry Society of Southern Africa The Heraldry Society of Southern Africa (HSSA) was founded in Cape Town on 27 August 1953. It has not been active since 2007, but as it has not been wound up it is, in effect, in suspense. Activities The HSSA's main activity was regular meetings a ...

, its first chairman from 1953 to 1954, and its honorary life president from 1954 to 1973. Laing, R.A. (1999). 'South African heraldic writers of the 20th century : enthusiastic amateurs' i
''South African Journal of Cultural History'' Vol 13 No 2.
/ref>

Freemason

He was an active freemason for many years, and was the first Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of South Africa after it separated from the Netherlandic order in 1961.

Personal life

He was born to Michael Christiaan Botha and Elizabeth Mary Young. He married three times. He was married to Olive Stretch Honeyborne, Dorothea Johnson, and Kathleen Helen Gordon Bartlett.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Botha, Colin Graham South African heraldists White South African people 1883 births 1973 deaths South African Freemasons Presidents of the Southern Africa Association for the Advancement of Science