Governor of Cape Colony

This article lists the governors of British South Africa.

Map of the Cape Colony (orange) within South Africa (yellow).

Governors

Flag of the governor of the Cape Colony (1876–1910).

Tenure	Portrait	Incumbent	Notes
Governors
5 May 1797 to 20 November 1798		George Macartney, 1st Earl Macartney	Known for the 1793 Macartney Embassy to China
20 November 1798 to 9 December 1799		Francis Dundas	1st time, acting
10 December 1799 to 20 April 1801		Sir George Yonge, 5th Baronet
21 April 1801 to 20 February 1803		Francis Dundas	2nd time, acting
Commissioner-general
21 February 1803 to 25 September 1804		Jacob Abraham de Mist	Represented the Batavian Republic
Governors
1 March 1803 to 18 January 1806		Jan Willem Janssens	Represented the Batavian Republic
10 January 1806 to 17 January 1807		Sir David Baird, 1st Baronet	Military governor, acting
17 January 1807 to 21 May 1807		Henry George Grey	1st time, acting
22 May 1807 to 4 July 1811		Du Pre Alexander, 2nd Earl of Caledon
5 July 1811 to 5 September 1811		Henry George Grey	2nd time, acting
6 September 1811 to 6 April 1814		John Cradock, 1st Baron Howden
18 October 1813 to 7 January 1814		Robert Meade	Acting for Cradock; son of Theodosia, Countess of Clanwilliam
6 April 1814 to 5 March 1826		Lord Charles Somerset
13 January 1820 to 30 November 1821		Sir Rufane Shaw Donkin	Acting for Somerset
5 March 1826 to 9 September 1828		Richard Bourke	Acting
9 September 1828 to 10 August 1833		Sir Galbraith Lowry Cole
10 August 1833 to 16 January 1834		Thomas Francis Wade	Acting (for D'Urban from 10 January 1834)
10 January 1834 to 20 January 1838		Sir Benjamin D'Urban
22 January 1838 to 18 March 1844		Sir George Thomas Napier
18 March 1844 to 27 January 1847		Sir Peregrine Maitland
Governors and High Commissioners for Southern Africa
27 January 1847 to 1 December 1847		Sir Henry Pottinger
1 December 1847 to 31 March 1852		Sir Harry Smith, 1st Baronet
31 March 1852 to 26 May 1854		George Cathcart
26 May 1854 to 5 December 1854		Charles Henry Darling	Acting
5 December 1854 to 15 August 1861		Sir George Grey
20 August 1859 to 4 July 1860		Robert Wynyard	1st time, acting for Grey
15 August 1861 to 15 January 1862			2nd time, acting
15 January 1862 to 20 May 1870		Sir Philip Wodehouse
20 May 1870 to 31 December 1870		Charles Craufurd Hay	Acting
31 December 1870 to 31 March 1877		Sir Henry Barkly
31 March 1877 to 15 September 1880		Sir Henry Bartle Frere	Known for initiating the Anglo-Zulu War and the First Boer War
15 September 1880 to 27 September 1880		Henry Hugh Clifford	Acting
27 September 1880 to 22 January 1881		Sir George Strahan	Acting
22 January 1881 to 1 May 1889		Sir Hercules Robinson	1st time
30 April 1881 to August 1881		Sir Leicester Smyth	1st time, acting for Robinson
25 April 1883 to 26 March 1884			2nd time, acting for Robinson
7 April 1886 to 7 July 1886		Sir Henry Torrens	Acting for Robinson
1 May 1889 to 13 December 1889		Henry Augustus Smyth	Acting
13 December 1889 to 30 May 1895		Henry Loch, 1st Baron Loch
14 January 1891 to 1 December 1892		Sir William Gordon Cameron	1st time, acting for Loch
May 1894 to July 1894			2nd time, acting for Loch
30 May 1895 to 21 April 1897		Sir Hercules Robinson	2nd time; from 10 August 1896, Hercules Robinson, Baron Rosmead
21 April 1897 to 5 May 1897		Sir William Howley Goodenough	Acting
5 May 1897 to 6 March 1901		Alfred Milner, 1st Viscount Milner
2 November 1898 to 14 February 1899		Sir William Butler	Acting for Milner
6 March 1901 to 31 May 1910		Sir Walter Hely-Hutchinson
17 June 1909 to 21 September 1909		Sir Henry Scobell	Acting for Hely-Hutchinson

Prime Ministers

Tenure	Portrait	Incumbent	Party	Notes
1 December 1872 to 5 February 1878		John Charles Molteno	n-p
6 February 1878 to 8 May 1881		John Gordon Sprigg	n-p	1st time
9 May 1881 to 12 May 1884		Thomas Charles Scanlen	n-p
13 May 1884 to 24 November 1886		Thomas Upington	n-p
25 November 1886 to 16 July 1890		Sir John Gordon Sprigg	n-p	2nd time
17 July 1890 to 12 January 1896		Cecil Rhodes	n-p	Resigned in the aftermath of the Jameson Raid
13 January 1896 to 13 October 1898		Sir John Gordon Sprigg	n-p	3rd time
13 October 1898 to 17 June 1900		William Schreiner	n-p
18 June 1900 to 21 February 1904		Sir John Gordon Sprigg	PP	4th time
22 February 1904 to 2 February 1908		Leander Starr Jameson	PP	Leader of the Jameson Raid
3 February 1908 to 31 May 1910		John X. Merriman	SAP