1859 in South Africa

← 1858 1857 1856 1859 in South Africa → 1860 1861 1862
Decades:	1830s 1840s 1850s 1860s 1870s
See also:	List of years in South Africa

The following lists events that happened during 1859 in South Africa.

Incumbents

• Governor of the Cape of Good Hope and High Commissioner for Southern Africa: Sir George Grey.[1][2]
• Lieutenant-governor of the Colony of Natal: John Scott.
• State President of the Orange Free State:
  • Jacobus Nicolaas Boshoff (until 5 September).[3]
  • Esaias Reynier Snijman (acting from 6 September).[3]
• President of the Executive Council of the South African Republic: Marthinus Wessel Pretorius.[4]

Events

September

• 6 – Esaias Reynier Snijman becomes the acting State President of the Orange Free State.[3]
• 8 – The first railway locomotive in South Africa is brought ashore in Cape Town.[5]

Births

• 11 January – John Tengo Jabavu, political activist and newspaper editor. (d. 1921)
• 1 May – Willem Johannes Leyds, attorney-general of the South African Republic. (d. 1940)

Deaths

May

• 31 May – Henry Clifford de Meillon, painter (born c. 1800)[6]

Railways

Cape Town Railway & Dock 0-4-0T

Railway lines

• Construction begins on the Cape Town-Wellington Railway.[7]

Locomotives

• 8 September – A small 0-4-0 tank steam locomotive is landed in Cape Town, to be used during construction of the first railway in South Africa.[5]

References

1. "Sir George Grey (1812–1898)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. Retrieved 23 March 2016.
2. "Botswana". www.worldstatesmen.org. Retrieved 12 September 2024.
3. "Orange Free State: Heads of State: 1854-1902 - Archontology". www.archontology.org. Retrieved 12 September 2024.
4. "South African Republic: Heads of State: 1857-1877 - Archontology". www.archontology.org. Retrieved 12 September 2024.
5. Holland, D.F. (1971). Steam Locomotives of the South African Railways. Vol. 1: 1859–1910 (1st ed.). Newton Abbott, England: David & Charles. pp. 11–15, 18, 23. ISBN 978-0-7153-5382-0.
6. "Caroline Simpson Collection". first.mhnsw.au. Museum of History NSW. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
7. The South African Railways - Historical Survey. Editor George Hart, Publisher Bill Hart, Sponsored by Dorbyl Ltd., Published c. 1978.