1862 in South Africa

← 1861 1860 1859 1862 in South Africa → 1863 1864 1865
Decades:	1840s 1850s 1860s 1870s 1880s
See also:	List of years in South Africa

The following lists events that happened during 1862 in South Africa.

Incumbents

• Governor of the Cape of Good Hope and High Commissioner for Southern Africa:
  • Sir Robert Wynyard (acting until 14 January).
  • Sir Philip Wodehouse (from 15 January).
• Lieutenant-governor of the Colony of Natal: John Scott.
• State President of the Orange Free State: Marthinus Wessel Pretorius.[1]
• President of the Executive Council of the South African Republic:
  • Stephanus Schoeman (acting until 17 April).[2]
  • Willem Cornelis Janse van Rensburg (acting from 18 April).[2]

Events

January

• 15 – Sir Philip Wodehouse becomes Governor of the Cape of Good Hope and High Commissioner for Southern Africa.

April

• 18 – W. C. Janse van Rensburg becomes acting President of the Executive Council of the South African Republic.[2]

October

• 2 – A breakwater construction locomotive for Table Bay Harbour arrives on the ship Navarino.[3]
• 9 – The Transvaal Civil War breaks out following Stephanus Schoeman's unconstitutional ousting of the acting President of the Executive Council of the South African Republic on 6 December 1860.[4]

Unknown date

• Standard Bank of British South Africa Limited is established in London.

Railways

Railway lines opened

• 1 May – Cape Western – Cape Town to Stellenbosch, 30 miles (48.3 kilometres).[5]

Locomotives

• The Table Bay Harbour Board acquires a single broad-gauge locomotive, builder or appearance unknown, for excavation and breakwater construction work.[3]

Births

• 24 July - Percy FitzPatrick, author, politician, mining financier and fruit industry pioneer. (d. 1931)
• 27 September – Louis Botha, Boer general and politician. (d. 1919)

References

1. Archontology.org: A Guide for Study of Historical Offices, Orange Free State: Heads of State: 1854-1902 (Accessed on 14 April 2017)
2. Archontology.org: A Guide for Study of Historical Offices, South African Republic (Transvaal): Heads of State: 1857-1877 (Accessed on 14 April 2017)
3. Table Bay Harbour construction locomotives
4. Stormvoël van die Noorde by O JO Ferreira; Jan Viljoen – 'n Transvaalse Wesgrenspionier (unpublished MA dissertation); documents and notes from the Jack Seale collection.
5. Statement Showing, in Chronological Order, the Date of Opening and the Mileage of Each Section of Railway, Statement No. 19, p. 181, ref. no. 200954-13