 Birth Notes:
Date confirmed in Photo of Beaumont/James Family Tree in RAB's [2] possession
See https://www.familysearch.org/s/recordDetails/show?uri=http%3A%2F%2Fpilot.familysearch.org%2Frecords%2Ftrk%3A%2Ffsrs%2Frr_676126733%2Fp1&hash=HloWXpZgU9zB10k5M56iYku8TUc%253D
And
Name: Beaumont, William Henry
Title: The Honourable Sir
Date Of Birth: 24 February 1851
Place Of Birth: India
Father Name: Beaumont, W.
Title Of Father: Lieutenant-Colonel
Surname Of Spouse: Miller
First Name Of Spouse: Alice
Date Of Marriage: 28 June 1876
Surname Of Father Spouse: Miller
First Name Of Father Spouse: John
Title Of Father Spouse: Honourable
Source: Who's Who 1919 - 20
Collection Name: 1919 Who's Who
Christening Notes:
See
https://www.familysearch.org/s/recordDetails/show?uri=http%3A%2F%2Fpilot.familysearch.org%2Frecords%2Ftrk%3A%2Ffsrs%2Frr_676126733%2Fp1&hash=HloWXpZgU9zB10k5M56iYku8TUc%253D
Death Notes:
Death date from Beaumont History notes provided to R. Beaumont [2] by Jeanette Ruth Long-Innes nee Beauont [21]
And
National Archives of South Africa
DEPOT NAB
SOURCE MSCE
TYPE LEER
VOLUME_NO 0
SYSTEM 01
REFERENCE 15223/1930
PART 1
DESCRIPTION BEAUMONT, WILLIAM HENRY. (S/S ALICE, BORN MILLAR).
STARTING 1930
ENDING 1959
And
Copy of his wife, Lady Alice Beaumont's, death notice dated 28 April 1945 in RAB's possesion. It records his death on 9 Jan 1930.
Sources of information or noted events in his life were:
Web Based Info. http://trees.ancestry.co.uk/tree/26257351/person/1809134744?ssrc=
And
http://ancestry24.com/search-item/?id=C2147644418
Came to Colony October 1871. 4 children
And
http://ancestry24.com/search-item/?id=C2148843795
General Comment. William Henry Beaumont is person # 54/78 on the Photo of Beaumont/James Family Tree in RAB's [2] Possession
General Comment. Note J in Photo of Beaumont/James Family Tree in RAB's [2] Possession records :- "(William Henry Beaumont as) Sometime Lieutenant 75th Reg. of Foot. Afterwards in the Colonial Office at Pietermaritzburg, (South Africa). m. 28.6.76 to Alice (Millar) 2nd d. of John Millar Esq. of Durban Natal & had issue. Baron Wm Richard born 10.6.1877, Alice Ellen Martha born 8.2.81 (could be 86), Rolland born 8.2.84 and Reginalsd Grey born 20.12.1888
General Comment. BEAUMONT, Hon. William Henry, of 10, Burgher St., Maritzburg, Natal, and the Victoria Club, Maritzburg, was born in India, Feb. 24, 1851 ; is the son of the late Lieut. -Col. W. Beamnont, of the 23rd Madras Light Infantry ; was educated at Sherborne and Sandhurst, and joined the 75th (Stirlingshire) Regt. as Ensign in Aug. 1870 ; Lieut. 1870, and retired in Aug. 1875.
He became Private Secy, to Lieut. - Governor Sir Benjamin Pine, and Clerk to the Executive Council of Natal in 1873 ; acting R.M. Umlazi Divn., 1874 ; Governor's Clerk and Clerk to the Executive Council, Oct., 1875 ; Magistrate, 1878 ; Acting Puisne Judge of the Supreme Court for various periods from Feb. 1895, to Oct. 1902 ; Judge of the Special Treason Court, Oct. 1901 ; and received his present appointment as Puisne Judge of the Supreme Court of Natal, Nov. 1, 1902. I Judge Beaumont served on the Langali- balele Expedition, 1873 ; was Colonial Com- mandant of No. 1 District, Natal, at the com- mencement of the Zulu War, Jan. 1879, when he raised native levies for the defence of the border, and a troop of mounted natives called the " Newcastle Scouts " (medal). He also served as Commandant of the Pietermaritzburg Town Guard during the late Boer War.
He has always been an enthusiastic sportsman, and has during the last few years been Capt. of the Maritzburg Golf Club. He was married, 1876, to Alice, dau. of the late Hon. John Millar, M.L.C., of Durban.
http://www.archive.org/stream/angloafricanwhos00will/angloafricanwhos00will_djvu.txt
And
William Henry Beaumont, first Puisne Judge of the Supreme Court of Natal, was born in 1851. He was the son of Lieutenant-Colonel William Beaumont, of the 23rd Madras Light Infantry, and was early destined for a military career. After a preliminary education at Sherborne College, he went to Sandhurst for special military training, and was gazetted Ensign of the 75th (Stirlingshire) Regimentin 1870, and lieutenant in 1871. Proceeding to Natal, he became private secretary in 1873 to Lieutenant-Colonel T. Miles, administering the Governmentof Natal, and later in the same year was private secretary to the Lieutenant -Governor Sir Benjamin Pine, and clerk to the Executive Council of the Colony. In 1873, also, Lieutenant Beaumont was engaged in the Langalibalele Expidition. In 1875 he resigned from the armyand entered the Civil Service of Natal, and earlyin that year became first clerk in the Colonial Secretary's office, and later the Governor's clerk and clerk to the Executive Council. In 1878 Mr. Beaumont was appointed Magistrate of the Newcastle Division,and continued in the magistracy, with sundry interuptions for more important duties, including several terms as Acting Puisne Judge of the Supreme Court, until his definite appointment to the Bench on April 21, 1902. During this period he acted as Magistrate at Umhlazi, Inanda, Newcastle and Pietermaritzburg, being Resident Magistrate of the city for over five years. During the Zulu War Mr. Beaumontacted a Colonial Commandant of District No. 1, Natal, and also raised native levies forthe defence of the frontier, and a corps of mounted natives known as the "Newcastle Scouts". For his services he received the Zulu War medal. In 1899-1900 Mr. Beaumont was commandant of the combined Rifle Associations of Pietermarizburg during the boer invasion of Natal, and in 1901 was appointed a Special Commissioner of the Special Court for Treason Trials. Mr. Beaumont resides in Pietermaritzburg, where he is a member of the Victoria Club and a patron of athletic associations.
Extracted page 130 of Twentieth Century Impressions of Natal. Copy in RAB's possesion.
And
Names: Beaumont, William Henry
Born: 24 February 1851, India
Died: c. 1930
In summary: Chairman of the Natives Land Commission, member of the, South African National Party and Judge at the Natal Supreme Court.
.
William Henry Beaumont was born in India on 24 February 1851. His father was a Lieutenant Colonel of the 23rd Madras Light Infantry. Beaumont attended Sherbourne and Sandhurst Military College and after completing his studies joined the 75th (Stirlingshire) Regiment. He was commissioned to the rank of Ensign in 1870 and promoted to Lieutenant in 1871. Later that year he arrived in Natal with his regiment. In 1873 he served as a private secretary to the Administrator of Natal, Lt. Col. Thomas Milles. That same year Beaumont became the clerk for the Executive Council and also accompanied the Langalibalele expedition. In 1874 William served as acting magistrate for the uMlazi division, as well as sitting in on the Commission to report on the Civil Service in Pietermaritzburg. However, it was not until 1878 that William began his judicial career in earnest serving as magistrate for the Newcastle division.
He left the army in 1875 and briefly went to Ireland before returning to Natal to take up a position as the clerk to the Governor's office and the Executive Council. During the Anglo-Zulu War Beaumont served as District Commandant of the Division of Klip River, and was in charge of an African contingent and a corps of mounted of mounted infantry to defend the border. He was subsequently decorated and thanked for his efforts during the war in January 1879. Around this period he was also leader of the United Rifle Association in Pietermaritzburg.
In 1882 Beaumont was appointed to the Sub-Commission in charge of settling claims for compensation after the war. He conducted an investigation into the Umsinga Magistracy in 1884 and the Stanger Magistracy in 1890. That same year he sat on the board of Magistrate Court Rules, followed by the Board to frame Rules and Regulations for the Inferior Courts in 1894. As a result of his work in justice system Beaumont was added as an Advocate of the Supreme Court in 1894, and two years later (1898) acted as a Puisne Judge. His work particularly in the 1890s spanned to other spheres serving on various boards such as the Board to frame Rules and Regulations for Licensing Board in 1896, the Civil Service Board also in 1896 and the Board of Inquiry into Grievances of Railway Employees three years later in 1909.
During the South African War Beaumont was a leader of the United Rifle Association in Pietermaritzburg and arranged for the training and organisation of 1 000 men for defence and was once again thanked and awarded on 25 June 1900. He was also commended for organising the Pietermaritzburg Reserves under the Militia Act. In 1902 he was appointed as a judge for the Natal Supreme Court. He gave testimony before the South African Native Affairs Commission chaired by Godfrey Lagden (subsequently know as the Lagden Commission) in May 1904. When asked whether the amount of land the Africans had was satisfactory, he replied,' if they began agricultural farming instead of simply subsistence farming it would be.'
William was appointed to hold an inquiry into charges made by the Bishop of Zululand against Royston's Horse in connection with the shooting of five African people in 1906. The Bishop alleged that soldiers under Col. Royston shot and killed five African people in cold blood while Royston claimed those who were shot were prisoners trying to escape and therefore the shooting was justified. The following year in 1907, Beaumont was acted as Administrator of Natal. On 11 February, 1907, he was commended for having organized the Pietermaritzburg Reserves under the Militia Act. William also performed duties as acting chief justice and magistrate of Natal in 1909.
After the formation of the Union of South Africa, Beaumont became part of the Delimitation Commission to delimit the electoral constituencies of the first union parliament. He retired from bench in 1910 but still remained in prominent in public affairs matters and was an ardent supporter of General Botha. When Botha contested the 1910 elections, he had done so without forming a nationwide political party to placate English-speaking South Africans. After winning the elections Botha worked on forming a political party and looked to Natal for support. Beaumont became active in canvassing support for Botha arguing that Botha would be able to close the divide between English and Afrikaans speaking South Africans. He became one of the representatives from Natal to be invited to attend the Congress in Bloemfontein which resulted in the formation of the South African National Party (SANP).
During the Congress in Bloemfontein Beaumont was elected to a Sub-Committee tasked with drafting the South African Nationalist Party's constitution. After the Congress he became chairman of a provisional committee which was established by the party in Natal. In September 1912 he presided over a meeting that resulted in the formation of two branches of the SANP in, one for Pietermaritzburg North and other for Pietermaritzburg South. A few days later he addressed the electorate in the Umvoti Country Division on issues related to the constitution of the party. He also played a major role in the formation of the party in Durban in 1913.
Beaumont was appointed as chairman of the Natives Land Commission (which subsequently became known as the Beaumont Commission) by General Botha. The commission was tasked with finding land and defining boundaries for territorial segregation between black and white people. In March 1916 the Commission submitted its report outlining boundaries and recommending which areas were to be allocated to white people and which ones were to be allocated to black people.
William Beaumont died c.1930.
References
Marleen Flemmer, 'Sir William H Beaumont and the Native Land Commission 1913-1916, A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts in History, University of Natal, Durban, January 1976, p.42-58.
http://www.sahistory.org.za/people/william-henry-beaumont
And
Beaumont, Sir William Henry (*India, 24.2.1851 - + Durban, 9.1.1930), Natal judge, was the son of Lieut.-Col. W. Beaumont of the 23rd Madras Light Infantry. He went to school in Dorset, England, and had his military training at Sandhurst where he became an officer of the 75th Regiment in 1870.
B. came to South Africa with his regiment in 1871 and took part in battles against the Zulus. ln 1873 he became private secretary to Lieut.- Col. T. Miles, Administrator of Natal, and in 1874 to the Lieutenant-Governor, Sir Benjamin Pine.* He was also secretary of the Natal Executive Council.
After a term as acting magistrate of Pinetown in 1874 he left with his regiment for Ireland the next year. He obtained his discharge from the army, entered the British Colonial Service, and returned to Natal to become clerk of the Executive Council. Although he had no legal training he occupied various magisterial posts after this, among others those of first magistrate of Newcastle (1875) and, for five years, magistrate in Pietermaritzburg. When during the Zulu War of 1879 he was commandant of Natal District No. 1, he commandeered Bantu for the corps of the Newcastle Scouts as well as for the defence of the border. He was given a medal for his share in the operations.
When the Transvaal Boers invaded Natal during the First Anglo-Boer War (1880-81), he sent a letter to the Boer forces, in which he requested them to withdraw from Natal "since the colony is a neutral state and has no part in the war". During the Second Anglo-Boer War (1899- 1902) he was commanding officer of the combined rifle clubs of Pietermaritzburg, and in 1901 was appointed commissioner of the special ,court set up to try treason cases. After several temporary judicial appointments he became judge of the Natal supreme court in 1902, in which capacity he also acted as administrator of Natal in 1907.
B. retired on 31.5.1910 and was made a knight. From 1913 to 1916 he was chairman of the important "Beaumont Commission" which, in terms of the Native Land Act of 1913, was to investigate the allocation of further territory to the Bantu. B. had a profound interest in the Bantu people, a policy for whom, he felt, would have to be shaped by South Africa alone, without foreign intervention.
There are portraits of B. in the Natal Law Quarterly of 1905, the Hodson Collection of the Natal supreme court and (infra) Natal W.W., and S.A.W.W. In 1876 he married Alice Millar and had three sons and a daughter. Hi son Rolly and his grandson Chud Langton were both Springbok cricket players. He himself was a tennis enthusiast and a keen angler. V.G. Hiemstra
Twentieth century impressions of natal. Lond., 1906; - S.A.W.W., 1923-1924; - Die Landros, Feb 1968; S.E.S.A. v 2.C.T.,1970
BEAUMONT, William Henry, Judge of the Supreme Court : Zulu War Medal, Queen's Medal, Boer War ; b. 24th Feb., 1831, in India; s. of lieut Col. W. Beaumont, 23rd Madras Light Infantry; m., 28th June, 1876, to Alice, d. of the Hon. Mr. .John Millar M.L.C., Durban; has 4 children. Educ. at Sherborne and Sandhurst. Came to Colony October, 1871 Hobbies : Golf, fishing, sketching. Add., 10, Burger St., Maritzburg. Club : Victoria Club. Maritzburg.
http://www.archive.org/stream/natalwhoswhoani00unkngoog/natalwhoswhoani00unkngoog_djvu.txt
Military Service. He attended Sandhurst where he was awarded the Sword of Honour. In MHB's possession in the USA.
Obituary: Natal Witness 10.1.1930.
General Comment. Rider Haggard:-
Diary of an African Journey
The Return of Rider Haggard
Page 242
Note 4.
The Beaumont Commission (1913-16) or Natives Land Commission which investigated the allocation of further land to the Zulus under the Native Land Act (1913). After studying at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, he was gazetted to the 75th Regiment but retired from the army after taking part in the so- called Langalibalele rebellion. Thereafter he became private secretary to the Lieutenant-Governor of Natal, Benjamin Pine, and also served on the staff of Pine's successor, Sir Henry Bulwer, which is how he first met Haggard in 1875. The two became friends and Beaumont borrowed Haggard's frock coat for his wedding to Alice Millar in 1876. Beaumont was appointed Resident Magistrate of Newcastle in February 1878. During the Anglo-Zulu War he was appointed Acting Commandant of Colonial Defensive District No. 1 in Natal. In January 1879 he raised African levies for the defence of the border and a troop of mounted black levies called the Newcastle Scouts, for which he received the Zulu War medal. He was later Acting Chief Justice and Administrator of Natal. 'With the passing of Sir William Beaumont, Natal and the Union is all the poorer as the ex-soldier and judge was associated with a group of early colonists who cleared a wilderness and made history, obituary, the Natal Witness, 10 January 1930.
And
Transcript of a letter from HRH (Rider Haggard) to his Mother circa June l876 Govt House.
My Dearest Mother.
Many thanks for your last letter dated 20th May and all your home news. Thanks also for the newspapers which I have lately received. Since I last wrote to you I have been down to Durban to a wedding of which I enclose an account cut out of a newspaper. It was very good fun seeing Beaumont spliced. He was very nervous as men generally seem to be though he didn't show it much. What he confessed was trying, was standing for about a quarter of an hour at the altar waiting for his bride, with his courage like Bob Acre's literally oozing out at his fingers ends. The best of it was that he was married in my coat. The garment that was sent out from England was more suitable to a funeral than a wedding, but luckily the frock coat I got from Jones' and which I had only worn three or four times was the exact thing and fitted him like a glove. It is rather ludicrous to see a man married in one's best frock coat. After the marriage we went to breakfast, which was very festive, except that it was rather trying after having been told there would be no speeches to be suddenly requested to return thanks for the bridesmaids which is not an easy speech to make. However I managed to rise to the emergency and got through with flying colours. I stopped three days in Durban and enjoyed the change very much, as it was the first holiday I have had, with the exception of the week when I was sick.
General Comment. The original sketch map described in this document is in RAB's possession.
NATAL, LAW QUARTERLY.
THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE BEAUMONT.
Mr. BEAUMONT was born in India in 1851 (his father being Lt.-Colonel W. Beaumont of the 23rd Madras Light Infantry), where_he remained till eleven years of age. He then went to School at Sherborne in Dorsetshire. In 1869 he entered Sandhurst and obtained his commission as an Ensign in the 75th (Stirlingshire) Regiment (now, the 1st Battalion Gordon Highlanders) in 1870. He joined his regiment at Singapore and came to South Africa in 1871. Mr. Keate was at this time Lt.-Governor of Natal, but he being shortly afterwards recalled, Colonel Milles was appointed Administrator and made Mr. Beaumont his Private Secretary; subsequently he took part in the expedition against the Native tribes under the chiefs Langalibaleli and Putiti in 1873.
In 1874 Mr. Beaumont was appointed. Acting Magistrate of the Umlazi Division, which had just been created, Pinetown being the seat of the Magistracy.
In December, 1874, he rejoined his regiment and accompanied it to Ireland.
In the meantime, Mr. Beaumont had been offered the post of First Clerk in the Colonial Secretary's office, and, on the appointment being confirmed by the Secretary of State on the recommendation of Sir Garnet Wolseley who had succeeded Sir Benjamin Pine, sent in his papers and retired from the Army in 1875.
Mr. Beaumont travelled back to Natal in the same steamer as Sir Henry Bulwer, the new Governor, and had Mr. Rider Haggard as his cabin companion.
Soon after arriving in Natal Mr. Beaumont was appointed Governor's and Clerk to the Executive Council, taking the place of Mr. W.B. Morcom who was transferred to the office of the Attorney-General. This was in October, 1875, and from this date Mr. Morcom commenced his legal career in which he has been so eminently successful.
In 1876 Mr. Beaumont married the daughter of the Hon. John Millar, M.L.C., of Durban.
In 1877 trouble began to brew in Zululand, and Mr. Beaumont's military training led to him being appointed to the Magistracy of Newcastle, which in those days extended from Charlestown almost to Helpmekaar. In 1879 followed the Zulu War, and Mr. Beaumont held the post of District Commandant of the Divisions of Newcastle, Klip River and Umsinga until after Isandhlwana. He raised three large Native contingents, who were employed in defending the border along the Buffalo River; he also raised and trained a corps of Mounted Natives who went by the name of "The Newcastle Scouts," and did excellent service. He also compiled a military sketch-map of the previously unsurveyed district of Umsinga. For his services Mr. Beaumont received the Zulu War Medal.
In 1881 came the first Boer War and Mr. Beaumont had a great deal of hard and responsible work in his Magistracy, by enrolled the townsmen into a local defence force and erecting small forts to guard the town.
He was also commissioned by Sir Evelyn Wood to meet President Brand of the Free State and conduct him to Newcastle to take part in the peace negotiations.
After the war, he was appointed a member of the Board to assess compensation claims.
In 1887 he was transferred to the Inanda Division, and subsequently became a member of the Board appointed to draft the Magistrate Court Rules which are now in force.
From January, 1895, to January, 1896, he acted as a Judge of the Supreme Court in the place of Mr. Justice Turnbull who was on leave.
In 1896 he became Magistrate of the City Division of Maritzburg, succeeding Mr. C. Barter.
On two subsequent occasions he acted as a Judge of the Supreme Court, and for a time he was one of the Judges for the Special Court for Treason Trials.
During the late Boer War Mr. Beaumont commanded the combined Rifle Associations in Maritzburg (about 11,000 men); he also received the medal for the Boer War.
In 1902 Mr. Beaumont was appointed 2nd Puisne Judge of the Supreme Court, and on Mr. Justice Finnemore's retirement last year he became 1st Puisne Judge.
It will thus be seen that Mr. Beaumont's career is intimately bound up with the history of Natal, and that he has rendered the country yeoman service.
The fact that without having had any early training in the study of the law Mr. Beaumont has achieved the lofty position which he has always filled and continues to fill with such eminent success, is a marked tribute to his ability.
He himself modestly attributes his success to his conscientious attention to duty, but his sterling integrity, clear common sense and logical mind have, we think, in no small degree earned him his well-merited position.
It may not be generally known that Mr. Beaumont has always been an ardent lover of sports, though advancing years and the many claims of his office prevent him from devoting much time to such relaxations.
In conclusion, we may say that Mr. Beaumont is a typical true-hearted, upright gentleman, who has deservedly won the esteem and affection of all who know him, whether members of the Bar or of the laity, and we trust that he will long continue to adorn the Bench of Natal.
General Comment. Copy of his son - Baron William Richard Beaumont's Death Notice # 12402/1927 Filed on 4 Jun 1927 in RAB's possession.
General Comment. Copy of his son - Rolland Beaumont's Death Notice # 1452/1958 Filed on 9 Jun 1958 in RAB's possession.
Hobbies. Sir William Henry BEAUMONT
b. 24 February 1851 (India) d. 9 January 1930 (Durban)l
Amateur artist. Watercolourist.
Married Alice Millar, sister of Harold Millar (qv).l
Father of B.W.R. Beaumont (qv).
Came to South Africa for the firs t time in 1871 with his
regiment. 1
1874/5: Appointed Magistrate, Pine town. Later became Judge
of the Supreme Court and Administr ator of Natal. 2
1910: Retired. He was made a knigt ht the same year. 1
1911: Pietermaritzburg Arts and Crafts Committee 3
Exhibitions:
NSA: 1912, 1913, 1917, 19194
References:
1r he Natal Mercury, 10 January 1930 p. 15 (Obituary);
Dictionary of S.A. biography, Vol Ill, p. 54
2J . Verbeek, Natal art before Union, Pietermaritzburg, UN,
1974 p. 5
3The Natal Witness, 27 March 1911
4 s e e Appendix A: NSA Exhibitors
SELECTED WORKS:
[CAPE LANDSCAPE]
nd. ns. w/c
- 262 -
135 x 185mm
Call: Keighley, Pietermaritzburg
DURBAN [PI. 20]
1916. ns. w/c
125 x 175mm
Inscrip: 1916 (br)
Call: Keighley, Pietermaritzburg
GEORGE
1915. s: WHB (mono) George 15 (bl ). w/c
125 x 175mm
Call: Keighley, Pietermaritzburg
ISIPINGO
1915. ns. w/c
110 x 160mm
Inscrip: title 1915 (br)
Call: Robinson, Westville
WITZIES HOEK
1913. ns. w/c
135 x 185mm
Inscrip: title 15/4/13 (bl)
Call: Keighley, Pietermaritzburg
http://researchspace.ukzn.ac.za/xmlui/bitstream/handle/10413/3823/Hillebrand_Melanie_1986_Part2.pdf.txt;jsessionid=4CED1F63B49463E0738429B5F3D2A2D5?sequence=6
General Comment. Copy of his father in law - John Millar's Death Notice dated 22 May 1919 in RAB's possession.
General Comment. Copy of his wife, Lady Alice Beaumont's, death notice dated 28 April 1945 in RAB's possesion.
General Comment. 5 Ruth Dickinson records him as Uncle Hall.
Children. 5 Ruth Dickinson records there were 4 children.
General Comment. SIR WILLIAM H. BEAUMONT
The Natives Land Act of 1913 had specified the appointment of a Commission to determine the areas of the Union which should be reserved for white, and those areas which should be reserved for black, ownership. The Act also stipulated that the Commission should consist of not less than 5 persons, and that it was to submit its report within two years.
When the Commission was appointed, Sir William H. Beaumont was chosen as its chairman. His legal training, combined with his long experience of native affairs, qualified him for the post.
Not much is known of Beaumont's early career. The son of a Lieutenant Colonel of the 23rd Madras Light Infantry, he was born in India on February 24, 1851. He was educated at Sherbourne and Sandhurst Military College, where he passed out second in his class. He evidently intended following his father's career and joined the 75th (Stirlingshire) Regiment, being commissioned to the rank of Ensign in 1870 and Lieutenant in 1871. In the same year he came to Natal with his regiment and in 1873 he became private secretary to the Administrator of Natal, Lt.-Col. T. Milles and continued in this post after the appointment of Sir Benjamin Pine as Lt. Governor. Later in that year he became clerk of the Executive Council. He accompanied the Langalibalele expedition in 1873, but left the Army in 1875, after a brief period in Ireland. He returned to Natal to take up the position of clerk to the Governor's office, coupled with that of clerk to the Executive Council.
During the Zulu War Beaumont was District Commandant of the Division of Klip River. He became aware of the planned attack on Chelmsford's men at Isandlwana, and sent
a message of warning to him. It is not known whether Chelmsford received this message. Beaumont raised three native contingents and a corps of mounted infantry for the defence of the border. He was decorated for his contributions and thanked by the Lt. Governor and the Assembly in January 1879.
During the Anglo-Boer War, Beaumont was leader of the United Rifle Association in Pietermaritzburg. He organized and trained 1,000 men for defence and was again thanked by the government on the 25th June 1900, for his contribution to the war effort. Similarly, on the 11 February, 1907, he was commended for having organized the Pietermaritzburg Reserves under the Militia Act.
Although Beaumont acted briefly as magistrate for the Umlazi division towards the end of 1874, his judicial career effectively began with his appointment as Magistrate of the Newcastle division in 1878. During the First Anglo-Boer War he was instructed by the Colonial office to warn Commandant General Piet Joubert that he was encroaching on Natal soil. However, Beaumont exceeded these instructions by telling Joubert that .'the quarrel of the Transvaal Boers is with the Imperial Government, and that the Natal Government has from the beginning wished, and believed also that the Transvaal Boers wished, that the Government and people of Natal should have nothing to do with the quarrel, and should hold a neutral position'. He was reprimanded by the Governor and instructed to tell Joubert that this paragraph has been 'cancelled'.
In 1894 Beaumont was admitted as an Advocate of the Supreme Court, and in 1898 he acted as a Puisne Judge of the Supreme Court. In 1902 he was appointed a judge of the Natal Supreme Court. For a brief spell between the departure of Governor Sir Henry McCallum in June 1907, and the arrival of Sir Mathew Nathan in September 1907, he held office as Administrator. He also acted as chief magistrate, and chief justice of Natal in 1909.
Throughout his career Beaumont was very active on government committees of inquiry. In February 1874 he sat on the Commission to report on the chief offices (Civil Service) in Pietermaritzburg. In 1882 he was one of the members of a sub-Commission appointed to settle claims for compensation after the war. He conducted investigations into the Umsinga Magistracy in 1884 and the Stanger Magistracy in 1890 and he sat on the Board for the revision of Magistrates Court Rules in 1890. Other Boards on which he sat included the Board to frame Rules and Regulations for the Inferior Courts (1894); Board to frame Rules and Regulations for Licensing Board (1896); Civil Service Board (1896) and the Board of Inquiry into Grievances of Railway Employees (1909).
NATAL RAILWAY BOARD OF INQUIRY
The Board were appointed to inquire into the grievances alleged by the railwaymen in connection with the recent strike, and their report is expected immediately.
The names are, from left to right: Mr. Edwin Smith, Mr. Thos. Boydell, Sir Benjamin Greenacre. J. P., I.ieut.-Col. G. Leuchars C.M.G., D.S.O., Hon. Mr. Justice Beaumont (Chairman), Mr. G. B. Laffan, M.I.C.E., Capt. B. H. 0. Armstrong, R.E., and the Secretaries, Mr. Wm. May and Mr. Alex. Pettigrew.
In 1906 he was appointed to hold an inquiry into 'charges made by the Bishop of Zululand against Royston's Horse in connection with the shooting of certain 5 natives'.
The Bishop alleged that soldiers under Col. Royston had shot 5 natives in cold blood, while Royston claimed that they were prisoners who were shot while trying to excape.
In 1909 Beaumont served on a delimitation commission to delimit the electoral constituencies for the first Union parliament.
After his retirement from the Bench in 1910, Beaumont remained interested in public matters and soon emerged as one of Natal's more prominent supporters of General Botha with whom it was later said, he had formed a 'fast and enduring friendship... shortly after the Peace of Vereeninging'. This association assumed particular importance in the immediate post-Union period. Botha had fought the 1910 election without forming a Union-wide political party. He had done this primarily to placate English-speaking South Africans. After his victory in 1910, the formation of a new party could no longer be postponed, and this immediately raised the question of English-speaking support. Botha naturally looked to Natal for support.
SIR WILLIAM BEAUMONT
"I have never sought to be elected a member of Parliament, and have no intention of seeking such an honour in the future, for I have no axe to grind. I am in a very happy position for I am an old pensioner, and prefer to go along as I am doing."- Speech at Greytown
In November 1911, motivated no doubt by the forthcoming Bloemfontein Congress, at which the constitution of the South African National Party, which had been drafted earlier in the year, was to be considered, Beaumont wrote to the Natal Mercury urging the electorate to give their support to Botha. The theme of his argument was that Botha's government represented a sincere attempt to 'soften and ameliorate' racial feelings which 'if allowed to grow, must end disastrously for the country'.
This tentative move into the political arena was soon followed by more active participation. He was one of the representatives from Natal who were invited to attend the Congress in Bloemfontein which resulted in the formal creation of the South African National Party.
Beaumont's activities at the Congress received considerable publicity in the Natal newspapers. His speeches were quoted at length, and in all the recurrent theme was the need for a non-racial policy as represented by Botha's party. He also played specifically on the sentiments of Natal: 'I can only say that if General Botha is driven by the Opposition or by the differences of his own party to resign, the Unionists will not get into power, but a party that will be far more racial in its tendencies, and a party that will have far less consideration for the interests of Natal. Natal has no wish to be governed by a party dominated by Cape interests, or by a party led by Capitalists'.
At the Congress Beaumont was elected to a Sub-Committee which was appointed to consider and report upon the draft constitution of the South African National Party. After the Congress he became chairman of a provisional committee which established the party in Natal. In September 1912 he presided at a meeting in Pietermaritzburg which resulted in the formation of two branches of the Party - one for Pietermaritzburg North and one for Pietermaritzburg South. A few days later, the Umvoti Country Division of the South African National Party invited him to address the electors on the constitution of the Party. The following year he was instrumental in the formation of a branch of this party in Durban.
Despite the fact that most Natalians were distrustful of the influence which the Transvaal was exerting, and of Hertzog's anti-Imperialistic sentiments, Beaumont supported the S.A.N.P. because he felt that the predominantly Dutch party was less racially antagonistic than the Opposition, which contained an ultra-English element which was 'forever parading its patriotism and flagwagging'. Essentially though Beaumont felt that the party system was inappropriate in South Africa at that stage as it encouraged division on racial lines. He said that the party system had 'already had the effect of making the racial question the test for parliamentary representation in almost every constituency in the country with the result that the members of the House of Assembly are ranged into two racial camps'.
Beaumont was also in agreement with the education policy of the Botha government. He felt that it was 'not only highly desirable, but wise and proper, that the children of South Africa should become acquainted with both languages'. He also agreed with the provisions for bilingualism in the Civil Service and felt that it was simply prejudice which blinded the ultra-English section to the logic of its implementation. Particularly in the early years of Union, when there was much criticism in Natal of the speeches of Hertzog and his supporters, Beaumont believed that Hertzog was sincere in wanting to conciliate English speaking colonists, and cited Hertzog's willingness to accept the majority report of the Education Committee as evidence of a conciliatory attitude. However, following Hertzog's de Wildt speech and the ensuing rift between Botha and Hertzog, Beaumont came to feel that 'however well-intentioned Mr. Hertzog might be, it is not compatible that he should be a member of the Ministry'.
Beaumont was invited by the Natal Mercury to set out and explain the policies and principles of the S.A.N.P. He conceded that 'neither the policy nor the principles of the South African Party can be claimed to be the exclusive property of that Party, for as a matter of fact they are almost identical with the political programme of the Unionists..' However he felt that there was 'a vast difference between the mere agreement of parties on general principles and their ideas as to the methods by which these principles can best be given effect to'. He felt that the 'essential difference' between the parties was that it was 'the policy of the South African Party .. to proceed slowly and surely, while that of the Unionists is to make undue haste'. Part of the explanation for this difference, he felt, lay in the differences in national temperament between English and Dutch - the one sector 'not satisfied unless we progress at express rate' while the other finds it necessary, sometimes, to mark time while the non-progressive section of their party is being educated up to the mark'.
Beaumont's activities in post-Union party politics also involved him in debate on the other race problem, then over-shadowed by Anglo-Dutch relations. His thoughts on native policy were well known when in 1913, he was appointed to head the Natives Land Commission. In May, 1904 he had testified before the South African Native Affairs Commission, under the chairmanship of Sir Godfrey Lagden. Questioned on whether or not he felt that existing native reserves were adequate, Beaumont expressed the opinion that, if they were utilized more efficiently, they would be. He advocated a more intensive system of agricultural rather than pastoral farming, because far less acreage would then be necessary for the support of the same population. These economic considerations were reinforced by moral disapproval of a system where 'every young Native who goes out and herds cattle, is simply idling, and absolutely getting into the way of leading an idle life; it is being ingrained into him at the very time when that boy ought to be taught that it is good to work and we are losing a valuable amount of labour in consequence'.
With regard to the tribal system, Beaumont said that he favoured its retention, providing that the tribes were 'neither too big not too small'. Tribes should form a convenient administrative unit, under the chief, whose powers should be curbed to the extent that they would no longer be able to 'meddle' in the administration of the tribe.
In the light of the views which Beaumont was later to hold on the delimitation of Natal and Zululand, it is interesting to note that in 1904 he was 'perhaps singular in his opinion that Natal would never be a white man's country'. His argument was that 'if you once recognized the fact that you have your Europeans increasing at a small percentage, and that you have your Natives, on the other hand, protected in every favourable way from everything that used to kill them off in the old days, and that you have them multiplying at an enormous rate - what is going to be the end of it? If you once recognize the fact that this is going to be a black man's country, you need not be afraid of it. I say that if you will only educate these natives and train them to be an agricultural people, you will have the whole country cultivated in time, by these people, and that they will produce ten times the wealth out of the country that they are doing now; and not only that, but you will support 3 or 4 times the white population that would be supported under any other circumstances. This country has to be developed by the black man under European supervision, if it is going to be made anything of at all... One of the principle reasons why you cannot have a white population in Natal ..(is that) " up to the present time you have not discovered any staple article of export. You cannot grow a great quantity of anything, because you are limited to your local market.
With regard to franchise rights for Natives, Beaumont dismissed the idea of any form of parliamentary representation being accorded to the natives. In his own words: 'I hold only one view, and that is I would tell the Natives that there is no hope of their getting the franchise, absolutely none. I would not lead the native to believe that he could hope for that, because I can see it is absolutely impossible... I cannot conceive such conditions in this country - unless you abandon it altogether - under which you could entitle the native to exercise the franchise with any benefit to himself or to anybody else'.
In the same spirit, Beaumont was chary of allowing native opinion to be voiced as he felt it was 'dangerous' and would give them 'the opportunity of combining and concocting and scheming and working together'. Any meetings held to determine Native views 'should have no power to do anything themselves, but should serve merely as a means of the Government arriving at the real opinion of the people'. He felt that Native representation should be by nominated - not elected-men and, that at least one person, be he Secretary for Native Affairs, Permanent Under-Secretary or Prime Minister, should have very wide powers to deal with Native Affairs, and that this person should not be answerable for his actions under the normal conditions prevailing under the party system.
Associated with the franchise question, Beaumont held firm convictions on the question of exempted natives in Natal, and the rights which they should be accorded. He felt that it was much too easy for natives to become exempted, and did not fully approve of these natives exercising the franchise. He felt that they should be subjected to the prohibition laws and that they should continue to fall under the Native Code, rather than that they be accorded equal status with whites in the eyes of the law.
From the evidence of 1904 a picture emerges of Beaumont's unambiguous attitude towards native policy which aimed at civilizing the native to the extent that, if he could not be persuaded to becoming part of the white man's labour force, then at least he should be encouraged to give up the 'lazy life' of the pastoralist and become a small-scale agriculturalist. This 'civilizing process' was aimed solely at changing the native's labour values. Even Missionary activity did not find much favour with Beaumont in 1904. He said that they had not 'done much' and that their efforts towards introducing individual allotments had also not been a success. 'It is not the same thing as putting the matter under the government and under properly paid officers to supervise'.
Beaumont's views on native policy were again made public when he was acting administrator of Natal in 1907, at which time the Natal Native Commission of 1906-1907 presented its report. He then quashed the Commission's proposal that the office of Minister for Native Affairs be abolished and that the Prime Minister should be the political head of the Native Affairs Department. He gave it as his opinion that this measure was not 'practicable'. He felt that the natives would better understand a system whereby a supreme 'chief' exercised control and made decisions, rather than if a vague and impersonal government did so. He said that 'there must be a continuity and uniformity of policy based on definite principle throughout the land, and to ensure that there must be a clearly defined chain of authority from the lowest to the highest'. He made the proposal which was incorporated in the Act of 1909 that the Secretary for Native Affairs, should be chairman, not Secretary for the Council for Native Affairs.
While Beaumont had the necessary training and experience for his appointment to the Natives Land Commission, he also had a pleasant personality and this might have contributed towards the decision to appoint him to the chairmanship of the Commission. Contemporaries and colleagues referred to his 'dignified geniality, friendliness and habitual courtesy', and to his 'unfailing courtesy and tact'. His speeches were described as 'quiet, practical and convincing' and they 'drove home the doctrine of moderation... with the ease of the expert analyst', while the Times of Natal acclaimed him for his 'sincerity, moderation and dignity' and his 'earnestness and forcible logic'. Such considerations aside, it was also not improbable that Botha chose him not only because Beaumont was regarded as a 'reliable' Natalian, but also because he was English-speaking. In this way Botha could hope to answer accusations that the recommendations of the Com-mission were the work of Boer racialists. Naturally the Botha government was anxious to avoid confrontation with the Imperial government on this issue, and hoped at the same time to carry Natal's approval of the Commission's proposals. Beaumont enjoyed considerable prestige in Natal where Botha experienced some difficulty in finding able men, and where the votes of its 8 independent members were of considerable significance to him. These considerations possibly explain why Schalk Burgers, a man who had risen higher as a public figure, was put into a subordinate position on the Commission.
THE OTHER MEMBERS OF THE COMMISSION
The Orange Free State member of the Commission was Sir Cornelius H. Wessels. He had been both a member and chair-man of the Volksraad (1885-1899). He was a member of the first Boer deputation to Europe during the South African War and, after the introduction of responsible government in 1907, was Commissioner of Public Works, Lands and Mines of the Orange River Colony from 1907-1910. He was later to become administrator of the Orange Free State, a position which he held from 1915 to 1924.
His political affiliations are clear from the fact that he was a foundation executive member of the Orange Unie, the party formed by the Dutch ex-Republican leaders in the Orange River Colony during the Crown Colony period. This party came into power in the 1907 election and remained in office until Union, when it merged with the South African National Party.
Wessel's attitude towards native policy differed little from Beaumont's in its essentials, although Wessels tended to express himself more trenchantly when interviewed by the S.A.N.A. Commission. He had a profound disbelief in the natives' ability to behave other than 'as children'. Hence he had an equally strong belief in the desirability of treating them 'as children'. He was totally opposed to granting them any form of representation at all other than that by a white 'appointed by the government to look after the interests of the natives'. He argued that 'you will get the whole of the native vote by giving them Kaffir beer, or any other consideration'.
Wessels did not favour a policy of educating the natives as he felt that it detracted from their value as farm labourers. The only 'religious' training which he favoured for native
was one in which they would be 'educated to understand that work is a part of religion and that they have to work to live honestly'.
As regards separation of the races, in 1904 Wessels had expressed the opinion that they must be kept on 'separate lines'. 'You cannot mix the races; he declared, you cannot mix them in church or in State'.
Surprisingly, Wessels maintained that he had no objection to an educated native buying land in the open market. The whole inference of his evidence was that very few, if any, natives would ever be capable of becoming °educated'. Here of course 'educated' means by European standards, because it would be impossible for a native to be described as educated if 'he stuck to the old customs' because these two things do not go together'.
The most experienced man on the Commission with regard to Native Affairs was Col. W.E.M. Stanford. As the re-presentative of the Cape Province, he was also regarded as being truly representative of the liberal tradition of that province. He was one of the delegates at the National Convention who had endeavoured to obtain franchise rights for natives when he had proposed the motion that 'All subjects of His Majesty resident in South Africa shall be entitled to franchise rights irrespective of race or colour upon such qualifications as may be determined by this convention'. His reputation as a friend of the native was slightly tarnished, though, by his support of the Natives Land Act in the Senate, particularly as this was a contradiction of his earlier opposition to territorial segregation.
Like Beaumont, Stanford had acquired experience in native affairs by serving in various magisterial capacities. He joined the native affairs department of the Cape in 1863 and in 1897 became Superintendent of Native Affairs and served as Secretary for Native Affairs from 1904-1908. He was closely associated with the formulation of the Transkeian Native Policy and with the Glen Grey System, and played an important role in the negotiations with the Pondos, which resulted in the annexation of Pondoland.
As a member of the 1903-1905 South African Natives Affairs Commission, he dissented from the majority viewpoint on two important issues. With Sloley and Dickson he felt that natives were entitled to greater security and fixity of tenure than was envisaged by the Commission in its proposals for extending individual rather than communal occupation of land. On the other issue, namely that of 'restricting to certain areas only the right of the individual native to hold land', Stanford stood alone in defending native rights although the Natal delegates also dissented from the report for reasons of their own. Stanford's reasons for dissenting were varied. In the first instance he felt that 'sufficient cause had not been shown for the curtailment of privileges enjoyed for many years in the British Colonies'. He also felt that the ability of natives to 'acquire vested individual interests in the land was a powerful incentive to loyalty'. He rejected the Commission's argument that, as natives had certain areas reserved exclusively for their use, Europeans should also have exclusively white areas demarcated, In his opinion Europeans were making greater inroads into native territories as missionaries and traders and were also acquiring land in the townships springing up at the seats of magistracies. He did not believe that natives were buying land as freely out-side the reserves. He also opposed the creation of specifically native areas on the grounds that they would be 'selected partly for their unhealthiness and unsuitability for irrigation and cultivation and other kindred reasons'.
These opinions would probably have disqualified Stanford from membership of the Natives Land Commission, but by 1913 he had come to favour territorial segregation. During the Senate debate on the Natives Land Bill he spoke in its favour contending that natives would not be able to hold their own against white resources and capital in the future and that, unless protected, they would disappear as a land-owing class.
Stanford was decorated for distinguished service in the Native Territories and knighted in 1919. He was a Union Senator until 1929.
The best known public figure on the Commission was Gen. Schalk Burger. He had had considerable military experience, having been a Commandant in the Anglo-Boer conflicts of 1880-1881, and 1899-1902. He was elected to the Transvaal Volksraad in 1886 and became its chairman in 1895. In 1896 he became a member of the Executive Council and in 1898 he stood for the presidency of the South African Republic, campaigning against Kruger and Joubert. He was unsuccessful in this election but he became vice-President in the Transvaal after the death of Joubert in 1900. He acted as President after the departure of Kruger for Europe in September 1900, and in this capacity signed the Treaty of Vereeninging.
Burger was vice-chairman of Het Volk in the Transvaal when it was established in 1905. He was returned unopposed as a member of the Legislative Council in the election of 1907. He was a Transvaal delegate to the National Convention and after Union, acted as chairman of the Transvaal branch of the South African National Party. He was elected a Senator in 1913 and died in 1918.
The most obscure member of the Commission was William R. Collins. He was born in Lydenburg, Transvaal and was educated in Pretoria. He became a solicitor. After serving as a Boer commandant during the South African War, he was elected to the first Transvaal parliament under responsible government, in 1907. During the first world war he served with the South African forces. As the result of a bye-election he became a member of parliament for the Ermelo constituency in 1917. In 1939 he became Minister of Agriculture and Forestry in the Smuts Cabinet.
In 1917, when Botha introduced the Natives Administration Bill in parliament, Collins spoke in its favour. His defence of the Bill and its principles is a clear exposition of his native policy. As this is discussed later, mention will only be made here of the fact that he favoured the application of the principle of territorial segregation. In the evidence which he gave before the Select Committee created to consider the Natives Administration Bill, he summed up his native policy. 'If you want any sound native policy, in my opinion you must treat the natives to a very large extent as children today'.
Extracted by RAB from:
SIR WILLIAM H. BEAUMONT AND THE NATIVES LAND COMMISSION, 1913-1916.
Author: Marleen Flemmer
A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of master of arts in history.
University of Natal,
Durban. January, 1976.
<https://researchspace.ukzn.ac.za/xmlui/handle/10413/154>
<http://www.sahistory.org.za/people/william-henry-beaumont>
William married Alice Millar, daughter of Hon. Sir John Millar M. L. C. , J. P. and Ellen Ayres, on 28 Jun 1876 in St. Paul's Church, Durban, Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa. (Alice Millar was born on 1 Jul 1856 in Durban, Natal, South Africa 4 and died on 17 Apr 1945 in Durban, Natal, South Africa 4.)
Sources of information or noted events in their marriage were:
Web Based Info. Copy of marriage cert in RAB's Possession.
Rider Haggard was a witness. (Sir Henry Rider Haggard http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H._Rider_Haggard)
And
https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/KDCL-62F
And
http://ancestry24.com/wp-content/uploads/pages/The%20Family%20Register%20of%20the%20South%20African%20Nation/page_00079.pdf
And
https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-266-11061-148027-52?cc=2063749&wc=M9WM-PRQ:n975503171
And
https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/KDCK-X47
Witnesses:-
Emily Rutherford
E. Kate Wirsing (Elizabeth Kate Wirsing daughter of George Wirsing)
Harry Millar
Rider Haggard
Mary Lyle?
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