The following lists events that happened during 1857 in South Africa.
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Incumbents
edit- 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.[3]
- President of the Executive Council of the South African Republic: Marthinus Wessel Pretorius (from 6 January).[4]
Events
editJanuary
- 6 – Marthinus Wessel Pretorius becomes the first President of the Executive Council of the South African Republic (Zuid Afrikaansche Republiek).[4]
June
- 29 – Act no. 10 of 29 June 1857 grants the Cape Town Railway and Dock Company approval to construct a 57-mile long (92-kilometre) railway between Cape Town and Wellington.[5]
Unknown date
- Robert Moffat completes Old Testament Bible translation into Setswana.
- About 157 Irish women arrive on the ship Lady Kennaway and settle in British Kaffraria.
- The first Legislative Council is selected in the Natal Colony.
- The Union Steam Ship Company wins the first mail contract for regular mail service between Great Britain and South Africa.
- The Cape Point Lighthouse at Cape Point is built.
- Building of the Roman Rock Lighthouse at the entrance to Simon's Town starts and only completed in 1861.
Births
edit- 2 October – Martinus Theunis Steyn, lawyer, politician and statesman, last president of the independent Orange Free State. (d. 1916)
Deaths
edit- 15 December – Anna Maria Truter, Cape Colony botanical artist and wife of Sir John Barrow, 1st Baronet. (b. 1777)
References
edit- ^ "Sir George Grey (1812–1898)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. Retrieved 12 September 2024.
- ^ "Botswana". www.worldstatesmen.org. Retrieved 12 September 2024.
- ^ "Orange Free State: Heads of State: 1854-1902". Archontology. Retrieved 12 September 2024.
- ^ a b "South African Republic: Heads of State: 1857-1877". Archontology. Retrieved 12 September 2024.
- ^ Espitalier, T.J.; Day, W.A.J. (1943). The Locomotive in South Africa - A Brief History of Railway Development. Chapter I - The Period of the 4 ft. 8½ in. Gauge. South African Railways and Harbours Magazine, June 1943. pp. 437-440.