MERRIMAN, JOHN X.

born March 15, 1841, Street, Somerset, Eng. died Aug. 1, 1926, near Stellenbosch, Union of South Africa in full John Xavier Merriman statesman who served South Africa as prime minister from 1908 to 1910. In 1849 Merriman moved with his family to Cape Colony. He was educated at the diocesan college, Rondebosch, and at Radley College, England. He returned to the Cape in 1861, engaged in land surveying, and became a dealer in diamonds and a wine merchant. Merriman's chief interest, however, was politics. He served as a member of the Cape House of Assembly from 1869 to 1910. An outspoken opponent of confederation, he served in two Cape ministries (187578 and 188184) and tried in vain to persuade the British government to proclaim a protectorate over South West Africa (Namibia). Advocating Anglo-Boer cooperation, Merriman held a post in the cabinet of his close friend Cecil Rhodes from 1890 to 1893; but after the abortive Jameson Raid (Dec. 29, 1895) into the Transvaal, he broke with Rhodes and became a vigorous opponent of the mining interests and British imperialism. Joining the William Schreiner ministry in 1898, he worked unsuccessfully to avert the South African War (18991902), resigning in 1900 over his government's harsh treatment of Cape rebels. As a spokesman for the anti-imperialist English-speaking population with pro-Afrikaner sentiments, Merriman became the natural leader of the South African Party, which was founded in 1903. Becoming prime minister in February 1908, he undertook the twofold mission of restoring the colony's postwar finances and promoting a unitary constitution for South Africa. He was a member of the delegation that took the Union Bill to London in 1909. Passed over for the premiership in the new Union of South Africa, a disappointed Merriman rejected Louis Botha's offer to join his cabinet. As a private member of the Union Parliament, he supported the governments of Botha and Jan Smuts until he retired in 1924.