Richard Southey (colonial administrator)
Encyclopedia
Sir Richard Southey KCMG (25 April 1808-22 July 1901) was a South African colonial administrator, cabinet minister and landowner.

Southey was the son of 1820 Settlers
1820 Settlers
The 1820 Settlers were several groups or parties of white British colonists settled by the British government and the Cape authorities in the South African Eastern Cape in 1820....

 leader George Southey of Culmstock
Culmstock
thumb|Old stone bridge with pedestrian refuges over River Culm at CulmstockCulmstock is a picturesque parish village in east Devon, about 5 miles from Tiverton and 7 or so miles NE of Cullompton. It is laid out on both sides of the River Culm; the village is joined by a single old narrow stone...

, Devon, and later of Bloemhof Farm, Albany. He voyaged to South Africa with his family aboard the Kennersley Castle in 1820. The family were the cadet branch of a family of Devonshire gentry
Gentry
Gentry denotes "well-born and well-bred people" of high social class, especially in the past....

 and were cousins to Poet Laureate
Poet Laureate
A poet laureate is a poet officially appointed by a government and is often expected to compose poems for state occasions and other government events...

 Robert Southey
Robert Southey
Robert Southey was an English poet of the Romantic school, one of the so-called "Lake Poets", and Poet Laureate for 30 years from 1813 to his death in 1843...

.

Southey began is career in as an officer during the Frontier Wars
Xhosa wars
The Xhosa Wars, also known as the Cape Frontier Wars, were a series of nine wars between the Xhosa people and European settlers, from 1779 to 1879 in what is now the Eastern Cape in South Africa....

 of the Eastern Cape
Eastern Cape
The Eastern Cape is a province of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, but its two largest cities are Port Elizabeth and East London. It was formed in 1994 out of the "independent" Xhosa homelands of Transkei and Ciskei, together with the eastern portion of the Cape Province...

. He was a lieutenant in the Albany Mounted Sharpshooters and Captain of the Corps of Guides. Later he became secretary to Sir Harry Smith in Natal
Colony of Natal
The Colony of Natal was a British colony in south-eastern Africa. It was proclaimed a British colony on May 4, 1843 after the British government had annexed the Boer Republic of Natalia, and on 31 May 1910 combined with three other colonies to form the Union of South Africa, as one of its...

. He filled two of the highest offices in the colonial government; firstly as Treasurer (1861-1864) and later as Colonial Secretary
Chief Secretary
The Chief Secretary is the title of a senior civil servant in members of the Commonwealth of Nations, and, historically, in the British Empire. Prior to the dissolution of the colonies, the Chief Secretary was the second most important official in a colony of the British Empire after the...

 (1864-1872). In 1873 he was appointed Lieutenant-Governor of Griqualand-West where he found one of the first diamonds in South Africa on a witch doctor. He laid it on a table before the Cape Parliament and declared "Gentlemen, this is the rock on which the future success of South Africa will be built".

His residence in Cape Town
Cape Town
Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...

 was Southfield House in Plumstead, where he died in 1901. His first wife was Isabella Shaw (1810-1869). After her death he married Susan Krynauw (1842-1890) who became Lady Southey. He had two daughters and eight sons, including Richard Southey
Richard Southey
Colonel Richard George Southey CB CMG was a South African colonial military commander. His father, Sir Richard Southey, was a high-ranking Cape civil servant....

 who gained distinction as a military commander.

His niece was Lady Frost, born Frances Cordelia Powell, married to Sir John Frost
Sir John Frost
Sir John Frost KCMG was an Anglo-South African cabinet minister and landowner.Frost was the son of William and Maria Frost, landowners in Lincolnshire...

.

Southey is ancestor to several distinguished South African families.
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