Kruger Museum

PAUL KRUGER

 

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President Paul Kruger 1825 - 1904 Contents of this page  

His Youth  
 Settling in the Transvaal  
 Kruger emerges as leader  
 Vice-President 1874 
 Resistance movement 1877 
 President 1882 
 Discovery of gold 
 Jameson raid
President again
The Anglo-Boer war
To Europe
His death 1904
 
His youth  Stephanus Johannes Paulus Kruger was born on 10 October 1825 at Bulhoek, his grandfather's farm in the Steynsburg district . He grew up on the farm Vaalbank. His school was the veld and he had only three months' formal education, his master being one Tielman Roos. His father, Casper Kruger, joined the trek party of Hendrik Potgieter when the Great Trek started in 1836.
 
Settling in the Transvaal 

The trekkers crossed the Vaal River in 1838 and at first stayed in the area that is known today as Potchefstroom. Kruger's father later decided to settle in the district now known as Rustenburg. At the age of 16, Paul Kruger was entitled to choose a farm for himself at the foot of the Magaliesberg where he settled in 1841.  

The following year he married Maria du Plessis and the young couple accompanied Casper Kruger to live in the Eastern Transvaal for a while. After the family had returned to Rustenburg, Kruger's wife and infant son died, probably from malaria. He then married Gezina du Plessis, who was his constant and devoted companion until her death in 1901. Seven daughters and nine sons were born of the marriage, some dying in infancy.
 
Kruger emerges as leader In time, Kruger emerged as a leader. He started as a fieldcornet in die commandos and eventually became Commandant-General of the South African Republic (Transvaal). He was appointed member of a commission of the Volksraad (Republican Parliament) that was to draw up a constitution. People began to take notice of the young man and he played a prominent part in ending the quarrel between the Transvaal leader, Stephanus Schoeman, and M W Pretorius. The latter afterwards became the first President of the South African Republic and was the founder of Pretoria. He named it after his father, Andries Pretorius.
 
Vice-President 1874 In 1873 Kruger resigned as Commandant-General, and for a time he held no office and retired to his farm, Boekenhoutfontein. In 1874, however, he was elected to the Executive Council and shortly after that became Vice-President of the Transvaal.
 
Resistance movement 1877 After the annexation of the Transvaal by Britain in 1877, Kruger became the leader of the resistance movement. During the same year, he visited England for the first time as leader of a deputation. In 1878 he was part of a second deputation. A highlight of his visit to Europe was when he ascended in a balloon and saw Paris from the air.  

The first War of Independence started in 1880 and the British forces were defeated in the decisive battle at Majuba in 1881. Once again, Paul Kruger played an important role in the negotiations with the British, which led to the restoration of the Transvaal's independence under British sovereignty.
 
President 1882 At the age of 57, Kruger was elected President of the Transvaal. One of his first aims was the revision of the Pretoria Convention of 1881. Therefore, he again left for England in 1883, empowered to negotiate with Lord Derby. Kruger and his companions also visited the Continent and this visit became a triumph in countries such as Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, France and Spain. In Germany, he attended an imperial banquet at which he was presented to the Emperor, Wilhelm I, and spoke at length with the renowned Bismarck.
 
Discovery of gold  In the Transvaal, things changed rapidly after the discovery of gold on the Witwatersrand. This momentous discovery was to have far-reaching political repercussions and to give rise to the uitlander (foreigner) problem, which was eventually to cause the fall of the Republic.
 
Jameson raid At the end of 1895, the socalled Jameson raid took place. Once more Kruger's calm and determination was put to the test. Jameson was forced to surrender, taken to Pretoria and handed over to his British countrymen for punishment.
 
President again In 1898, Kruger was elected President for the fourth and last time.
 
The Anglo-Boer war On 11 October 1899, the Anglo-Boer War broke out. On 7 May 1900, Kruger attended the last session of the Volksraad and on 29 May, he left Pretoria as Lord Roberts advanced on the town. For weeks he either stayed in a house at Waterval-Onder or in his railway carriage at Machadodorp in the Eastern Transvaal.
 
To Europe

Eventually, it was decided that he should go to Europe on behalf of the Republic, while the war continued. He left from Lourenco Marques in October 1900. Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands sent the battleship De Gelderland to fetch him and his entourage. His wife was much too sick to accompany him and Gezina Kruger died on 20 July 1901. 

They landed in Marseilles, where an overwhelming ovation awaited the President. He travelled through Europe to Holland where he stayed for the duration of the war, his last home being Oranjelust in Utrecht. Here he received the news that the treaty (the Peace of Vereeniging) had been signed. The Boer generals - Botha, De Wet and De la Rey - also paid him a visit when they were in Europe in 1902 after the war.
 
His death 1904

The President moved to Clarens in Switzerland where he stayed for the last six months of his life. He died on 14 July 1904 and his remains were temporarily interred at the Hague and were brought to Cape Town from Rotterdam in the Dutch ship De Batavier VI. His body was then taken to Pretoria by train and he was buried on 16 December 1904 in the Church Street cemetery.