The Orange River Convention (sometimes also called the Bloemfontein Convention) was a convention whereby the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

formally recognised the independence of the

Boer Boers ( ; af, Boere ()) are the descendants of the Dutch-speaking Free Burghers of the eastern Cape frontier in Southern Africa during the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. From 1652 to 1795, the Dutch East India Company controlled this are ...

s in the area between the Orange and

Vaal The Vaal River ( ; Khoemana: ) is the largest tributary of the Orange River in South Africa. The river has its source near Breyten in Mpumalanga province, east of Johannesburg and about north of Ermelo and only about from the Indian Ocean. I ...

rivers, which had previously been known as the

Orange River Sovereignty The Orange River Sovereignty (1848–1854) was a short-lived political entity between the Orange and Vaal rivers in Southern Africa, a region known informally as Transorangia. In 1854, it became the Orange Free State, and is now the Free State ...

. This resulted in the formation of the independent Boer Republic of the

Orange Free State The Orange Free State ( nl, Oranje Vrijstaat; af, Oranje-Vrystaat;) was an independent Boer sovereign republic under British suzerainty in Southern Africa during the second half of the 19th century, which ceased to exist after it was defeat ...

(OFS).

Lead-up to the convention

During the ''

Great Trek The Great Trek ( af, Die Groot Trek; nl, De Grote Trek) was a Northward migration of Dutch-speaking settlers who travelled by wagon trains from the Cape Colony into the interior of modern South Africa from 1836 onwards, seeking to live beyo ...

'' the

s moved out of the

Cape Colony The Cape Colony ( nl, Kaapkolonie), also known as the Cape of Good Hope, was a British colony in present-day South Africa named after the Cape of Good Hope, which existed from 1795 to 1802, and again from 1806 to 1910, when it united with ...

seeking autonomy from British control. However, the expanding interests of the British colonial government soon caught up with the Boers when they annexed Natal in 1845. After settling across the Orange River, relations between the Boers and different groups between the Orange River and the

Caledon River The Caledon River ( st, Mohokare) is a major river located in central South Africa. Its total length is , rising in the Drakensberg Mountains on the Lesotho border, flowing southwestward and then westward before joining the Orange River near Beth ...

were extremely strained; particularly between the Boers and the

Basotho The Sotho () people, also known as the Basuto or Basotho (), are a Bantu nation native to southern Africa. They split into different ethnic groups over time, due to regional conflicts and colonialism, which resulted in the modern Basotho, who ...

Sir Harry Smith Lieutenant-General Sir Henry George Wakelyn Smith, 1st Baronet, GCB (28 June 1787 – 12 October 1860) was a notable English soldier and military commander in the British Army of the early 19th century. A veteran of the Napoleonic Wars, he is a ...

, the governor of the British Cape Colony at the time, decided to annex the area and set out clear boundaries. The land between the

Vaal River The Vaal River ( ; Khoemana: ) is the largest tributary of the Orange River in South Africa. The river has its source near Breyten in Mpumalanga province, east of Johannesburg and about north of Ermelo and only about from the Indian Ocean. ...

and the Orange River was annexed on 3 February 1848 and was officially proclaimed as the ''

''. The Basotho lost a vast amount of land due to this annexation and the Boers were enraged by this process. Major Henry Douglas Warden was subsequently forced out of

Bloemfontein Bloemfontein, ( ; , "fountain of flowers") also known as Bloem, is one of South Africa's three capital cities and the capital of the Free State province. It serves as the country's judicial capital, along with legislative capital Cape To ...

in June 1848 by a Boer group led by

Andries Pretorius Andries Wilhelmus Jacobus Pretorius (27 November 179823 July 1853) was a leader of the Boers who was instrumental in the creation of the South African Republic, as well as the earlier but short-lived Natalia Republic, in present-day South Afric ...

. In August 1848, Sir Harry Smith arrived with his army and fought the Boers in the

Battle of Boomplaats The Battle of Boomplaats (also referred to as the Battle of Boomplaas) was fought near Jagersfontein at on 29 August 1848 between the British and the Voortrekkers. The British were led by Sir Harry Smith,Smith, Sir Harry. ‘’The Autobiograph ...

. The British came out victorious and one of the boundary lines created after this battle was called the Warden line. This line divided territory between the British and the Basotho and stretched from Cornetspruit and the Orange River through Vechtkop to Jammerbergdrift on the Caledon River. This action led to a conflict between the two groups where

Moshoeshoe I Moshoeshoe I () ( – 11 March 1870) was the first king of Lesotho. He was the first son of Mokhachane, a minor chief of the Bamokoteli lineage, a branch of the Koena (crocodile) clan. In his youth, he helped his father gain power over so ...

defeated the British in a battle known as Battle of Viervoet in 1851. The British government retracted their decision for annexation, claiming it was too expensive and difficult to maintain. In addition, the Boers wanted independence and threatened to side with Moshoeshoe I in a war against the British. The Boers were asked to send a delegation to a meeting with the British special commissioner Sir George Clerk in August 1853. This meeting was aimed at establishing some form of self-governance in the Orange River Sovereignty. When they could not agree, the Boers sent two members of their original delegation to England to try to convince the government to alter their decision.

Convention

On 30 January 1854, a royal proclamation was signed abandoning and renouncing all dominion in the Orange River Sovereignty. On 23 February 1854, the Orange River Convention officially recognised the independence of the area which was called the

. The convention made no mention of

or what the boundaries between the Basotho and the Orange Free State would be. The convention was signed in a building now known as the First Raadsaal by Sir George Clerk, on behalf of the British government, and twenty-five representatives of the

people. The first two presidents of the Orange Free State Republic were later sworn into office in this building which later became a prominent symbol in Apartheid era education in South Africa. For nearly 50 years following the Convention the

s had the right to govern themselves independently of

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It ...

. It also temporarily halted the expansionist policies of

beyond the frontiers of the

Aftermath

By signing the Convention, the British renounced control not only over the

Boers Boers ( ; af, Boere ()) are the descendants of the Dutch-speaking Free Burghers of the eastern Cape frontier in Southern Africa during the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. From 1652 to 1795, the Dutch East India Company controlled this a ...

but also over the

and the

Griqua Griqua may refer to: * Griqua people * Griqua language or Xiri language * Griquas (rugby) Griquas (known as the Windhoek Draught Griquas for sponsorship reasons since April 2022) are a South African rugby union team that participates in the a ...

. Earlier British treaties with African chiefdoms in the area were nullified and the

were permitted access to gunpowder and firearms while Africans were not. Both the

Sand River Convention The Sand River Convention ( af, Sandrivierkonvensie) of 17 January 1852 was a convention whereby the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland formally recognised the independence of the Boers north of the Vaal River. Background The conven ...

and the Orange River Convention were seen as a turning point in the history of South Africa which contributed significantly to the circumstances which led to the two

Anglo-Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the South ...

References

{{reflist, 30em

Sources

Rosalie Schaffer, 'Succession to treaties: South African practice in the light of current developments in international law'
(1981) Treaties of the United Kingdom (1801–1922) 1854 in the United Kingdom 1854 in South Africa 1854 treaties Treaties of the Orange Free State Bilateral treaties of the United Kingdom