Annie Botha ( Emmett; 3 July 1864 – 20 May 1937) was a South African civic leader and political hostess. She was the wife of

Louis Botha Louis Botha ( , ; 27 September 1862 – 27 August 1919) was a South African politician who was the first Prime Minister of South Africa, prime minister of the Union of South Africa, the forerunner of the modern South African state. A Boer war v ...

, who served as the first

Prime Minister of South Africa The prime minister of South Africa ( was the head of government in South Africa between 1910 and 1984. History of the office The position of Prime Minister was established in 1910, when the Union of South Africa was formed. He was appointed ...

.. Death date is given here as 21 May 1937. She established an orphanage in South Africa and, with Georgiana Solomon, co-founded and chaired the South African Women's Federation.

Biography

Young years

Botha was born Annie Frances Bland Emmett on 3 July 1864 in

Swellendam Swellendam () is the third oldest town in South Africa (after Cape Town and Stellenbosch), a town with 17,537 inhabitants situated in the Western Cape province. The town has over 50 provincial heritage sites, most of them buildings of Cape D ...

to John Cheere Emmett (Swellendam, 19 March 1822 – Pretoria, 26 January 1905), a farmer, and his wife, Helen Laetitia Bland (also Helena Letitia du Plessis Bland or Helena Aletta Emmett, born at George, Western Cape, 9 December 1833 – died 1895). Annie was an elder sister to

Transvaal Transvaal is a historical geographic term associated with land north of (''i.e.'', beyond) the Vaal River in South Africa. A number of states and administrative divisions have carried the name ''Transvaal''. * South African Republic (1856–1902; ...

Boer War The Second Boer War (, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, Transvaal War, Anglo–Boer War, or South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer republics (the South African Republic an ...

Bittereinder The ''Bittereinders'' () or irreconcilables were a faction of Boer guerrilla fighters, resisting the forces of the British Empire in the later stages of the Second Boer War (1899–1902). By September 1900, the conventional forces of the So ...

general Joseph James Cheere Emmett (J.C. Emmett, Swellendam, 19 January 1866 – 16 August 1933). She was raised in the

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

faith and her family were members of the Church of the Province of Southern Africa. In 1869, her family moved to the

Orange Free State The Orange Free State ( ; ) was an independent Boer-ruled sovereign republic under British suzerainty in Southern Africa during the second half of the 19th century, which ceased to exist after it was defeated and surrendered to the British Em ...

and settled on a farm between Harrismith and Vrede. She was educated at St. Michael's School, an Anglican school in

Bloemfontein Bloemfontein ( ; ), also known as Bloem, is the capital and the largest city of the Free State (province), Free State province in South Africa. It is often, and has been traditionally, referred to as the country's "judicial capital", alongsi ...

run by the

Community of St Michael and All Angels The Community of St Michael and All Angels was an Anglican religious order of nuns in South Africa. The Community was founded by Allan Webb, the second Bishop of Bloemfontein in 1874 – although the idea was first mooted by Webb's predecessor, E ...

. Botha later taught at the school until she moved with her parents to

Vryheid Vryheid (/Abaqulusi) is a coal mining and cattle ranching town in northern KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Vryheid is the Afrikaans word for "freedom", while its original name of Abaqulusi reflects the AbaQulusi (Zulu), abaQulusi clan based in the loc ...

Marriage to Louis Botha

While living in Vryheid, she met

. They married at the

Dutch Reformed Church The Dutch Reformed Church (, , abbreviated NHK ) was the largest Christian denomination in the Netherlands from the onset of the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century until 1930. It was the traditional denomination of the Dutch royal famil ...

in Vryheid on 13 December 1886 and had five children. Botha later converted from Anglicanism to Dutch Reformed Protestantism. Shortly after their wedding, they settled on the Waterval Farm in Vryheid.

Second Boer War, 1899–1902

During the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War (, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, Transvaal War, Anglo–Boer War, or South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer republics (the South African Republic and ...

, the family relocated to

Pretoria Pretoria ( ; ) is the Capital of South Africa, administrative capital of South Africa, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to the country. Pretoria strad ...

and remained there after the occupation of the city in 1900 by British forces led by

Frederick Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts Field marshal (United Kingdom), Field Marshal Frederick Sleigh Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts (30 September 1832 – 14 November 1914), was a British Victorian era general who became one of the most successful British military commanders of his time. ...

. Botha's husband served as a Boer general and later as Commander in Chief of the Transvall during the war.

Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener Field Marshal Horatio Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener (; 24 June 1850 – 5 June 1916) was a British Army officer and colonial administrator. Kitchener came to prominence for his imperial campaigns, his involvement in the Second Boer War, a ...

persuaded Botha to find out if her husband would be willing to meet with him, after it seemed the Boer forces would not surrender. She was granted permission to visit him in Bothasberg, after a journey by train and a mule-pulled wagon. She convinced her husband to meet with Lord Kitchener in Middelburg in February 1901. The meeting was not a success for negotiations but the British proposals became a foundation for further deliberations in May 1902. In 1901 Botha was allowed to go to Europe, where she remained until the war ended. While there, she hosted Boer generals

Koos de la Rey Jacobus Herculaas de la Rey (pronounced phonetically as "Ya-qui-bis Hehr-key-lahs de la Ray") (22 October 1847 – 15 September 1914), better known as Koos de la Rey, was a South African military officer who served as a Boer general during the ...

and

Christiaan de Wet Christiaan Rudolf de Wet (7 October 1854 – 3 February 1922) was a Boer general, rebel leader and politician. Life Born on the Leeuwkop farm, in the district of Smithfield in the Boer Republic of the Orange Free State, he later resided at ...

as they raised money for war victims. She returned to South Africa in 1902 and found that their home had been destroyed, so the family settled in a home on Cilliers Street in Pretoria.

Community activities after the war

After the war, Botha and her husband went on a tour through the countryside to boost moral and provide food and other amenities to the people. On 19 October 1904, with Georgiana Solomon, she co-founded the South African Women's Federation and served as the chairwoman. The charity campaigned for the preservation of

Afrikaner Afrikaners () are a Southern African ethnic group descended from predominantly Dutch settlers who first arrived at the Cape of Good Hope in 1652.Entry: Cape Colony. ''Encyclopædia Britannica Volume 4 Part 2: Brain to Casting''. Encyclopæd ...

culture and people. She stepped down as chairwoman after her husband's election as Prime Minister of the

Transvaal Colony The Transvaal Colony () was the name used to refer to the Transvaal region during the period of direct British rule and military occupation between the end of the Second Boer War in 1902 when the South African Republic was dissolved, and the ...

but was nominated for a lifetime honorary presidency within the organization. Botha established the Louis Botha Home for Orphans and Children in Need. In 1911, she travelled to England to attend the wedding of Hamar Greenwood and Margery Spencer. After her husband's death in 1919, Botha settled on a farm in Rusthof and spent winters in Sezela, where she died in 1937. Mrs. Commandant-General Louis Botha (Annie Frances Bland Emmett) from Hillegas, With the Boers, 1900.jpg, Annie Emmett with a flag, from Hillegas: With the Boers, 1900. Die Familie des Ministerpräsdenten Louis Botha, 1907.jpg, Rudolf Steger: Annie Emmett with two young women and two small sons, 1907 Generaal Louis Botha (1862-1919) met zijn vrouw te Rustenberg, Zuid Afrika, SFA002002570.jpg, Annie Emmett and Louis Botha in Rustenburg around 1915, while Louis was prime minister of the Union of South Africa.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Botha, Annie 1864 births 1937 deaths 20th-century philanthropists 20th-century South African women Cape Colony people Converts to Calvinism Former Anglicans Members of the Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa Orange Free State people People from Swellendam Spouses of prime ministers of South Africa South African people of World War I South African philanthropists White South African people 20th-century women philanthropists