Margaret Ballinger (''née'' Hodgson; 1894–1980) was the first President of the

Liberal Party of South Africa The Liberal Party of South Africa was a South African political party from 1953 to 1968. Founding The party was founded on 9 May 1953 at a meeting of the South African Liberal Association in Cape Town. Essentially, it grew out of a belief tha ...

and a South African Member of Parliament. In 1944, Ballinger was referred to as the "Queen of the Blacks" by

TIME magazine ''Time'' (stylized in all caps as ''TIME'') is an American news magazine based in New York City. It was published weekly for nearly a century. Starting in March 2020, it transitioned to every other week. It was first published in New York Cit ...

Biography

Margaret Hodgson was born in

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

, Scotland in 1894 and moved to Cape Colony with her family when she was a child. Her father arrived just before the

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 ...

and ended up fighting against the British. Hodgson (Ballinger) attended the Huguenot College in

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

before continuing her education in England. In England she went to

Somerville College, Oxford Somerville College is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It was founded in 1879 as Somerville Hall, one of its first two women's colleges. It began admitting men in 1994. The colle ...

. She taught history when she returned to South Africa at

Rhodes University Rhodes University () is a public research university located in Makhanda (formerly Grahamstown) in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. It is one of four universities in the province. Established in 1904, Rhodes University is the prov ...

Grahamstown Makhanda, formerly known as Grahamstown, is a town of about 75,000 people in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is situated about northeast of Gqeberha and southwest of East London. It is the largest town in the Makana Local Mun ...

and

University of the Witwatersrand The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (), commonly known as Wits University or Wits, is a multi-campus Public university, public research university situated in the northern areas of central Johannesburg, South Africa. The universit ...

. She stood for election where there were seven representatives for eight million black South Africans against the 140 M.P.s who represented the other 20% of the population. She had stood against other male candidates and talking through an interpreter had managed to win the electorate's confidence. It was said that she used the analogy of

Joan of Arc Joan of Arc ( ; ; – 30 May 1431) is a patron saint of France, honored as a defender of the French nation for her role in the siege of Orléans and her insistence on the Coronation of the French monarch, coronation of Charles VII o ...

to illustrate what a woman could do for them.South Africa:Queen of the Blacks
Time Magazine, 3 July 1944, accessed March 2010 She represented the people of the

Eastern Cape The Eastern Cape ( ; ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, and its largest city is Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth). Due to its climate and nineteenth-century towns, it is a common location for tourists. It is also kno ...

from 1937 on the Native Representatives Council (NRC). She was credited, along with Senator

Edgar Brookes Professor Edgar Harry Brookes (4 February 1897 – 22 April 1979) was a British-born South African Liberal Party (South Africa), Liberal senator and South African representative to the League of Nations. He initially supported apartheid but his ...

, for moving people from talking about controlling the native South African populace to finding out how their lives could be improved.Margaret Ballinger
, SAHistory.org.za, accessed March 2010 In 1943 she was proposing new laws and in 1947 her plans included new training and municipal representation for "blacks" and improved consultation with the NRC. This period from 1937 through the 1950s is seen as when Ballinger had most power and influence. A ''

Time Magazine ''Time'' (stylized in all caps as ''TIME'') is an American news magazine based in New York City. It was published weekly for nearly a century. Starting in March 2020, it transitioned to every other week. It was first published in New York Cit ...

'' report in 1944 named "Mrs Ballinger" as the "Queen of the Blacks". Her power as a speaker was only overshadowed by the prime ministers,

Jan Smuts Field Marshal Jan Christian Smuts, (baptismal name Jan Christiaan Smuts, 24 May 1870 11 September 1950) was a South African statesman, military leader and philosopher. In addition to holding various military and cabinet posts, he served as P ...

, and Jan Hofmeyr, his heir apparent. The future that the article foresaw for Ballinger was as the "white hope" leading 24,000,000 blacks as part of an expanded British influence in southern Africa. She overshadowed her husband, William, who some see as now out of his depth in the changing political outlook. They had both formed a ''Friends of Africa'' movement, but this looked more to Britain for funding than it did in its success in linking to the emerging African native political organisations.Journal of South African Studies
p836, accessed March 2010 When the

was formed in 1953 she was its first President. The party was founded around

Alan Paton Alan Stewart Paton (11 January 1903 – 12 April 1988) was a South African writer and anti-apartheid activist. His works include the novels '' Cry, the Beloved Country'' (1948), '' Too Late the Phalarope'' (1953), and the short story ''The Wa ...

, who was one of the vice Presidents. She was one of the few people to speak against the apartheid views of Hendrik Frensch Verwoerd. In 1960 she left Parliament when the South African government abolished the Parliamentary seats representing Africans. She was given a bronze award in 1961 by the British

Royal African Society The Royal African Society (RAS) of the United Kingdom was founded as the African Society in 1901 to promote relations between the United Kingdom and countries in Africa. It received a royal charter in 1935, when it acquired its present name. The RA ...

for her services to Africa. Her citation mentioned the links she had established between African and European women and for the home for sick children she established.African Affairs
p.420, accessed March 2010 She left the party before it was wound up by its own membership in 1968. At that time it became illegal for a political party to have members from more than one race. The party preferred to die rather than choose.

Works

* ''From Union to Apartheid - A Trek to Isolation'', 1969

Legacy

The home for sick children which she had established was closed down during the apartheid era, but it has taken new shapes. Ballinger had started three schools in

Soweto Soweto () is a Township (South Africa), township of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality in Gauteng, South Africa, bordering the city's mining belt in the south. Its name is an English syllabic abbreviation for ''South Western T ...

without official permission, the first is named in her honour.Margaret Ballinger pre-school
asha.org.za, accessed March 2010

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ballinger, Margaret 1894 births 1980 deaths Politicians from Glasgow British emigrants to the Cape Colony South African people of Scottish descent United Party (South Africa) politicians Liberal Party of South Africa politicians Members of the House of Assembly (South Africa) White South African anti-apartheid activists South African anti-apartheid activists Rhodes University alumni Alumni of Somerville College, Oxford 20th-century South African women politicians South African women civil rights activists South African civil rights activists