Sir James Percy FitzPatrick, (24 July 1862 – 24 January 1931), known as Percy FitzPatrick, was a South African author, politician, mining financier and pioneer of the fruit industry. He authored the classic children's book, ''

Jock of the Bushveld ''Jock of the Bushveld'' is a true story by South African author Sir James Percy FitzPatrick. Rudyard Kipling, a good friend of FitzPatrick, also took part in these story-telling evenings and eventually persuaded him to collect these tales in ...

'' (1907). As a politician, he defended British Imperial interests before and during the

Anglo-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 ...

. FitzPatrick is responsible for the creation of the

two-minute silence In the United Kingdom and other countries within the Commonwealth, a two-minute silence is observed as part of Remembrance Day to remember those who died in conflict. Held each year at 11:00 am on 11 November, the silence coincides with the ...

observed on

Armistice Day Armistice Day, later known as Remembrance Day in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth and Veterans Day in the United States, is commemorated every year on 11 November to mark Armistice of 11 November 1918, the armistice signed between th ...

Early life

Percy FitzPatrick was born in

King William's Town Qonce, formerly King William's Town, is a town in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa along the banks of the Buffalo River (Eastern Cape), Buffalo River. The town is about northwest of the Indian Ocean port of East London, South Africa, ...

, the eldest son of James Coleman FitzPatrick, who was a judge of the

Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

of the

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

, and Jenny FitzGerald. Both were originally from Ireland. Two of James Coleman FitzPatrick's other sons were killed in action – Thomas in the

Matabele Rebellion The Second Matabele War, also known as the First Chimurenga, was fought between 1896 and 1897 in the region that later became Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). The conflict was initially between the British South Africa Company and the Mat ...

and George in the

Second Anglo-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 ...

(serving on the British side with the Imperial

Light Horse Regiment The Johannesburg Light Horse Regiment (JLHR, formerly the Light Horse Regiment, LHR), is a reserve armored car (military), armoured car reconnaissance unit of the South African Army. History Anglo Boer War The Imperial Light Horse was rai ...

Education

James Percy FitzPatrick was first educated at

Downside School Downside School (formally The College of St Gregory the Great, Downside but simply referred to as Downside) is an 11–18 mixed, Roman Catholic, independent, day and boarding school in Stratton-on-the-Fosse, Somerset, England. It was establish ...

near

Bath, Somerset Bath (Received Pronunciation, RP: , ) is a city in Somerset, England, known for and named after its Roman Baths (Bath), Roman-built baths. At the 2021 census, the population was 94,092. Bath is in the valley of the River Avon, Bristol, River A ...

, and later at St. Aidan's College in

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 ...

Career

After his father's death in 1880, James Peter FitzPatrick (later self-selected Percy) left college to support his mother and her family. After working for some time as a clerk in Cape Town's Standard Bank, he travelled to the Eastern

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; ...

goldfields in 1884, where he worked as a storeman,

prospector Prospector may refer to: Space exploration * Prospector (spacecraft), a planned lunar probe, canceled in 1962 * ''Lunar Prospector'', a NASA spacecraft Trains * Prospector (train), a passenger train operated by the Denver & Rio Grande Western ra ...

's assistant and journalist as well as an

ox-wagon An ox-wagon or bullock wagon is a four-wheeled vehicle pulled by oxen (draught cattle). It was a traditional form of transport, especially in Southern Africa but also in New Zealand and Australia. Ox-wagons were also used in the United States. ...

transport-rider from the former

Lourenço Marques Maputo () is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Mozambique. Located near the southern end of the country, it is within of the borders with Eswatini and South Africa. The city has a population of 1,088,449 (as of 2017) distributed ov ...

Lydenburg Lydenburg, also known as Mashishing, is a town in Thaba Chweu Local Municipality, on the Mpumalanga highveld, South Africa. It is situated on the Sterkspruit/Dorps River tributary of the Lepelle River at the summit of the Long Tom Pass. It h ...

and Barberton. He later became editor of the ''Gold Fields News'' in Barberton. An account of FitzPatrick's adventures during this time, ''

'', was published in 1907. He also authored ''The Transvaal from Within'', which greatly influenced public opinion in Great Britain in the years leading up to the

. It emphasised the grievances of mainly English-speaking

Uitlander An uitlander, Afrikaans for "foreigner" (), was a foreign (mainly British) migrant worker during the Witwatersrand Gold Rush in the independent Transvaal Republic following the discovery of gold in 1886. The limited rights granted to this group ...

against the Boer government and advocated British intervention in the

South African Republic The South African Republic (, abbreviated ZAR; ), also known as the Transvaal Republic, was an independent Boer republics, Boer republic in Southern Africa which existed from 1852 to 1902, when it was annexed into the British Empire as a result ...

(ZAR).Barberton website
In 1892, FitzPatrick became the head of intelligence in the Johannesburg offices of Hermann Eckstein and Company (part of Wernher-Beit and Company). FitzPatrick became the secretary of the Reform Committee in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

in 1895. The Committee conspired to overthrow

Paul Kruger Stephanus Johannes Paulus Kruger (; 10 October 1825 – 14 July 1904), better known as Paul Kruger, was a South African politician. He was one of the dominant political and military figures in 19th-century South Africa, and State Preside ...

government from 1895 to 1896. FitzPatrick also acted as go-between the Committee and

Cecil Rhodes Cecil John Rhodes ( ; 5 July 185326 March 1902) was an English-South African mining magnate and politician in southern Africa who served as Prime Minister of the Cape Colony from 1890 to 1896. He and his British South Africa Company founded th ...

and

Leander Starr Jameson Sir Leander Starr Jameson, 1st Baronet, (9 February 1853 – 26 November 1917), also known as Starr Jameson, was a British colonial politician, who was best known for his involvement in the ill-fated Jameson Raid. Early life and family He w ...

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

. On 29 December 1895, Jameson led a failed raid from the

Bechuanaland Protectorate The Bechuanaland Protectorate () was a British protectorate, protectorate established on 31 March 1885 in Southern Africa by the United Kingdom. It became the Botswana, Republic of Botswana on 30 September 1966. History Scottish missionary ...

(modern-day

Botswana Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory part of the Kalahari Desert. It is bordered by South Africa to the sou ...

) to aid the conspirators in Johannesburg, but was stopped at

Doornkop Doornkop (literally "thorn hill") is a ridge and locality on the western outskirts of Soweto in the Gauteng Province, South Africa. The area is currently being subsumed by the westward expansion of Soweto and the eastward growth of Krugersdorp' ...

on 2 January 1896. FitzPatrick was charged with the others for high treason. Although sentenced to two years' imprisonment and a £2,000 fine, he was released in May 1896. At the outbreak of the Anglo-Boer War (1899–1902) FitzPatrick helped to establish the Imperial Light Horse Regiment. Prevented by ill health from active service, he remained during the war in Britain as Official Adviser on South African Affairs to the British Government. Percy FitzPatrick was

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

in December 1902, and later appointed a Knight Commander of the

Order of Saint Michael and Saint George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince of Wales (the future King George IV), while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George I ...

(KCMG). He served as one of eight Transvaal representatives in the

National Convention The National Convention () was the constituent assembly of the Kingdom of France for one day and the French First Republic for its first three years during the French Revolution, following the two-year National Constituent Assembly and the ...

of 1908–9, where four British colonies were consolidated into the Union of South Africa. He went on to serve as a member of the

parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

of the

Union of South Africa The Union of South Africa (; , ) was the historical predecessor to the present-day South Africa, Republic of South Africa. It came into existence on 31 May 1910 with the unification of the British Cape Colony, Cape, Colony of Natal, Natal, Tra ...

, and successfully defended his Pretoria seat in 1906 and 1910. FitzPatrick and General J.B.M. Hertzog worked out the agreement that recognised English and Dutch as the official languages of the Union. He was a vocal supporter of the closed door policy against Indian immigrants. He said that "South Africa was redeemed from barbarism by the white people" and it was "the white people who will have to carry it on, and defend it if needs be". FitzPatrick kept wild animals that he brought back to Johannesburg after hunting trips at what now is

Zoo Lake Zoo Lake is a popular lake and public park in Johannesburg, South Africa. It is part of the '' Hermann Eckstein Park'' and is opposite the Johannesburg Zoo. The Zoo Lake consists of two dams, an upper feeder dam, and a larger lower dam, both const ...

. Some of these animals formed the first stock of the

Johannesburg Zoo The Johannesburg Zoo or Joburg Zoo is a zoo in Johannesburg, South Africa. The zoo is dedicated to the accommodation, enrichment, husbandry, and medical care of wild animals, and houses about 2000 individuals of 320 species. Established in 1 ...

. He also helped establish citrus farming in South Africa.

Two-minute silence on Armistice Day

On 27 October 1919, a suggestion from FitzPatrick for a moment of silence to be observed annually on 11 November, in honour of the dead of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, was forwarded to

George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until Death and state funeral of George V, his death in 1936. George w ...

, then

King of the United Kingdom The monarchy of the United Kingdom, commonly referred to as the British monarchy, is the form of government used by the United Kingdom by which a hereditary monarch reigns as the head of state, with their powers Constitutional monarchy, regula ...

, who on 7 November 1919, proclaimed "that at the hour when the

Armistice An armistice is a formal agreement of warring parties to stop fighting. It is not necessarily the end of a war, as it may constitute only a cessation of hostilities while an attempt is made to negotiate a lasting peace. It is derived from t ...

came into force, the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, there may be for the brief space of two minutes a complete suspension of all our normal activities … so that in perfect stillness, the thoughts of everyone may be concentrated on reverent remembrance of the glorious dead." 11 November was the date in 1918 that the formal end of combat occurred to end World War I. FitzPatrick was thanked for his suggestion of the

Lord Stamfordham Lieutenant-Colonel Arthur John Bigge, 1st Baron Stamfordham, (18 June 1849 – 31 March 1931) was a British Army officer and courtier. He was Private Secretary to Queen Victoria during the last few years of her reign, and to George V during m ...

, the King's Private Secretary: : ''Dear Sir Percy, '' : ''The King, who learns that you are shortly to leave for South Africa, desires me to assure you that he ever gratefully remembers that the idea of the Two Minute Pause on Armistice Day was due to your initiation, a suggestion readily adopted and carried out with heartfelt sympathy throughout the Empire.'' : ''Signed Stamfordham''

Family

FitzPatrick married Elizabeth Lilian Cubitt (1870-1923) in 1886. They had four children: Percy (1889-1917), Alan (1894-1928), Oliver (1897-1927) and Cecily (1899-1992). Their eldest son, Major Percy Nugent FitzPatrick, was killed on 14 December 1917 in Beaumetz during

. The gravestone inscription for Percy highlights his voluntary service at the outbreak of the war (initially with the Johannesburg Light Horse Regiment): "VOLUNTEERED 4 AUGUST 1914 TROOPER, IMPERIAL LIGHT HORSE SOUTH AFRICA". By the time of his death, Percy was serving with the South African Heavy Artillery.

Death and legacy

Sir James Percy FitzPatrick died in Amanzi, Uitenhage,

in 1931, aged 68, from undisclosed causes. He was buried at "The Look Out" , north of Uitenhage. The site has views of the

Sundays River The !Khukaǁgamma or Sundays River () is a river in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. It is said to be the fastest flowing river in the country. The Inqua Khoi people, who historically were the wealthiest group in Southern Africa, orig ...

Valley below. The

Percy FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology The FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology is a South African biological research and conservation movement, conservation institute based at the University of Cape Town (UCT). The mission statement of the institute is ''“to promote and u ...

was founded at the

University of Cape Town The University of Cape Town (UCT) (, ) is a public university, public research university in Cape Town, South Africa. Established in 1829 as the South African College, it was granted full university status in 1918, making it the oldest univer ...

in 1959 by Mrs. Cecily K. Niven, daughter and only surviving child of Percy FitzPatrick, for the study of the living birds of Africa. The

Percy FitzPatrick Award The Percy FitzPatrick Award, in recognition of author Sir Percy Fitzpatrick, was initiated in 1970 for the best South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Afric ...

is an award for the best South African children's book in English and was initiated in 1970.

Publications

* ''Through Mashonaland with Pick and Pen'' (based on

Randolph Churchill Major (rank), Major Randolph Frederick Edward Spencer Churchill (28 May 1911 – 6 June 1968) was an English journalist, writer and politician. The only son of future List of British Prime Ministers, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill a ...

's 1891 Rhodesian expedition, led by FitzPatrick) * , 1899 * ''

'' (based on FitzPatrick's transport riding days, was first published in 1907 upon persuasion by his friend

Rudyard Kipling Joseph Rudyard Kipling ( ; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936)''The Times'', (London) 18 January 1936, p. 12. was an English journalist, novelist, poet, and short-story writer. He was born in British Raj, British India, which inspired much ...

. The book has so far run through 91 editions and impressions) * ''South African Memories'' (published posthumously)

Notes

External links

* * * * *
''Jock of the Bushveld''
*
''The Outspan''

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fitzpatrick, James Percy 1862 births 1931 deaths People from Qonce South African people of Irish descent South African Roman Catholics South African Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George People educated at Downside School South African children's writers South African businesspeople 20th-century South African writers Cape Colony people People charged with treason Prisoners and detainees of South Africa