Sir Thomas Ekins Fuller (1831–1910) was editor of the ''

Cape Argus The ''Cape Argus'' is a daily newspaper co-founded in 1857 by Saul Solomon and published by Sekunjalo in Cape Town, South Africa. It is commonly referred to as ''The Argus''. Although not the first English-language newspaper in South Africa ...

'' newspaper and a prominent Member of the Legislative Assembly 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 ...

. Initially a moderate follower of the "Cape Liberal Tradition", he advocated for

responsible government Responsible government is a conception of a system of government that embodies the principle of parliamentary accountability, the foundation of the Westminster system of parliamentary democracy. Governments (the equivalent of the executive br ...

(local democracy) in the 1860s as editor of the ''

'' newspaper (1864–1873). He also supported the inclusive, locally oriented politics of his liberal allies at the time.

Early life

Tulle was born in West Drayton, Middlesex, to Reverend Andrew Fuller and his wife Esther Hobson. Privately educated he would graduate from Bristol Baptist College. Becoming a Baptist pastor he would minister in Melksham, Lewis and Luton. During this time he married in 1855 and in addition to his pastoral work, contributed article to newspapers. In 1864, he would arrive in the Cape Colony, after a doctor advised that his wife's health would improve in that climate. Before leaving London, he met

Saul Solomon Saul Solomon (25 May 1817 – 16 October 1892) was an influential liberal politician of the Cape Colony, a British colony in what is now South Africa. Solomon was an important member of the movement for responsible government and an opponent of ...

, owner of the ''Cape Argus'', and was offered a job as an editor of the latter in

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 ...

Cape Colony

He would edit the ''Cape Argus'' from 1864 until 1873. During his time at the paper, he advocated for responsible government of the Cape and for its own higher college of education which would much later evolve into 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 ...

. He left the Cape Colony in 1873 after his wife Mary died of

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

a year earlier. Between 1873 and 1875 he worked as an immigration agent for the Colony in London, before returning to the Cape with a new wife to become general manager of the Union Steamship Company (1875–1898). He became a member of the Legislative Assembly of the

(MLA for

, from 1879 to 1900). 1902 Colonial Conference

Although initially a liberal, in later life, he came to be greatly influenced by the imperialist

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 ...

, of whom he eventually became a devoted admirer. He would join Rhodes' Progressive Party in the colony. He was an advocate of residential racial segregation in Cape Town and legislated for a restricted franchise for non-white males in the colony. After the

Jameson Raid The Jameson Raid (Afrikaans: ''Jameson-inval'', , 29 December 1895 – 2 January 1896) was a botched raid against the South African Republic (commonly known as the Transvaal) carried out by British colonial administrator Leander Starr Jameson ...

, Fuller joined the South African League, established to highlight the grievances of the

Uitlanders 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 ...

in the

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

with the British government in London. Finally in 1898, he even became a director of the

De Beers The De Beers Group is a South African–British corporation that specializes in the diamond industry, including mining, exploitation, retail, inscription, grading, trading and industrial diamond manufacturing. The company is active in open-pi ...

Consolidated Mines Company. In 1902, he became the Cape Colony's agent-general in London until 1907. He was made a Companion of the Most Distinguished

Order of St Michael and St 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 III ...

(CMG) in 1903. He was knighted in 1904.

Married

He married Mary Playne Hillier, from Nailsworth, in 1855. Fuller married his second wife, Elizabeth Mann, in London in 1875.

Death

He died on 5 September 1910 at Tunbridge Wells, Kent.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fuller, Thomas Ekins Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Fuller Cape Colony writers 19th-century journalists Male journalists 1831 births 1910 deaths 19th-century male writers