colony · Central and Southern Africa
Griqualand West Colony
Origins
After the 1871 Keate Award upheld Nicolaas Waterboer's claim to the diamond diggings of Griqualand West, Britain annexed the area. It was governed at first through the Cape and was proclaimed a separate Crown colony in 1873, with Richard Southey as lieutenant-governor and Kimberley, the town around the Big Hole, as its capital.
Rule and society
Tens of thousands of diggers and African migrant workers poured in. Claim holders were mostly white, and disputes over labour, permits and illicit diamond buying shaped politics. The Black Flag Rebellion of white diggers in 1875 forced Southey's recall. A Griqua and Tlhaping rising in 1878 was suppressed.
Decline and legacy
The colony was annexed to the Cape Colony in 1880. Its diamond fields became the base of Cecil Rhodes's De Beers company, and the methods used there, such as closed labour compounds, shaped South African mining.
Lineage
On the connections map
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- Griqualand West Colony was a colony of British Empire1873 CE – 1880 CE
More states of Central and Southern Africa →
Cite this page
- APA
- The Epoch Institute. (2026). Griqualand West Colony. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/griqualand-west-colony
- MLA
- “Griqualand West Colony.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/griqualand-west-colony. Accessed .
- Chicago
- The Epoch Institute. “Griqualand West Colony.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/griqualand-west-colony.
- Harvard
- The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Griqualand West Colony’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/griqualand-west-colony (Accessed: ).
Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻