Transvaal Colony

The Transvaal Colony was the name of the Transvaal region under direct British rule after the South African Republic was annexed at the end of the Second Boer War. The region had first been annexed by Britain in 1877, but the First Boer War restored Boer independence in 1881 under the Pretoria Convention. The discovery of gold on the Witwatersrand in 1886 transformed the South African Republic into the wealthiest Boer state and heightened tension with Britain, culminating in the war of 1899 to 1902. The Treaty of Vereeniging, signed in May 1902, ended Boer resistance and made the Transvaal a British colony, with Pretoria as its capital. Lord Milner's administration rebuilt the territory, promoted English settlement and reorganised its finances and mines, while the Chinese labour question became a bitter political issue in Britain. Responsible government was granted in 1906 and the colony received a constitution. In 1910 the Transvaal became a province of the new Union of South Africa, together with the Cape, Natal and the Orange River Colony. The colonial period thus bridged the Boer republic and the modern South African state.