Joseph Orpen

Joseph Millerd Orpen (5 November 1828 – 17 December 1923) was an influential colonial administrator for the British empire in southern Africa, as well as a local member of the Cape Parliament and the Orange Free State Volksraad. In addition, he was a self-taught anthropologist and a student of indigenous southern African cultures. Early life and politics in the Orange Free State Orpen was born in 1828 in Dublin, Ireland and emigrated in 1846 to the Cape, as a land surveyor, with three of his brothers. With his brother he moved to the Orange River Sovereignty for surveying work, and was elected in 1853 to stand against the departure of British control over the sovereignty. He then became a citizen (or "burgher") of the resulting Orange Free State. He was elected as a representative in the Volksraad (parliament) of the Orange Free State and wrote the country's constitution, influenced a great deal by that of the United States. He served on the Free State Supreme Court and in the country's government he was for a while in charge of relations with the surrounding native African nations, and in this capacity he pursued relatively benign and peaceful policies.