Between Empire and Revolution : a Life of Sidney Bunting, 1873-1936
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
BETWEEN EMPIRE AND REVOLUTION: A LIFE OF SIDNEY BUNTING, 1873–1936 Empires in Perspective Series Editors: Emmanuel K. Akyeampong Tony Ballantyne Duncan Bell Francisco Bethencourt Durba Ghosh Forthcoming Titles A Wider Patriotism: Alfred Milner and the British Empire J. Lee Th ompson Missionary Education and Empire in Late Colonial India, 1860–1920 Hayden J. A. Bellenoit Transoceanic Radical: William Duane, National Identity and Empire, 1760–1835 Nigel Little Ireland and Empire, 1692–1770 Charles Ivar McGrath Natural Science and the Origins of the British Empire Sarah Irving Empire of Political Th ought: Indigenous Australians and the Language of Colonial Government Bruce Buchan www.pickeringchatto.com/empires.htm BETWEEN EMPIRE AND REVOLUTION: A LIFE OF SIDNEY BUNTING, 1873–1936 BY Allison Drew london PICKERING & CHATTO 2007 Published by Pickering & Chatto (Publishers) Limited 21 Bloomsbury Way, London WC1A 2TH 2252 Ridge Road, Brookfi eld, Vermont 05036-9704, USA www.pickeringchatto.com All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without prior permission of the publisher. © Pickering & Chatto (Publishers) Limited 2007 © Allison Drew 2007 british library cataloguing in publication data Drew, Allison Between empire and revolution : a life of Sidney Bunting, 1873–1936. – (Empires in per- spective) 1. Bunting, Sidney Percival, 1873–1936 2. Social reformers – South Africa – Biography 3. Communists – South Africa – Biography 4. Lawyers – South Africa – Biography 5. South Africa – Politics and government – 1909–1948 6. South Africa – Politics and government – 1836–1909 7. South Africa – Social conditions I. Title 968’.05’092 ISBN-13: 9781851968930 ∞ Th is publication is printed on acid-free paper that conforms to the American National Standard for the Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials. Typeset by Pickering & Chatto (Publishers) Limited Printed in the United Kingdom at the University Press, Cambridge CONTENTS Acknowledgments vii List of Illustrations ix List of Abbreviations x 1 To Save Souls 1 2 God and Gladstone 6 3 A Classical Boy 17 4 Imperial University 28 5 Fighting for Empire 45 6 An Englishman in Johannesburg 59 7 A New Gospel 78 8 ‘Th e Star in the East’ 92 9 ‘Th e Earth is the Workers’’ 105 10 Fighting against Empire 125 11 For a Native Republic 149 12 Into the Wilderness 166 13 Falling from Grace 188 14 A Weary Soul 209 Notes 225 Works Cited 265 Index 281 Th ey that go down to the sea in ships: and occupy their business in great waters; these men see the works of the Lord: and his wonders in the deep. For at his word the stormy wind ariseth: lift eth up the waves thereof. Th ey are carried up to the heaven, and down again to the deep: So when they cry unto the lord in their trouble: he delivereth them out of their distress. Th en they are glad. Because they are at rest: And so he bringeth them unto the haven where they would be. From Psalm 107 Engraved in Shepherd Memorial Chapel Christ Church Appleton-le-Moors North Yorkshire ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I am indebted to many people for their help while I was researching and writing this book. Most importantly, I wish to thank Sidney Bunting’s family, especially his two sons, Brian Bunting and the late Arthur Hugh Bunting. Like their father, both have made important and long-lasting contributions to African develop- ment. Sidney’s oldest son, Arthur Hugh, Emeritus Professor at the University of Reading, was a renowned agricultural botanist; his younger son Brian, a veteran anti-apartheid activist, author and recipient of the South African Com- munist Party’s Moses Kotane Award for Outstanding Service and Leadership. Th eir encouragement and generosity have been extremely important to me. I am thankful to other members of the Bunting-Lidgett-Amos extended families, especially Elizabeth Camp, for her kindness and generosity and her detailed knowledge of the Bunting-Lidgett family history. Daniel Bunting, Edward and Sara Bunting, Ruth Hawthorn and the late Elisabeth McDougall have been very helpful. Madge Allison’s hospitality in Appleton-le-Moors and her knowledge of its local history are much appreciated. Th e staff of the archives and libraries that I visited were unfailingly help- ful. I would like to thank the staff of the following institutions. In Britain, the Magdalen College Archives, Oxford, especially Robin Darwall-Smith; the Bod- leian Library, Oxford; the Borthwick Institute of Historical Research at the University of York; the Institute of Commonwealth Studies Library, the Senate House Library and the University College London Records Offi ce, all at the University of London; the St Paul’s School Library; North London Collegiate School Library; the Freshfi elds Archives at Freshfi elds Bruckhaus Deringer; the Inns of Court and City Yeomanry Archives; the National Army Museum; the Public Records Offi ce; the Family Records Centre; the British Library and the British Newspaper Library at Colindale. In North America, the staff at the McMaster University Library and the Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library. In Russia, the staff of the Russian Centre for the Conservation and Study of Modern History Records. I am grateful to Professor Apollon Davidson of Moscow State University and to Dennis Pennington and Natasha V. Lapshina-Pennington for their assistance and friendship. In South Africa, the staff at the following institutions have been extremely generous: the University of Cape Town Libraries, especially Janine Dunlop and Lesley Hart; the University of the Western Cape Robben Island Mayibuye Photo Archive; the Howard Pim Library at the University of Fort Hare; the Umtata Archives and the Nelson Mandela Museum in Umtata; the East London Public Library; the University of Natal Library at Pietermaritzburg; the Pietermaritz- burg Archives Repository; the Johannesburg Public Library; the Department of Historical Papers, William Cullen Library at University of the Witwatersrand; the UNISA Archives and the State Archives at Pretoria. Emmerentia van Rens- burg provided very helpful and effi cient research assistance. Friends in South Africa have shown me much kindness and hospitality on my trips to their country. I wish to express my gratitude to Roseinnes Phahle, Itumeleng Malebye, Phil and Martzi Eidelberg, Julie Parle and Steve Terry, Sadie Forman, Livingston and Iris Mqotsi, and Richard S. Canca and his wife Alice and family. Th e research for this work was made possible by a number of grants and fel- lowships. Magdalen College, Oxford elected me to a visiting fellowship during Hilary Term 2003, and I am very grateful to the college for its support. Th e Department of Politics at the University of York allowed me leave to take up the Magdalen fellowship and research leave during spring 2004. Th e Lipman- Miliband Trust funded a trip enabling me to do fi eld and archival research in the Eastern Cape and in Pietermaritzburg, Johannesburg and Pretoria, and assisted with the reproduction of photographs. Th e British Academy funded a research trip to Moscow. Th e Arts and Humanities Research Board awarded me a match- ing grant allowing me to take research leave in autumn 2004 so that I could complete the manuscript. I am very thankful to the staff at Pickering & Chatto, especially Michael Middeke and Will Padgett, and to Roma Hall for her help with the index. David Howell, Lungisile Ntsebeza and Bettina Drew all kindly read the manuscript and off ered many valuable comments. David became very well acquainted indeed with Sidney Bunting, and his belief in this project was a great support. Any errors are, of course, my own responsibility. LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Figure 1: Appleton Hall, c. mid-1890s. From left to right, standing on steps, Hilda Lidgett, Francis Lidgett, unknown, Margery Lidgett McDougall, John McDougall, Ellen Lidgett McDougall; seated, Ann Budgett (née Lidgett), Mary Bunting (née Lidgett) Elizabeth Lidgett (standing), Judith Hoole (née Lidgett). Courtesy of Madge Allison. 9 Figure 2: Quartet for Cambridge Programme, 1895. First violin, R. C. Davis, Worcester College; second violin, H. W. Simpson, Keble College; viola, S. P. Bunting, Magdalen College; cello, A. C. Ralli, New College. Sidney is rear, left . Courtesy of Bodleian Library. 39 Figure 3: Rebecca Notlewitz, c. 1908. Courtesy of Brian Bunting. 97 Figure 4: Sidney, Brian, Becky and Arthur, c. early-1920s. Courtesy of Brian Bunting. 138 Figure 5: Sidney Bunting addressing an ICU meeting in Johannesburg around 1926. Th e interpreter is Th omas Mbeki; the man on the chair is probably Clements Kadalie. Courtesy of Brian Bunting and UWC Robben Island Mayibuye Archive. 145 Figure 6: Sidney Bunting and comrades, c. late 1920s. From left to right, front: Douglas Wolton, unknown, Becky Bunting, Molly Wolton, Sidney Bunting. Th e three men in the rear are not known. Courtesy of UWC Robben Island Mayibuye Archive. 153 Figure 7: A crowd waiting to hear Sidney Bunting speak during his 1929 electoral campaign in Th embuland. Courtesy of UWC Robben Island Mayibuye Archive. 175 Figure 8: A crowd at one of Sidney Bunting’s meetings during his 1929 electoral campaign in Th embuland. Sidney is seated to the left of the two main standing fi gures. Courtesy of UWC Robben Island Mayibuye Archive. 184 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ANC African National Congress Comintern Communist International CPGB Communist Party of Great Britain CPSA Communist Party of South Africa ECCI Executive Committee of the Communist International FNETU Federation of Non-European Trade Unions ICU Industrial and Commercial Workers’ Union ILP Independent Labour Party ISL International Socialist League IWA Industrial Workers of Africa JMR Johannesburg Mounted Rifl es LAR League of African Rights OUMU Oxford University Musical Union PB Political Bureau UNIA United Negro Improvement Association 1 TO SAVE SOULS Th e South African mission stations of Buntingville and Old Bunting, founded in the Eastern Cape in the nineteenth century, were named aft er Sidney Percival Bunting’s great grandfather, Dr Jabez Bunting.