REITZ – FRANCIS WILLIAM
| Born: 1844/10/05 Rank: STATE SECRETARY Regiment: STATE SECRETARY, Z.A.R REPUBLIC – JUNE 1897 TO 31 MAY 1902 GPS: |
Reason for death: DIED Place of death: CAPE TOWN Date of death: 1934/03/27 Memorial: CAPE TOWN – MAITLAND CEMETERY |
Note:
F.W. REITZ, OFTEN COMMONLY KNOWN AS FRANK, SUCCESSIVELY BECAME THE CHIEF JUSTICE, AND SUBSEQUENTLY, THE ELECTED PRESIDENT, OF THE FREE STATE REPUBLIC. HE RESIGNED AS PRESIDENT BECAUSE OF ILL HEALTH. RECOVERING FROM ILLNESS, HE WAS APPOINTED AS STATE SECRETARY OF THE Z.A.R. (TRANSVAAL) REPUBLIC, AND IT WAS HE, WHO, IN OCTOBER 1899 HANDED THE BRITISH AGENT IN PRETORIA, THE BOER ULTIMATUM, WHICH EVENTUALLY LED TO THE ANGLO-BOER WAR. REITZ IS SAID TO HAVE DESCRIBED THE HANDING OVER OF THE ULTIMATUM AS “I TIPPED HIM THE BLACK SPOT.” THE STORY OF THE REITZ FAMILY IS TOLD IN MARTIN MEREDITH’S BOOK, AFRIKANER ODYSSEY – THE LIFE AND TIMES OF THE REITZ FAMILY.
