Henry White (Cape Treasurer General)

His farm, which he named "The Retreat", comprised the modern Napkys Mond and Michielskraal properties, and he built a house which was later washed away by floods in 1902.

They were described as a well-known, bookish, characterful duo, "lovably Dickensian in their ways and appearance", prone to "parish-pump preoccupation", and with a kindly, inclusive approach to all in the community.

(In the same 1869 election his friend Reitz avenged White's 1864 defeat by toppling Human as MLA for Swellendam) He was a strong critic of financial mismanagement by the Colonial Office during his early career in the Legislative Council of the Cape's first parliament.

By making the Cape's Executive directly "responsible" to the electorate and Parliament, he believed that this form of government would favour honesty and accountability.

His elevation to the Legislative Council was significant, as it gave the responsible government movement and its leader John Molteno its strongest foothold in the conservative upper house.

In the same capacity he also gave his support in the upper house to the allied voluntaryism (separation of church and state) movement of Saul Solomon.

He oversaw an unprecedented expansion in government spending on infrastructure, a corresponding growth in exports, and significant budget surpluses, even though taxes as a whole were generally cut.

However, White responded by immediately tendering his resignation, typically handing it to his parliamentary colleague Stockenstrom, and refusing even to communicate with Bartle Frer.

They fought a party which was composed predominantly of recent immigrant English merchants and businessmen, who favoured a cleaner, gentrified city.

Dr White's so-called "Dirty Party" (actually led by JC Hofmeyr, M.J. Louw and Alwyn Zoutendyk), being composed mainly of property owners, both large and small, from the Afrikaner, Coloured and Malay communities, were less afraid of the dirty streets than of being pushed out of areas of the city by the higher rates which would be needed in order to pay for the proposed new infrastructure.