Andries Maasdorp Explained

Honorific-Prefix:The Honourable Sir
Andries Maasdorp
Honorific-Suffix:QC
Office2:Chief Justice of the Orange River Colony
Term Start2:1902
Term End2:1910
Predecessor2:Melius de Villiers
Successor2:position replaced by Chief Justice of South Africa
Office1:Judge President of the Orange Free State Provincial Division of the Supreme Court of South Africa
Term Start1:1910
Term End1:1919
Predecessor1:New position
Birth Date:14 January 1847
Birth Place:Malmesbury, Cape Colony
Death Place:Rondebosch, Union of South Africa
Birthname:Andries Ferdinand Stockenström Maasdorp
Nationality:South African
Relations:Christian Maasdorp (brother)
Alma Mater:University College London

Sir Andries Ferdinand Stockenström Maasdorp (14 January 1847 – 18 March 1931)[1] was chief justice of the Orange River Colony.[2] He was knighted in 1904.[3]

Early life and education

Maasdorp was the second of the five sons of Gysbert Henry Maasdorp and his wife, Anna Maria Hartzenberg. His eldest brother, also Gysbert Henry Maasdorp, was member of the Cape legislative assembly for Graaff-Reinet and the third brother was Justice Christian Maasdorp. Maasdorp was educated at the grammar school at Graaff Reinet. In 1865, he was awarded a gold medal by the Cape board of examiners, for coming first in mathematics and classics in their examination. He subsequently studied at Graaff- Reinet College and at University College London, where he obtained a BA in 1869.[4]

Career

In 1871 he was admitted to the Inner Temple as barrister, and from March 1872 practised at the Cape bar. In 1890 he became Queen's Counsel. In the late 1890s he moved to Pretoria and practised at the Pretoria bar from 1897 until 1899. When a dispute arose between President Paul Kruger and Chief Justice John Gilbert Kotzé, Maasdorp sided with Kotzé. With the outbreak of the Second Anglo-Boer War, he returned to the Cape Colony and once again practised at Grahamstown.

In 1902 he became Chief Justice of the Orange River Colony and after South Africa became a Union, he became the Judge President of the Orange Free State Provincial Division of the Supreme Court of South Africa. He was knighted in 1904 and retired from the bench at the end of 1919.

Personal life

Maasdorp married Agnes Catherine Thomson Hayton in 1880 and they had three sons and two daughters.

External links

Notes and References

  1. Book: GISA. South African Genealogies Vol 5, L-M. 1999. Genealogical Institute of South Africa. 0-7972-0732-5. 376. Stellenbosch. 42873059.
  2. 1902. The Hon. A.F.S. Maasdorp, K.C.. South African Law Journal. 19. 225.
  3. Book: Shaw, William Arthur.. The Knights of England: A Complete Record from the Earliest Time to the Present Day &c.. I.. 1970. Clearfield. 978-0-8063-0443-4. 418.
  4. Book: de Kock, W. J.. Dictionary of South African biography: Vol I. Human Sciences Research Council. 1968. Pretoria. 482.