Percy+Fitzpatrick

Sir James Percy Fitzpatrick, best known as simply Percy Fitzpatrick was born July 24, 1862 in King Williams Town, South Africa. Fitzpatrick grew up to be many things including an author, politician, mining financier, and a pioneer of the fruit industry. He is widely known for writing //Jock of the Bushveld//, a South African children book classic about Fitzpatrick’s experiences with a terrier by the name of Jock. As a politician, he defended the British interests before the occurrence of the Anglo-Boer War.

After his father’s death in 1880, Fitzpatrick left his education at St. Aidan's College to care for his mother and family. He took upon many careers in order to do so including a bank clerk, a storeman,a prospectors assistant, a journalist, and even an ox-wagon transport rider who would travel to Lydenburg and Barberton. Later on he became an editor for a news company in Barberton. Throughout these many careers, Fitzpatrick had an endless amount of stories to tell of his and his dog Jock’s adventures out on the field. What was meant to be just bedtime story for his children transformed into a South African literature classic after Rudyard Kipling, a close friend of Fitzpatrick, convinced him to write and publish his adventures. Jock of the Bushveld was published in 1907.

Percy Fitzpatrick was not only a beloved author, but a well known South African politician. In 1895 he was named secretary of the Reform Committee in Johannesburg. The committee aspired to overthrow Paul Kruger’s South African Republic Government. Fitzpatrick and others, led by Leander Starr Jameson took action in a failed raid in an effort to overthrow the Boer’s government. The group was stopped in Doornkop, a ridge southwest of Johannesburg, and all arrested on high accounts of treason. Fitzpatrick was released five months later.

Due to the outbreak of the Anglo- Boer War in 1899, Percy Fitzpatrick helped establish the Light Horse Regiment, a unit of the South African army. During the war, he remained in Britain as Official Adviser on South African Affairs to the British Government. He was later knighted for his duty.

Out of all the accomplishments and ideas brought upon by Fitzpatrick, possibly the most effective was the idea of Armistice Day. Fitzpatrick came up with the idea to set aside at least two minutes on a certain day to act as a moment of silence to honor for those who have fallen in combat. The thought was forwarded to George V, King of The United Kingdom and named a holiday to be celebrated on November 11.

Throughout all of Percy Fitzpatrick’s different experiences, one thing remains similar. All of his accomplishments have helped further lengthen the image of South African history and classic pastimes. Fitzpatrick passed away at 68 years old on January 24, 1931, not only leaving the world, but leaving a legacy of South African history behind him.