page_title: John de Villiers, 1st Baron de Villiers
section_title: Chief Justice (1874–1914)
hierarchical_section_title: John de Villiers, 1st Baron de Villiers / Chief Justice (1874–1914)
caption_attribution_description: English: Bust of Lord de Villiers. All busts and images of pre-1994 leaders of the Republic are currently stored in the basement of the Parliament of the Republic of South Africa.
context_page_description: John Henry de Villiers, 1st Baron de Villiers Kt KCMG PC, was a Cape lawyer and judge. He was Attorney-General in the Molteno Government, Chief Justice for the Cape Colony, and later the first Chief Justice for the Union of South Africa.
context_section_description: In 1874, on Molteno's insistence, he agreed to take the office of Chief Justice of the Cape Colony - a job he performed with great dedication and skill until the act of Union in 1910. After the Union of South Africa was created, he went on to serve as Chief Justice of South Africa from 1910 to 1914.
  Altogether, he served as Chief Justice for 40 years, with "...an ever-growing reputation of the highest character for independence, legal ability, and irreproachable impartiality."
  Although he had represented Worcester in Parliament and was very much interested in politics, John de Villiers chose not to pursue political power any further. His reserved and sensitive personality, together with a weak physical constitution and his lack of outward charisma, made him ill-suited to the rough world of politics. However his academic ability, progressive thinking, huge range of intellectual interests and driving work ethic served to make him peerless in the judiciary.
caption: Statue of John Henry de Villiers as Chief Justice
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