After the grant of self-government to the Transvaal in 1907, General Botha was called upon by Lord Selborne to form a government, and in the spring of the same year he took part in the conference of colonial premiers held in London.
Lord Selborne and H.C. Hull, a member of the first Union Cabinet, chose Meintjieskop as the site for Baker's design.
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The British high commissioner at the time, Lord Selborne, remarked;
A cornerstone for the building of the institute was laid in 1905 by the Earl of Selborne.
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church, which was drawn up by William Palmer; the Lay Declaration, which immediately followed, was entirely his composition.
Special duties included roles as an adviser at the inter-state customs conference 1903, membership of the native affairs commission, 1903–1905, and acting as adviser to Lord Selborne, (William Palmer, 2nd Earl of Selbourne and British High Commissioner to South Africa) on Swazi affairs in 1906.
The force of its appeal had a marked influence on the course of events, while the loyalty with which Lord Selborne co-operated with the Botha administration was an additional factor in reconciling the Dutch and British communities.