John Xavier Merriman (1841 – 1 August 1926) was the last prime minister of the Cape Colony before the formation of the Union of South Africa in 1910.
He was born in Street, Somerset, England. His parents were Nathaniel James Merriman, curate of the parish of Street and later third Bishop of Grahamstown, and the former Julia Potter. He emigrated to the Cape Colony with his parents in 1849, aged 8. He was educated at the Diocesan College in Rondebosch, Cape Town, and then at Radley College in England.
He returned to South Africa in 1861 and entered politics in 1869. At the time politicians normally needed to rely on a supplementary career for income, and Merriman found a secure secondary occupation as a wine farmer at Schoongezicht, Stellenbosch, after having unsuccessfully tried a range of different professions, from surveyor to prospector to factory manager to merchant.
The "great object" of Merriman's life was parliament, and his parliamentary career (over 50 years) was one of the longest in Cape history. During this time he gained a reputation for great eloquence, elegant epithet and a brilliant wit, but also for erratic volatility with dramatic changes in his views.
Pope John X (Latin: Ioannes X; died c. June 928) was Pope from March 914 to his death in 928. A candidate of the Counts of Tusculum, he attempted to unify Italy under the leadership of Berengar of Friuli, and was instrumental in the defeat of the Saracens at the Battle of Garigliano. He eventually fell out with Marozia, who had him deposed, imprisoned, and finally murdered. John’s pontificate occurred during the period known as the Saeculum obscurum.
John X, whose father’s name was also John, was born at Tossignano, along the Santerno River. He was made a deacon by Peter IV, the Bishop of Bologna, where he attracted the attention of Theodora, the wife of Theophylact, Count of Tusculum, the most powerful noble in Rome. It was alleged by Liutprand of Cremona that John became her lover during a visit to Rome; it has also been speculated that John was related to either Theodora or Theophylact. Regardless, it was through Theodora’s influence that John was on the verge of succeeding Peter as bishop of Bologna, when the post of Archbishop of Ravenna became available. He was consecrated as Archbishop in 905 by Pope Sergius III, another clerical candidate of the Counts of Tusculum.