Alan Paton’s House

Alan Stewart Paton (1903 –1988) was a South African author and anti-apartheid activist. Paton published numerous books in the late 1940s and 1950s. His works include the novels Cry, the Beloved Country and Too Late the Phalarope. Paton was born in Pietermaritzburg. He attended Maritzburg College. Thereafter, he earned a Bachelor of Science degree at the University of Natal, followed by a diploma in education. He worked as a teacher at the Ixopo High School and the Maritzburg College. He served as the principal of Diepkloof Reformatory for young (native African) offenders from 1935 to 1949. Paton volunteered for service during World War II, but was refused. After the war he took a trip, at his own expense, to tour correctional facilities across the world. He toured Scandinavia, England, continental Europe, Canada, and the United States. During his time in Norway, he began work on his seminal novel Cry, the Beloved Country, which he completed over the course of his journey, finishing it on Christmas Eve in San Francisco in 1946. In 1948, four months after the publication of Cry, the Beloved Country, the right-wing National Party was elected in South Africa.

Paton, together with others, formed the Liberal Association in early-1953. On 9 May 1953, it became the Liberal Party of South Africa (LPSA), with Paton as a founding co-vice-president, which fought against the apartheid laws introduced by the National Party government. He served as President of the LPSA until its forced dissolution by the government in the late-1960s; officially because its membership comprised both Blacks and Whites. Paton adopted a peaceful opposition in protests against apartheid, as did many others in the party; some members took a more violent route, and consequently some stigma did attach to the party.

Paton's passport was confiscated upon his return from New York in 1960, where he had been presented with the annual Freedom Award. It was not returned to him for ten years. Paton retired to Botha's Hill. He lived in the house named "Lintrose" from 1968 until 1988 when he passed away.