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 |  |  |  | Newpaper Cuttings: Centenary of a Great Experiment |  |  |  |  | |
| | | | Newpaper Cuttings: Historic Panacea for Museum | | | | | |
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Posted by paul on Saturday, March 20 @ 15:16:55 GMT (1216 reads)
Topic: Newspaper Articles of interest.
 Newspaper cuttings from the Eastern Cape.
Weekend Post, Sept 1968
HISTORIC PANACEA FOR MUSEUM
A bottle of "Crofts Tincture of Life", the panacea for all physical ailments on the frontier in the days of the 1820 Settlers, has been donated to the Settler Museum at Grahamstown by Dr. E.H.BLIGH, of Parktown, Johannesburg. Over the years the museum has been collecting articles made or manufactured by the Settlers and in this collection are examples of the work of the silversmith, Dan HOCKLY, the Dublin goldsmith Peter Clarke DANIEL and the clock-maker RHODES. There is no example of the work of Phillip GAUGAIN, a silversmith of French extraction, who came out with the Settlers.
The Tincture of Life is contained in a small glass bottle under two inches in height. Its glass stopper is held in position by a skin membrane with the ends gathered together and tied round the neck of the bottle. The bottle arrived in a beautifully turned wood container with a screw top and the words: "Chipperfield & Company. Chemist, Southampton", inscribed on its base. Museum officials described this item as a collector's piece.
APOTHECARY
Charles CROFT was an apothecary. His first wife, Mary, born DEACON was drowned in the River Thames but by the time he left for South Africa with Sephton's Party in the Aurora he had married again. His second wife, Elizabeth died at sea. After his arrival in South Africa he married Mary HANCOCK at Salem and set up a business in Bathurst Street where he sold patent medicines, spirits, and his own Tincture of Life.
He was one of the first businessmen in the Eastern Cape to appreciate the value of advertising and his double column advertisements extolling the virtue of his Tincture of Life appeared regularly in the Grahamstown Journal. These advertisements, which contained testimonials from Fieldcornets and others, stated: "The reputation of this incomparable tincture has been sufficiently established by the experience of more than 20 years. It is a most sovereign of antidote against the bites of snakes and all other venomous reptiles by its outward and inward application it gives relief immediately
transcribed from scrapbooks at the Port Elizabeth library that contains miscellaneous newspaper cuttings pertaining to the 1820 Settlers, by
Becky Horne,
Port Elizabeth, South Africa
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| | | | Newpaper Cuttings: Church played a Role in Settler History | | | | | |
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Posted by paul on Saturday, March 20 @ 15:07:42 GMT (1677 reads)
Topic: Newspaper Articles of interest.
Newspaper cuttings from the Eastern Cape.
Weekend Post, October 1973.
CHURCH PLAYED ROLE IN SETTLER HISTORY
St. John's Church in Bathurst, is the oldest unaltered Anglican church in South Africa and is a National Monument.
This historic edifice is not only representative of the heroism of the 1820 Settlers and of the dangerous times in which those people lived but also their determination to build a worthy place of worship. Though services were begun as early as 1820 - in a marquee - it was not till 1838 that the church was completed and opened for worship. In that time it was used on more than one occasion as a place of refuge for the local inhabitants.
FIRST GROUNDSOD
Those first services in the marquee were presided over by the chaplin of Bathurst, the Rev. William BOARDMAN. He died in 1825. A successor was not appointed for nearly three years. In 1832, during the ministry of the Rev. George PORTER, the first groundsod was cut for the foundations. The foundation stone was laid two months afterwards.
By the time the Rev. James BARROW took over in August, 1833, the masonry was completed. The bell was hung in the tower that December. In October, 1834, tenders were received for roofing the church with zinc. Then in December, war broke out. Lower Albany was overrun by rampaging Xhosa. Outlaying settlers were ordered to abandon their homesteads and concentrate in Bathurst.
EVACUATED
The most secure building there was the church. Women and children were sheltered there while men guarded the building and the cattle kraal established nearby. Periodic attacks were repelled till a week later, the settlers were evacuated to Grahamstown in an escorted wagon convoy.
In January, 1835, the military re-occupied Bathurst and garrisoned the church, which was incorporated in the military post for the period of hostilities. The building was strengthened with outer earthworks and survived attacks till the end of the war in September. In October a meeting was held to organise resumption of work on the church. The furnishing of the church was completed by December, 1837, and it was opened with a service on New Year's day, 1838.
SHELTER
The peace in the district was again disrupted when war broke out in April, 1846. On this occasion 300 people had to sleep in the church, its windows blocked by sandbags. War ravaged the country for a third time in December, 1850. As before, the church became a night-time shelter for the people in the area. When peace came in 1853 it also ended the turbulent period in the church's history.
The churchyard is also a focal point of historical interest and Mr. George BRISCOE, a retired farmer living nearby, says almost every grave has an engrossing background. One of the graves is that of Thomas HARTLEY, a settler from Nottingham. He was Bathurst's village blacksmith - who also pulled teeth as a sideline, much to the objection of dentists in Grahamstown. He was also one of St. John's first wardens.
It is interesting to note that most of the settlers from Nottingham actually made their homes in Bathurst. Another grave is that of little Catherine BARROW, a daughter of the Rev. James BARROW. She died aged six in 1860 when the infant mortality rate was particularly high. There are also many graves of people who died in the Blaauwkrantz train disaster.
transcribed from scrapbooks at the Port Elizabeth library that contains miscellaneous newspaper cuttings pertaining to the 1820 Settlers, by
Becky Horne,
Port Elizabeth, South Africa
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| | | | Newpaper Cuttings: Farmhouse Stands for 130 Years | | | | | |
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Posted by paul on Saturday, March 20 @ 15:04:25 GMT (1403 reads)
Topic: Newspaper Articles of interest.
Newspaper cuttings from the Eastern Cape.
EP Herald, April 1970
FARMHOUSE STANDS FOR 130 YEARS
A few hundred yards from the ultra-modern homes on the outskirts of Sunridge Park, stands a 130-year-old farmhouse built by John PARKIN, an 1820 Settler and leader of one Port Elizabeth's oldest and wealthiest families. The house, built in about 1840, stands on what is now Council owned land and is occupied by Mr. & Mrs. W.H. BOUCHER.The BOUCHERS have lived there since 1938.
John PARKIN, who led the Devonshire Party in Weymouth in 1820, bought the land, Baakens River Farm from John BERRY about 25 years later. He had previously lived in Devonshire Farm on the Kariga River. According to Mrs. Cecil Scott PARKIN of Port Elizabeth, John PARKIN died in 1856. He was known throughout Port Elizabeth and the surrounding districts as the owner of extensive properties, in addition to being a noted cattle farmer, meat merchant and huntsman. Mr. C. Scott PARKIN is John PARKIN's great-great-grandson.
ATTACK
John PARKIN and suffered a heart attack in Main Street as he was on his way to buy another property. He already owned all land along Main Street as far as Peel Street, and down Jetty Street around to Strand Street. "The family story goes that when he died, he was holding in his hand R800 with which to buy the land on the corner of Main Street and St. Mary's Terrace," Mr. PARKIN said.
The farm, with its typically English cottage, was left to George PARKIN, one of his 16 known children. According to Mr. C Scott PARKIN, George PARKIN and later his son, George Scott PARKIN, lived on the farm until about 1912. Scott PARKIN's widow continued to live there until approximately 1930 when it was bought by the late Mr. W.E.LONDT. Mrs. PARKIN died soon afterwards.
ACQUIRED
Mr. LONDT also acquired much of the surrounding land, which also belonged to the PARKIN family. The area was later developed into a township, Fernglen, by a company of which Mr. LONDT was a director. The land on which the homestead stands was endowment land handed to the City Council as commonage when the township was developed.
Mr. & Mrs. BOUCHER, who live in the house with six of their 11 children, have been there for 32 years. They pay R11 a month rental. "The house has a lot of charm and is typical of an English farm cottage," said Mrs. M. RAINIER, a former Port Elizabeth historian now living in East London. Mrs. RAINIER has made a study of the PARKIN family history.
BALLAST
John PARKIN also owned a town house in Main Street, built from bricks carried as ballast in Weymouth. According to Mrs. RAINIER, there are still traces of extensive terraced gardens laid out at the back of the farmhouse. John PARKIN, Frederick PARKIN, another of his sons - and George PARKIN's baby daughter, Jane are buried in adjoining graves on a hilltop near the house.
John PARKIN married twice and had 16 children, eight sons and 8 daughters by his first wife. He married his housekeeper after the death of his first wife, and, it is believed, had several more children. John PARKIN's second wife is buried in the South End Cemetery.
transcribed from scrapbooks at the Port Elizabeth library that contains miscellaneous newspaper cuttings pertaining to the 1820 Settlers, by
Becky Horne,
Port Elizabeth, South Africa
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| | | | Newpaper Cuttings: The Colletts of the Fish River | | | | | |
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Posted by paul on Friday, March 19 @ 20:40:06 GMT (2181 reads)
Topic: Newspaper Articles of interest.
Newspaper cuttings from the Eastern Cape.
EP Herald, 1973
THE COLLETTS OF THE FISH RIVER
The Fish River area to the north of Cradock is well known for its irrigation and sheep farming, and also the COLLETT family descendants of James COLLETT,who came to South Africa as an independent young man in 1820. From England, he was a member of one of several parties of settlers brought out by Major-General Charles CAMPBELL.
The COLLETTS now own eight farms at Fish River, and the owners can all be traced back to the one branch of the family, being descendants of James COLLETT's eldest son, John. Nearly all the COLLETTS, and James had a big family of five sons and four daughters (this was surpassed by John COLLETT with seven sons and six daughters) turned out to be farmers. Even female descendants married into Eastern Cape and Karoo farming families.
Other COLLETTS today farm in the Middelburg (Cape) area, the Northern and Eastern Transvaal and Natal. James COLLETT, who married Rhoda TROLLIP in 1824 - there were afterwards of lot of marriages between COLLETT and TROLLIP cousins, including three of James' children - only moved to the Cradock area about 1842. A few years later he went further north to farm at Fish River.
EDUCATED
James COLLETT was a highly educated man, and played an important part in the early community life of the Eastern Cape. He was only 34 when he was nominated for the Legislative Council at the Cape Parliament in 1834. He was a member of the committee which formed the Eastern Province Agricultural Society in 1841. He died in 1876.
The best known of the present COLLETT farms is Grassridge, owned by Mr. Keith COLLETT, a grandchild of John COLLETT. The well-know Grassridge Dam is on the farm, being a part of the Great Brak River, which flows in the Fish River. This is also a storage dam for the Orange River Project.
The COLLETT farms are a mixture of Scottish and Afrikaans names, for instance, Highlands (John) and Glen Alfa (Richard) Katkop (Godfrey) Groenkloof (Derrick) and Speelmanskop (David) The other farms are Retreat (Hilton) and Saltpansdrift (Mrs. Neville COLLETT) Most of these present owners are descendants of three of John COLLET's sons, Walter, Albert, Henry and Norman, and very close family ties exist.
Probably the most prominent of the COLLETT's farmers of the Fish River has been Herbert COLLET, the second son of John COLLETT. He was a bachelor and farmer at Saltpansdrift. This is situated just below the Fish River station at the confluences of the Fish and Great Brak Rivers.
Herbert pioneered the irrigation farming at the turn of the century and five weirs he built are still being used today. At one time Herbert owned 13 farms. He was instrumental in starting the Cradock Agricultural Show. The COLLETTS are staunch Methodists, and it was Herbert COLLETT, who with the assistance of the brothers, built the COLLETT church at Fish River Station in 1910. This still stands today, along with the Herbert COLLETT Hall, another of his practical achievements
PERSONALITIES
Some well-known personalities have descended from the female line of the COLLETTS. Two daughters of John COLLETT married BUTLER brothers. Professor Guy BUTLER, head of the English department at Rhodes University, is a direct descendant, and so is Dr. Jeffrey BUTLER, of the Wesleyan University in Connecticut, America. He is a doctor of philosophy.
The former Springbok tennis players, Gordon FORBES and Jean DRYSDALE neé FORBES, and prominent Eastern Province cricketers, Gilbert and 'Dassie' BIGGS, have COLLETT blood in them. The FORBES, whose family farm at Burgersdorp, are related through one of their sons have married a daughter of William COLLETT, third son of James. The BIGGS are likewise related, on the side of Joseph COLLETT, William's younger brother.
LONGEVITY
Joseph's daughter, Mrs. Mabel BIGGS, is still living today, at Port Alfred. Longevity seems to be a heritage of the COLLETTS. Four of John COLLETT's sons lived past the age of 90. William and Joseph were two sons of James COLLETT who farmed in the Middelburg area. Joseph's branch is today represented by Mr. Ralph COLLETT, at Rooihoogte, and William's by Mr. David COLLETT at Middelburg.
Mr. David COLLETT owns the farm Dunblane, which is a part of the once famous Rietvlei farm, owned by William. Another of the Rietvlei farms, Greyville, has now been sold, the owner, Mr. John COLLETT, having retired to Port Alfred. He is a grandson of William.
Mr. David COLLETT is the son of the late Colonel Edward COLLETT, DSO, CMG, a veteran of the South African and Great Wars, Col. COLLETT fought in France with the Middlesex Regiment during the 1914-18 war, and was badly gassed in a battle at Belleau Wood. He died in 1927.
One of the other sons of James COLLETT, George's descendants are now in the Northern Transvaal, while James jnr. went to farm in the Graaff-Reinet district, and his branch of the family died out. The last one was Mr. Denham COLLETT, who owned the farm Rynheath.
Apart from the TROLLIPS, who are also widespread, another family closely linked with the early COLLETTS are the MASKELLS of Hanover, from the marriage of James COLLETT's daughter, Susannah.
transcribed from scrapbooks at the Port Elizabeth library that contains miscellaneous newspaper cuttings pertaining to the 1820 Settlers, by
Becky Horne,
Port Elizabeth, South Africa
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| | | | Newpaper Cuttings: STRAIGHTENING THE SETTLER RECORD | | | | | |
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Posted by paul on Friday, March 19 @ 20:30:50 GMT (1896 reads)
Topic: Newspaper Articles of interest.
Newspaper cuttings from the Eastern Cape.
Weekend Post - August, 1969
From: Vernon LATHAM-SHARP, Bengeo, Herts, England.
STRAIGHTENING THE SETTLER RECORD
Sir, Under the heading On trail of the Settlers - "Two Sea Scouts follow old ox wagon route" in the Weekend Post of July 11, you state "On the other two nights they stayed as Assegaibosch Farm and Sidbury Park, both of which have old manor houses which were originally the inns built by early settlers."
May I offer corrections relating to both properties? Assegaibosch Farm was one of three farms owned by my maternal grandfather, Charles Potgieter LATHAM. The houses were built by Joseph LATHAM, first Town Clerk of Grahamstown. My grandfather lived on the Home Farm, Fair View, recently sold by Mr. EMSLEY.
The houses were built as homes, not, as you slate, as "inns" With reference to Sidbury Park - this is an historic building and illustrations of it, together with chronological details, appear in numberless books on Settler history and early Cape architecture.
The BERRINGTON family (related to me) have farmed this property for nearly, if not over, one hundred years.
WOOL PIONEER
It was built by Lieutenant Richard DANIELL in 1822 as his home and not as an inn and also the founder of the small township Sidbury. My aunt, Emily LATHAM, married a direct descendant of Richard DANIELL, Harry DANIELL, who, at one time managed the Fair View farm for my grandfather.
My uncle Robert managed the Assegaibosch Farm and my uncle Charles the farm now owned by Mr. McFARLANE. The original house of this farm is now derelict. Richard DANIELL, together with a Mr. T.C. WHITE, can be said to be the founders of the Cape wool industry, as they began around 1827 introducing wool-bearing sheep. By not more than a decade later many farmers had followed suit and the industry was on its feet.
GUEST HOUSE
Sidbury Park and Fair View stand today in their original state. Assegaibosch Farm is now a guest house. The original house still stands but has been added to very considerably to cope with its popularity. The old entrance to my grandfather's property is still shown on some maps as "LATHAM's Gate" During my recent visit to my native land I visited all these old homes
transcribed from scrapbooks at the Port Elizabeth library that contains miscellaneous newspaper cuttings pertaining to the 1820 Settlers, by
Becky Horne,
Port Elizabeth, South Africa
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| | | | Newpaper Cuttings: Uitenhage Settlers | | | | | |
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Posted by paul on Friday, March 19 @ 20:27:32 GMT (3630 reads)
Topic: Newspaper Articles of interest.
Newspaper cuttings from the Eastern Cape.
Source unknown - 1974
UITENHAGE SETTLERS
Uitenhage, the oldest town in the Eastern Cape (we'll have you know) received its fair share of settlers - and the benefits of an influx of skilled British artisans. "They had imagined, and had been told, that you'd take the fruit from the trees along the road and that the country was so fertile that with little difficulty and cultivation it produced anything, "wrote Mr. H.O. LANGE, a clerk in Uitenhage to Col. Jacob Glen CUYLER in 1820.
COMFORT
The reality, of course, was somewhat different and at the risk of breaking official settlement terms, many of the 1820 Settlers chose the comfort of Uitenhage to the calamity of the frontier. Representatives of every trade settled in Uitenhage, in fact those early failures on the land laid the foundations of Uitenhage's prosperity and success. They enriched the town and sometimes even themselves.
BRICKMAKERS
Uitenhage's first industrial boom was in brick-making Willow, wood and reeds were the only building materials available on the Settlers' holdings. Plaster was made up of cow dung and sand, walls were treated with a mixture of pipeclay and wood ash, diluted with milk or a concoction of bullock's blood. Burnt bricks were as rare as gold - until this essential need was met by the family of Philip FROST who established a brickmaking concern soon after his arrival with the Damant party.
WOOLWASHING
Six generations of the family have followed the brickmaking trade, and many of the old homes demolished in Uitenhage today bear the initials on the bricks of the FROST's of more than a century ago.
Fine-wool farming was introduced by the Settlers DANIELL and WHITE, and was the forerunner of Uitenhage's present woolwashing industry. There were at one stage 11 large woolwashers lining the banks of the Zwartkops River.
OLD NAMES
Many other Settlers - some noteworthy like John Centlivres CHASE, others lesser - known and long forgotten - made their homes in Uitenhage. There were names such as -
FOWLER, REED, HARVEY, STREAK, FROST, CARNEY, FOXCROFT, PARKIN, DICKS, POTE, RANDELL, and WAIT - plus HUDSON, STOWE, COLLING, BILLSON, WHITEHEAD, BUBB, HAYWARD, HOCKLY, FLEETWOOD, ROWE, KIRKMAN, SLATER.
Daniel and Elizabeth HOCKLEY and their three daughters settled in the town - Daniel, being a qualified goldsmith, was much in demand as a jeweller. His wife ran a school for young ladies - one of the first educational establishments in the town.
ATHERSTONE
David ATHERSTONE, not one of the MOODIE Settlers opened a Blacksmith shop. There, his son David was born whose influence during the diamond fields dispute was to alter the entire course of South African history. David junior was one of the distinguished products of Dr. James Rose-Innes's School, another being William Guybon ATHERSTONE.
Uitenhage it seems, thrived upon its thriving Settlers - and there came a variety of clubs, cultural societies and hostelries in the town. Indeed it was once reported that Uitenhage could claim to have the most licensed public houses to the square mile of any town in the Cape. So, when it comes to Settler celebrations Uitenhage has no need to hang back.
transcribed from scrapbooks at the Port Elizabeth library that contains miscellaneous newspaper cuttings pertaining to the 1820 Settlers, by
Becky Horne,
Port Elizabeth, South Africa
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| | | | Newpaper Cuttings: South African saga began with new year on ice | | | | | |
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Posted by paul on Friday, March 19 @ 20:22:56 GMT (981 reads)
Topic: Newspaper Articles of interest.
From Daily Dispatch, Thursday, January 6, 2000
South African saga began with new year on ice
Glyn Williams Column
The Rev William Boardman, his wife Margaret Hayes and eight children went to London before the new year to set sail for a new life in South Africa. But their vessel, La Belle Alliance, was trapped by ice in the Thames. It was one of the coldest winters experienced in Britain. It was a new year on ice for the Boardmans.
It was not until January 19, 1820, that La Belle Alliance was finally able to leave its moorings at Deptford and head for the open sea. After all that waiting some of the Willson party of 1820 Settlers had had second thoughts on a possible new life, had left the ship, and returned to their homes. The Boardmans soldiered on, even putting up with another long delay when the vessel was again held up by ice at Blackwall until February 14.
Boardman, old at 53 to contemplate such a radical change in the life of his family, found himself in charge of the party soon after they landed. Most of the group had irreconciliable differences with the leader, Thomas Willson, and Boardman, with his education, was the natural leader.
But by 1823 Boardman, first minister of the English church in the Eastern Province, had had enough. In a letter from Beaufort Vale, Bathurst, he said he wanted to return to England. His frustration was extreme. He said in the letter he had found the whole party fraudulent, with few exceptions, and addicted to lying and cheating. Despite the many services he had rendered, he felt there were people who would kill him for refusing to connive with them to secure extra rations from the government.
Boardman complained of headaches, considerable weariness after having to travel constantly by horse, and people who would not pay their debts. He said he had been repeatedly swindled. He clung to his integrity, saying members of the party who had been granted 100 acres had no right to claim properties left vacant by people who had left.
Although he was not averse to some relief for the settlers because of the failure of crops, it should not be indiscriminate, he wrote, for this engendered a spirit of idleness and led to abuses. The death of his wife, Margaret, added to his troubles, as well as a lack of a stipend which had been promised for five years. He resigned the leadership in 1824 and opened a grammar school in the Bathurst Drostdy, as well as starting a school at Cuylerville.
He died and was buried at Beaufort Vale in 1826 with his reputation as minister, teacher, leader and honest man intact. A dynasty of Southern African families sprang from the Boardmans -- Dixon, Taylor, Brummer, Fritz and many others. Some have moved elsewhere. Two of his descendants, Gary and Brian Dixon, worked as journalists on the Daily Dispatch.
transcribed from scrapbooks at the Port Elizabeth library that contains miscellaneous newspaper cuttings pertaining to the 1820 Settlers, by
Becky Horne,
Port Elizabeth, South Africa
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| | | | Newpaper Cuttings: Settler Son was a pioneer Editor | | | | | |
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Posted by paul on Friday, March 19 @ 20:18:14 GMT (1388 reads)
Topic: Newspaper Articles of interest.
Newspaper cuttings from the Eastern Cape.
Source unknown - July 1971
Settler Son was a pioneer Editor
Last year's 150th anniversary celebrations of the British Settler's arrival and this year's events to mark the Kimberley centenary were of special significance to Mrs. Doreen EATON of Port Elizabeth. For she is a descendant of Casper Henry HARTLEY, son of an 1820 Settler and a pioneer newspaper editor in the diamond fields. Mrs. EATON, wife of Mr. F. Owen EATON, who played important roles in both the Settler centenary and 150th anniversary celebration, is a great-great-granddaughter of Casper's aunt, Sarah HARTLEY, who married John BATES. Mrs. EATON, whose brother is Walter BATTIS, the famous artist, has done a lot of fascinating research into her forefather's history.
METAL CRAFTSMAN
Casper Henry HARTLEY owned and edited the Kimberly Daily Independent, which was the first daily newspaper published on the diamond fields and one of the first daily newspapers in South Africa. He was the son and grandson of 1820 Settlers, the HARTLEY's who came from Cuckney, a village near Mansfield, Nottinghamshire and sailed from Liverpool in the Nottingham party.
Their ship, the Albury, landed at Algoa Bay on May 27, 1820 and they travelled to Clumber by wagon, settling in Bathurst. Casper's grandfather Thomas HARTLEY, a metal craftsman, built the Bathurst Inn in 1831, owned Summerhill Park, a 1,600 hectare farm and a shop and smithy.
Caper's father, William , seems to have had a flair for writing, for he left what is a valuable document for historians today - 14 verses, "Trials and Tribulations" of the Settlers. Written in 1852, this gives a very personal account of their sufferings and of the political climate of the day. William and his wife Mary moved to Tarkastad, where Caper, the third of their eight children was born on the farm "Morning Sun" on March 6, 1836.
FINE STOCK
William was appointed a Municipal Commissioner and general government agent among the Boers, who inverted him to join on their treks., but he did not do so. When they grew up, Caper and some of his brothers and sisters settled on the diamond fields. Casper was editor and publisher of the Independent for 16 years, starting some time between 1875 and 1877. The newspaper became so popular that it became a daily from August 1879, but later financial depression caused it to cease publication. Caper, who married Emma FREEMANTLE, came of fine stock - hardy, enterprising and of integrity. His father's one brother, Jeremiah became an honoured Wesleyan missionary among the Bachuanas and Basutos.
HUNTER
The youngest brother, Henry HARTLEY, who settled in the Magaliesberg district, was a pioneer of Rhodesia. The town HARTLEY was named after him He was also a famous elephant hunter and discovered old gold near HARTLEY Hills. Among the many direct descendants of Casper's father, William is Mrs. Francis McPHEARSON, wife of Mr. Ian McPHEARSON , the Port Elizabeth Town Clerk.
transcribed from scrapbooks at the Port Elizabeth library that contains miscellaneous newspaper cuttings pertaining to the 1820 Settlers, by
Becky Horne,
Port Elizabeth, South Africa
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| | | | Newpaper Cuttings: Timepiece was brought out in 1820 | | | | | |
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Posted by paul on Friday, March 19 @ 20:16:27 GMT (1108 reads)
Topic: Newspaper Articles of interest.
Newspaper cuttings from the Eastern Cape.
Adam Brand's Diary
Weekend Post, April 1970
Timepiece was brought out in 1820
Oldest clock for Settler Museum
A clock which accompanied an 1820 Settler from England and has continued to keep time in the 150 years which have passed since then, is to be presented to Grahamstown's 1820 Settlers Memorial Museum. The clock is believed to be the oldest one with 1820 Settler associations in South Africa.
Mr. P.B FROST, whose great-grandfather, Philip FROST, brought the clock out from Holt, Norfolk, is giving it to the museum. He is also handing over an old family bible, with Philip's birth in 1787 heading the list of births, marriages and deaths written in it. Mr. & Mrs. FROST, who are from the Transvaal, have lived in Port Elizabeth for three years. They are soon leaving to settle in Edenvale. That is why they decided to present the clock and Bible to the Settlers museum.
The clock was exhibited in the Port Elizabeth Museum in 1921, during the Centenary celebrations of the Settlers' landing. It is apparently the "30-hour" clock included in a list of household furniture and effects advertised for auction before Philip Frost left for South Africa.
Mr. & Mrs. FROST have a newspaper cutting of the advertisement telling of the auction which was to take place on November 16, 1819. The possessions of Philip FROST, who was changing his "situation" included various pieces of furniture plus a barrel organ and harpsichord and a fat hog, a strong useful cart horse and a one-horse cart. The clock could not have been sold, for it was passed down to Philip's son, Philip Barnes FROST, his son, Ethelred Wolsley FROST and his son, Mr. P.B. FROST.
NORTH END
The Bible, printed by the Oxford University Press, was translated from the original Greek and includes the books of Apocrypha. Philip FROST and his wife and children, including Philip Barnes, who was the 14, came out of the barque Ocean. Mr. FROST was allocated ground at North End and he and his son were evidently the first brick and tile makers in Algoa Bay. After awhile they discovered that Coega had better clay, so they moved their brickyard there. Their original kilns are possibly still at Coega.
ONLY SON
Philip Barnes FROST and his wife had three sons and two daughters - the youngest was Lavinia, after whom Lavinia Street in North End was named. After his first wife's death, he married a widow. Their children were Ethelred Wolsley and Mrs. Burleigh STEVENS. Mr. P. B. FROST was Mr. E. W. FROST's only son. Three sisters live in the Transvaal. Another, Mrs. Burleigh MATTICKS, lives in East London and the fifth, Mrs. Ethel DOS SANTOS, lives in Kokstad.
One of Mr. E.W. FROST's cousins, Mrs. Lizzie GEER who lived to be 103 is said to have been the first Settler baby girl born in Port Elizabeth. Another cousin, John FROST, used to play the organ in the Ned. Geref, Kerk, Uitenhage.
transcribed from scrapbooks at the Port Elizabeth library that contains miscellaneous newspaper cuttings pertaining to the 1820 Settlers, by
Becky Horne,
Port Elizabeth, South Africa
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| | | | Newpaper Cuttings: East Cape links with Dick KING | | | | | |
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Posted by paul on Friday, March 19 @ 20:13:43 GMT (1964 reads)
Topic: Newspaper Articles of interest.
Newspaper cuttings from the Eastern Cape.
Weekend Post ? 1967
East Cape links with Dick KING
Had the re-enactment of Dick KING's historic ride from Durban to Grahamstown taken place a few years from now, the horseman may well have been young Roy SCALLAN of Port Elizabeth. For Roy, who is now 14 is a descendant of Dick KING and as keen a young rider as his famous forbear must have been in his youth. However, this is in no way detracts from the symbolic achievement of the "1967 Dick King" - Edwin FERREIRA - who next Friday, will have followed dramatically in the footsteps (or should we say hoofprints!) of Dick KING all those 600 miles from Durban to Grahamstown.
Edwin FERREIRA, a Transvaal farmer and expert horseman, understandably aroused the interest and admiration of South Africa in his re-enactment of that epic ride in May, 1842. KING, as you know undertook the journey to call fro relief for the British troops beleaguered by the Boers in Port Natal. FERREIRA - who is of Anglo Afrikaans descent - is the great-grandson of John BOARD, who was a trader at Algoa Bay before the arrival of the 1820 Settlers.
KIN
Young Roy SCALLAN is the son of Mr. & Mrs. Sutton SCALLAN of Mount Pleasant, Port Elizabeth. One of five children, he is a standard VII pupil at Victoria Park High School. A fine horseman already, he owns two mounts - Sandpiper and Ruby. His late grandfather, Mr. Albert LISHER, was a great nephew of Dick KING. I'm no genealogical expert so don't blame me if we get confused. But Dick KING would thus be the great-uncle of Mr. LISHER's widow, Mrs. Violet LISHER, 76, of Mount Pleasant, which would make KING the great-great-uncle of young Roy's mother, Mrs. Joyce SCALLAN and great-great-great-uncle of Roy himself.
Mrs. SCALLAN has two brothers and four sister in the Eastern Cape. They are George and Arthur LISHER (both of Newton Park) Mrs. Sylvia VAN DEN BERG and Mrs. Beryl GRUNDLINGH (both of Mount Pleasant) and Gladys MAASDORP and Mrs. Phyllis CAMERON (both of Port Alfred)
In 1963, the SCALLAN family went on something of a "pilgrimage" to the Natal South Coast, where Dick KING lived for 34 years and is buried. At Isipingo they saw his house - which is a national monument - and his tombstone. Surmounted by a simple cross, it is inscribed:
"Sacred to the memory of Richard Phillip KING, born Chatham, England, November 28, 1813, died Isipingo, Natal, November 10, 1871, aged 58 years. The gallant act of Richard Phillip KING in riding to Grahamstown for the relief of the remnant of the troops and others beleaguered by the Boers, and reduced to great privations in May, 1841, is a matter of history and will never be forgotten in Natal. His kindliness and generosity were a household word, but his affection as a husband and father can but be known to his bereaved family who erect this monument as a slight tribute to him whose irreparable loss they now mourn.
"Palmain quie meruit perat" (translated) "Let he who wins the olive branch wear it"
PIONEERS
During their South Coast sojourn, the SCALLANS met Mrs. Hetty KING, widow of Dick KING's second son, Francis Richard. Francis lies buried next to his father at Isipingo, where Mrs. Hetty KING (who was 86 in 1963 still lived at the time.They also met Mrs. Doris CAMP of Maritzburg, the granddaughter of Dick KING.
Dick KING by the way was the son of an 1820 Settler who settled his family in the Grahamstown district.
transcribed from scrapbooks at the Port Elizabeth library that contains miscellaneous newspaper cuttings pertaining to the 1820 Settlers, by
Becky Horne,
Port Elizabeth, South Africa
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| | | | Newpaper Cuttings: A Piece of History | | | | | |
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Posted by paul on Friday, March 19 @ 20:12:10 GMT (1076 reads)
Topic: Newspaper Articles of interest.
Newspaper cuttings from the Eastern Cape.
Passed down to great-great-granddaughter - A Piece of History (writer unknown)
A valuable document which usually hangs in the entrance hall of Mr & Mrs James GARDINER's farm, Maasstrom, in the Bedford district, has been brought to Port Elizabeth for re-framing. It is the deed of granting of Arms to Sir Andries STOCKENSTRÖM.
Sir Andries was Lieut-Governor of the Eastern Province from 1834 to 1839. He was created a baronet in 1840. Mrs GARDINER is his great-great-granddaughter.
LANDDROST
Her father, Sir Andries STOCKENSTRÖM, who died in 1957, was the forth and last baronet of Maasstrom, She was his only child. Her mother has remarried and lives in Bedford. She is Mrs. L BLIGNAUT, wife of a retired bank manager.
Sir Andries STOCKENSTRÖM's father, also Andries, landdrost of Graaff-Reinet, was killed in the Zuurberg in 1811 while leading a patrol of Graaff-Reinet commandos. Sir Andries, who succeeded his father as landdrost of Graaff-Reinet, married Miss Elsabe MAASDORP, a member of a prominent Graaff-Reinet family.
The name of the farm, which Queen Victoria granted Sir Andries at the time of his knighthood, is made up of the parts of two names - maas and strom. Sir Andries son, Sir Gysbert Henry STOCKENSTRÖM, became the second baronet of Maasstrom, followed by his nephew, Sir Andries STOCKENSTRÖM, father of Sir Andries, the fourth baronet.
Mrs GARDINER's husband incidentally, is a direct descendant of the 1820 Settler, Robert PRINGLE, who went to Lynedoch, in the Bedford district. Mr GARDINER said Lynedoch was apparently the original farm of the first Sir Andries STOCKENSTRÖM, who subsequently handed it over to Colonel John GRAHAM, who was in charge of the Grahamstown garrison when the settlers arrived.
The arms certificate, which has been handed down to Mrs GARDINER, was issued at the College of Arms, London on March 17, 1840. The wording, written with a quill pen is a beautiful script, is signed by the Garter Principal King of Arms and the Clarenceux King of Arms of the Herald's College. At the foot are two tins containing their seals.
transcribed from scrapbooks at the Port Elizabeth library that contains miscellaneous newspaper cuttings pertaining to the 1820 Settlers, by
Becky Horne,
Port Elizabeth, South Africa
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| | | | Newpaper Cuttings: Descendants look back. | | | | | |
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Posted by paul on Friday, March 19 @ 20:08:47 GMT (1272 reads)
Topic: Newspaper Articles of interest.
Newspaper cuttings from the Eastern Cape.
Herald Reporter, 13 July 1974
Descendants look back.
The opening of the 1820 Settler Monument in Grahamstown today will be particularly significant to some of Port Elizabeth's senior citizens - the monument has been erected in memory of their grandparents.
One of the oldest grandchildren of 1820 settlers still living is Mr. Walter Ernest WARNER, 103, of Sunridge Park, Port Elizabeth, whose life has brought him a wealth of memories. His grandfather was Joseph WARNER, and his father Ebenezer WARNER. Formerly a Transkei attorney, he used to travel on horseback to visit clients and attend court cases, until he became the second man in the Transkei to own a motorcar. He remembers being locked up in a Butterworth jail with women and children, as protection during a Kaffir War.
OX WAGON
Another settler grandchild is 92 year old Mrs. Alice Charlotte Ann BILLETT, who lives in Walmer, with her daughter, Mrs. E.PAPE. Her grandparents were 1820 Settlers, Francis WHITTAL, her grandfather came to South Africa on the Chapman, the first settler ship to drop anchor in Algoa Bay on April 9, 1820. One of his 18 children, Charles John WHITTAL, married Sarah Ann RANDALL and they had 10 children, of which Mrs. BILLETT is the third and only surviving member.
She was born at Cuylerville and remembers the 14-day trek by ox wagon her family undertook when they went to farm in the Cathcart district. "Strong black coffee and dry bread is what we ate", she said. In 1971, Mrs. BILLETT made another journey - this time by plane to Durban, and now, in the same pioneering spirit, she is hoping to go to Grahamstown to see the 1820 Settler Monument, which she regards as "a wonderful achievement"
Another settler granddaughter living in Port Elizabeth is Mrs. Elizabeth Daisy McCLELAND aged 91. No. 7 Castle Hill, the oldest dwelling house still standing in Port Elizabeth, was the home of the Rev. Francis McCLELAND, an 1820 Settler. He was the grandfather of Mrs. McCLELAND's late husband, Harry William McCLELAND.
In 1905, Mrs. McCLELAND was living in the Gamtoos Valley, where her husband was farming, when a number of Scottish engineers were sent to build the Gamtoos railway bridge. The men longed for bread, which was not available, and Mrs. McCLELAND began a career in catering. A Dutch oven was made by digging a hole in a clay bank, and she baked 20 loaves a day for the men.
Mr. William HARDEN, an 1820 Settler who also arrived in South Africa on the sailing ship Chapman, was killed by Blacks in 1842 according to a family tree carefully kept by his grandson, Mr. Percival Reginald HOLMES, 69, of Newton Park.
Of MORTIMER and LARTER descent, Mrs. Stella PROSSER is also an 1820 Settler grandchild. Now in her eighties, Mrs. PROSSER lives in Port Elizabeth and has in her flat beautiful handmade furniture passed down from generation to generation.
transcribed from scrapbooks at the Port Elizabeth library that contains miscellaneous newspaper cuttings pertaining to the 1820 Settlers, by
Becky Horne,
Port Elizabeth, South Africa
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| | | | Newpaper Cuttings: Holmes | | | | | |
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Posted by paul on Tuesday, March 09 @ 21:31:26 GMT (748 reads)
Topic: Newspaper Articles of interest.
Newspaper cuttings from the Eastern Cape.
Herald, 28 June 1974
Mr. Keith DUCAT of Johannesburg was wondering (in a letter to the Editor last week) whether his 79-year-old aunt could claim to be the youngest surviving grandchild of an 1820 Settler. The answer, I can tell him now, is no - not by a long shot. Here in Port Elizabeth we have a settler grandchild of the tender age of 56 - and not even he is prepared to claim to be the youngest surviving grandchild.
A TODDLER
He is Mr. Peter HOLMES of Bluewater Bay, former Eastern Province cricketer, son of Thomas "Tup" HOLMES, the son of Thomas HOLMES, who was born in England in 1817 and arrived in Algoa Bay as a toddler member of the Sephton party aboard the good ship Aurora. "My grandfather," says Peter HOLMES, "had 19 children of whom my father "Tup" HOLMES was the youngest. He was born in 1883 when his father was 66."
Born in 1917 - nine days short of 100 years after his grandfather - Mr. HOLMES was quick to say, "I do not claim to be the youngest grandchild because I believe my cousin Vivian HOLMES is younger than I am. Last heard of, he was farming in the Vryburg area. Anyway I am sure that there must be others who are as young as or even younger than our family," he added. "It may be of interest to know that my uncle Basil HOLMES, last surviving son of Thomas HOLMES, died only two years ago at the age of 98. He is survived by four children all under the age of 70."
FORMIDABLE
Most interesting indeed and it seems now that Mr. DUCAT, who is a great-great grandchild of 1820 Settler James SMITH of Essex, will have a greater job on his hands than he thought when he suggested that a sort of inventory be made of surviving settler grandchildren. It appears, just from a study of the family register of Thomas HOLMES, that there could be quite a large number of third generation descendants still around. As Mr. Peter HOLMES mentioned, his father was one of 19 children - which suggests that he must surely have had a formidable number of cousins. The toddler who started it all died in 1894 at the age of 77. The first of his 19 children, Charles Henry was born in 1838 when Thomas was a mere 21 years old - and children followed at two year intervals thereafter.
NINE IN 18
The family records show that Charles Henry HOLMES was born in Grahamstown. Then in 1840 came Margaret Louisa born in Cradock, then Adelaide Susanna, 1842, Thomas William, 1844, and Sarah Ann, 1846, all in Colesberg. The next three children were also born in Colesberg, but their dates are missing. However, it would appear that Walter George, Harriet and Theodore must also have come along at two-year intervals because the next entry in the register is William Edward, who was born in 1855. Nine children in less than 18 years.
SHORT BREAK
There is a break after that which is explained by the next entry in the register, "Thomas HOLMES married Margaret Thompson TENNANT on March 5, 1862. Then we have Margaret Thompson HOLMES born December 1863 in Bloemfontein, Tomina Eleanor, February, 1866 in Reddersburg, Mary Tennant, 1868 in Bloemfontein, Jessie Scott, 1870, Nooitgedacht, Edith Grace, 1872, Nooitgedacht, Basil John, 1874, Paradise, Reginald Ligertwood, 1877, Nooitgedacht, Thomas, 1879, Nooitgedacht - died two months later. Gilbert Thomas, 1881, Nooitgedacht and finally Thomas, Nooitgedacht, 1883.
A MEETING
Not bad is it? Nineteen children over a period of 45 years. Mr. Peter HOLMES relates a family anecdote which says that when his father, Thomas HOLMES, was playing in a cricket match at Kroonstad as a young man he was accosted on the field by a white-haired old man who inquired of him, "Are you Thomas HOLMES?" Thomas HOLMES replied that he was indeed Thomas HOLMES. Whereupon the old man extended his hand, "How do you do," he said, "I am your elder brother." He was, in fact, a half brother - Thomas William HOLMES, born 1844 and thus 39 years older than his baby brother.
transcribed from scrapbooks at the Port Elizabeth library that contains miscellaneous newspaper cuttings pertaining to the 1820 Settlers, by
Becky Horne,
Port Elizabeth, South Africa
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Posted by paul on Tuesday, March 09 @ 21:27:04 GMT (1567 reads)
Topic: Newspaper Articles of interest.
Newspaper cuttings from the Eastern Cape.
Unknown Source 1973
DOLDS
A feature of the DOLD family of the Albany district, is their prominent sporting background. Several DOLDS excelled in cricket and tennis and perhaps the most famous sportsman of the family was the late Jack DOLD, a Springbok rugby player on the 1931-32 tour of Britain.
The DOLDS were 1820 Settlers and established themselves in public life in Grahamstown, and also in the farming community of nearby Bathurst. There are few younger DOLDS living in Grahamstown today, but four great-grandsons of one of the original 1820 Settlers still survive. One of these is Mr. Douglas DOLD of Bathurst.
He farms at Trappes Valley with his son, Mr. Brian DOLD and they are the only branch of the family in the Eastern Cape to have concentrated on farming. Other DOLDS owned farms at different times, but all have now been sold. The Grahamstown DOLDS became auctioneers and attorneys, and also took an interest in education.
OLD FIRMS
In High Street, Grahamstown, two old firms are Stanley J. DOLD, Auctioneers & Appraisers and DOLD & STONE, Solicitors and Notaries.The Albany DOLDS are all descended from John Matthew DOLD, elder son of the 1820 Settler Matthew DOLD of London. Matthew DOLD was 50 when he brought his family to the Eastern Cape. They sailed aboard the Belle Alliance.
The men of the family - there were two sons and two daughters - were each given 40 hectares of land in the Bathurst district. Before the DOLD left Algoa Bay, the marriage of Jane DOLD to fellow settler, John AYLIFF provided an historic occasion. Because there was no legal marriage officer on land, it became necessary for the couple to be rowed out to the ship Menai, where they were legally married by the master, Captain Fairfax MORESBY.on June 25, 1820.
This marriage is believed to be the first to take place between Settlers in Algoa Bay. John AYLIFF entered the ministry and as a member of the Methodist Church became famous throughout the country as a missionary and head of the well known AYLIFF family.
TOMBSTONE
Matthew DOLD died in 1825 and his lonely tombstone can now be seen near Bathurst caravan park. John Matthew DOLD had four children, and of his three sons, only John II had male descendents. He had six sons. The three best known in Grahamstown, and Albany were Lorimer, an attorney and Horace and Stanley both auctioneers.
Lorimer became interested in education and helped found Kingswood College. He was also a member of the first Rhodes University College Council. His son, Mr. Melville DOLD, still living today, followed his father's interests in education and was a member of the Kingswood College Council for 51 years, all but 12 as chairman. He retired recently.
Horace was the father of Jack DOLD. Stanley played cricket for Transvaal against the first English team to play in South Africa in 1889. Lorimer DOLD's other son, Douglas was possibly the best all-round sportsman of the family, excelling at all sports he participated in and getting provincial honours in most of them. Douglas played for Eastern Province against F.T.MANN's 1922-23 MCC team which toured South Africa and made top score. For a number of years he was also captain of the Royal Port Alfred Golf Club - the 13th hole is named after him and played to a handicap of two. Douglas and his brother, Melville an outstanding tennis player, won the Grahamstown men's doubles title several times.
Soon after the outbreak of the 1914-15 War Douglas DOLD was one of five Kingswood boys who left school to go to the Royal Sandhurst Military College. While there, Douglas was chosen to lead the "King's Ride" before King George V, becoming the first colonial to achieve this honour. Douglas served with the Sixth Dorset Regiment before being badly wounded at Cambraai during the final big push by the Germans. He then held the rank of captain.
VICE-PRESIDENT
The following generations carried on the activities of the family, Douglas's son, Brian was a brilliant sportsman at Kingswood. An injury spoilt his sporting career. Mr. Tony DOLD, Melville's son is now an attorney in Port Elizabeth and currently the vice-president of the Port Elizabeth Side Bar Association.
He was commanding officer of the First City Regiment in 1952 at a time when steps were being taken to join the First City and the Kaffrarian Rifles. Mr. Tony DOLD served in the South African Air Force during WWII and spent two years as a prisoner-of-war after being shot down in North Africa . He rejoined the First City Regiment after the war.
He strongly opposed the amalgamation of the two well known Eastern Cape regiments but without success initially. He was appointed Officer Commanding both units. However, Commandant DOLD still battled for a return to separate units and eventually the two regiments were allowed to reassume their identities.
The other branch of the DOLD family descended from William Andrew DOLD, younger brother of John Matthew, has settled in Kimberley, although originally being in Somerset East. One of William's sons was Reuben DOLD, who owned a huge farm near Kimberley. On his death in 1927 the farm was bought by De Beers Consolidated Mines, which later allowed it to be proclaimed a private alluvial diamond digging. Part of the farm near the original homestead has also been declared a national monument.
Newspaper cuttings from the Eastern Cape.
Herald 1973
More about DOLDS
From "Settler Descendant" (Name non de plume)
Many of us members of old East Cape families are grateful for the articles you are publishing about them. Being connected to the DOLD family I am sure your reporter went to a great deal of trouble, particularly about the branch descended from 1820 Settler Matthew DOLD's son.
John Matthew: for most of his article (February 17) was about members of this branch. It is understandable that either because of the incompleteness of his research or perhaps lack of space he was not able to record more about the descendants of the other son, William Andrew, except a very brief reference to his son, Reuben.
As I am sure there will be a number of your readers who would be interested may I ask you to add to the record that Reuben had two sons and two daughters. One son, Cedric DOLD, was a doctor in the Royal Army Medical Corps in WWI and was killed in France within a fortnight of the armistice in November, 1918. The other, Ayliff was a mining engineer and died in retirement at Hermanus a few years ago. He had a daughter and four sons. None of these lived in the Eastern Province.
Reuben's daughter, Vera married Mr. Vincent HARTLEY, whose name is closely associated with the establishing of a prominent building society with headquarters in Kimberley. Vera died in 1917. Reuben's other daughter, Ella, who went to the old Wesleyan High School in Grahamstown before the South African War and was a girl in the siege of Kimberley, married a Methodist minister, the Rev. L.S.H. WILKINSON in that city in 1909. They had four children, two sons and twin daughters before she died of enteric fever in 1916 in Durban. The daughters and their families live in Pretoria and Swaziland. One son is a retired bank manager in Salisbury, Rhodesia, and the other is the Rev. C.E. WILKINSON, superintendent of the Port Elizabeth circuit, chairman of the Grahamstown district and twice president of the Methodist Church of South Africa.
In recent years the two branches of the original settler DOLD family have been drawn together on the Kingswood College Council where Messrs Douglas and Tony DOLD and Dr. WILKINSON served for several years under the chairmanship of Mr. Melville DOLD.
transcribed from scrapbooks at the Port Elizabeth library that contains miscellaneous newspaper cuttings pertaining to the 1820 Settlers, by
Becky Horne,
Port Elizabeth, South Africa
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| | | | Newpaper Cuttings: Bowkers | | | | | |
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Posted by paul on Tuesday, March 09 @ 21:22:44 GMT (2610 reads)
Topic: Newspaper Articles of interest.
Newspaper cuttings from the Eastern Cape.
Source unknown - 1973
BOWKERS
The BOWKERS, who were among several 1820 Settler families in the Eastern Cape, fortunate to be given a land grant in the attractive and sought after Albany district, found their homesteads bitterly besieged during the numerous Kaffir and Frontier wars of the last century.
The homestead at Thorn Kloof, the well-known BOWKER farm in the Grahamstown district, which now belongs to Mr. Francis BOWKER, was destroyed during the War of the Axe in 1846-7. The farmhouse had formed a valuable laager and refuge for other neighbouring members of the BOWKER family during these Kaffir Wars, as it was best suited for protection purposes.
Several other farmhouses, belonging to the BOWKERS, were burnt down in this period. Today there are few BOWKERS left in the Albany district. This large and respected family, with a long line of distinguished personalities, has now scattered to various parts of the Eastern Cape and South Africa. The adventuring lust was evident among the BOWKERS from the early days.They were an independent family.
RUSHES
During the diamond and gold rushes of the second half of the last century, several BOWKERS tried their luck at finding a fortune. Other members of the family, not content to stay still, ventured outside South Africa, some going as far as Kenya to farm and settle. Farming has always been the main occupation of the BOWKERS, and they have been efficient, model farmers. Thorn Kloof is a fine example.
Thorn Kloof also contains a lot of history. Next to the main farmhouse, built in 1935, stand two others built about the middle of the last century - the one being rebuilt on original walls of even earlier date. These old buildings are full of valuable Africana, portraits of BOWKER ancestry, old hunting trophies and relics of peace and war on the frontier.
11 CHILDREN
Other direct descendants of Miles BOWKER, the Wiltshire landowner who led his party of 23 which arrived at Algoa Bay aboard the Weymouth in early 1820, today farm at Schoombee, near Middelburg, and at Cathcart and Bedford. Miles BOWKER had 11 children - nine sons and two daughters.
They and their descendants were to play a key role in the early colony's growth. They made their impression in agriculture, administration, politics, science and war. The present head of the BOWKERS is Mr. Duncan BOWKER, a prominent sheep farmer, of Doornberg, Schoombee. He is a descendant of the eldest son of Miles BOWKER, John Mitford BOWKER, a prominent figure in the Eastern Province before his early death of pneumonia in 1847.
WARS
John Mitford BOWKER worked for the welfare of the Settlers during the Kaffir Wars, when the British Government failed to give adequate assistance. Mr. Duncan BOWKER was named after his grandfather, Duncan CAMPBELL, who made the move from the Albany area to farm near Middelburg. He married a daughter of William Dods PRINGLE of that well-known settler family, and was 94 when he died.
Mr. Francis BOWKER is a descendant of the Hon. William Monkhouse BOWKER, MLA, the second son of Miles BOWKER. William and his younger brother, Miles Brabbin, showed their quick assimilation to a South African way of life - they were young men in their late teens when they made the voyage on the Weymouth - by marrying OOSTHUIZEN sisters, daughters of a friendly Dutch wagoner who transported the BOWKER family to their first farm, Oliveburn, which was soon rejected for Tharfield. This is regarded as the original BOWKER homestead in South Africa.
TRADITION
Tharfield, stepped in tradition, now belongs to Mr. Thomas Guard WEBB, of Bathurst. The house in which the WEBBS stay was built in 1835, and not much has been changed since then, as it was built in stone. The farm is situated in the undulating countryside between the Riet and Kleinemond Rivers, near the coast. The WEBB family acquired it in 1925. It is at Tharfield that Miles BOWKER and his wife are buried. The small cemetery is still there.
Sheep and cattle farmer, Mr. Eric BOWKER, is the head of the Bedford branch of the family. He and his sons farm at Alstonfield. Mr. Eric BOWKER is a descendant of Septimus BOWKER, so-named because he was the seventh son of Miles BOWKER. Septimus was 81 when he died in 1895.
The BOWKERS at Cathcart are closely related to the Thorn Kloof BOWKERS, for they also descend from William Monkhouse BOWKER. His grandson, Meyrick Brabbin BOWKER, inherited the farm Dunskye, at Cathcart in 1913, after the death of his father, Miles Meyrick BOWKER who had previously run the farm.
There are two BOWKER families now owning farms in the Cathcart district. John is the head of Dunskye and Julian of Oakdene. Four of the sons of Miles BOWKER were members of the Cape Parliament. The Hon. Thomas Holden BOWKER, MLA, the forth son of Miles, was probably the most famous. He stood for presidency of the Free State in 1863, but was beaten by Jan BRAND.
Holden was also a commandant during the Kaffir Wars, and the founder of Queenstown. He designed the hexagonal layout of the town as a defence against the Kaffir attacks. BOWKER's Kop in Queenstown is named after him. Holden inherited Tharfield after the death of Miles BOWKER, at the age of 74, in 1838. However, he was not all that interested in farming.
He became known as "Compensation BOWKER" because of his efforts to get compensation for settlers who lost possessions during the Kaffir Wars. More recently this tradition of public life was carried on by the late Mr. Tom BOWKER. MP for Albany from 1936 until his death in 1964, aged 74. His brother is the well-known Grahamstown golfer, Mr. Reg BOWKER, who at 82 still plays every weekend. Mr. Tom BOWKER's son, John, farms at Glen Ovis at Carlisle Bridge. This branch of the family is descended from John Mitford BOWKER.
WITCHDOCTORS
One of the best stories concerning the BOWKERS is that of the lost family silver, which had been missing for 138 years. It was bundled up hastily in a tablecloth, straight off the dinner table when the family fled from the invading Xhosa hordes in the Kaffir War of 1835. Four of the sons of Miles BOWKER buried it in an antbear hole - and never found it again.
Since then, several BOWKERS have enlisted the help of witchdoctors in an effort to trace the spot where the missing silver was buried, but all to no avail. The incident happened when the BOWKERS still farmed at Tharfield. At first the 70-year-old Miles refused to leave, and it was only when his sons threatened to drag him away bodily, tied to a horse, that he reluctantly took refuge in the church at Bathurst along with the other families of the district. Miles BOWKER was the first settler to introduce merino sheep to South Africa from England. However, they were unsuited for the area at Tharfield and were moved to the north in the valley of the Koonap River.
TIES
The Hon. Bertram Egerton BOWKER, MLC, the fifth son of Miles, was the first of the BOWKERS to leave Thurfield and farmed in the Koonap region. He did well and this encouraged several of his brothers to follow his lead. Of Bertram's 12 children, only the youngest son, Gordon Cross BOWKER, carried on the family name and the succeeding generation. However, he emigrated to Kenya.
Other families with close ties with the BOWKERS are the ATHERSTONE and Mitford BARBERTON's from the marriage of Miles BOWKER's two daughters, Anna Maria and Mary Elizabeth. The ATHERSTONES were a well known Albany family, one of the famous members being Dr. William Guybon ATHERSTONE who lived in Grahamstown.
The Mitford-BARBERTONS are descended from the BARBER family. Two brothers, Ivan and Raymond who now live at Hout Bay in the Cape were the authors of several historic books on the 1820 Settlers, including the history of the BOWKERS. Many BOWKERS descendants inter-married with other noted Settler families, like PRINGLE,CURRIES and WHITES.
transcribed from scrapbooks at the Port Elizabeth library that contains miscellaneous newspaper cuttings pertaining to the 1820 Settlers, by
Becky Horne,
Port Elizabeth, South Africa
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| | | | Newpaper Cuttings: Eminent Settler was once a rebel | | | | | |
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Posted by paul on Tuesday, March 09 @ 21:18:35 GMT (1228 reads)
Topic: Newspaper Articles of interest.
Newspaper cuttings from the Eastern Cape.
No source or date
Eminent Settler was once a rebel
The story of the eminent 1820 Settler, William COCK, and his achievements in development of trade and harbour building are part of South Africa's history. But few people know that this enterprising pioneer was once boycotted by the citizens of Cape Town. This incident came to light as a result of Mrs. Dorothy Rivett CARNAC's appeal for Settler records and diaries.
Dr. E.E. GLEDHILL of Grahamstown provided valuable new information about her great-great grandfather, William COCK, which underlined his courage during the Anti-Convict Agitation of the Cape in 1849. Dr. GLEDHILL, formerly Miss Eily ARCHIBALD of Port Elizabeth, is a botany research associate at Rhodes University and wife of Professor J.A. GLEDHILL, head of the university's Department of Physics. The new facts about Dr. GLEDHILL's forefather were passed on to me by Mrs. Thelma NEVILLE of Grahamstown.
PROVISIONS
William COCK was definitely opposed to the Cape being established as a convict station and he signed the protest against the landing of Irish convicts from the ship Neptune. But on humane grounds he refused to join the other merchants of Cape Town, who had agreed among themselves to withhold all provisions from the ship. Consequently COCK was boycotted.
A prominent business man and trader, he was highly vulnerable to any boycott. His own schooner, The British Settler, lying in Table Bay required supplies. COCK wrote: "I was refused everything, even eater." But the merchants underestimated his determination. Instead of being intimidated by the boycott, he found other means of procuring provisions. He stowed these into a small boat and rowed out to his vessel. Once on board he hoisted a leg of mutton to the masthead in flagrant defiance of his enemies. William COCK was among the 5,000 British Settlers who came out to the Cape Colony in 1820. He led his own party of 40 who subsequently settled near the mouth of the Kowie River.
COLESBERG
Later he left the land and became a businessman. He eventually traded as far afield as St. Helena, and on the other side of Africa, Mauritius. In 1836 COCK returned to England intending to retire in peaceful Cornwell. But finding life too tame he returned to South Africa. By 1839 he was entering the field of politics and using his organising ability to frame municipal regulations for Colesberg. He became the town's Municipal Commissioner the following year.
COCK is best remembered for his efforts to establish a harbour at the mouth of the Kowie River at Port Francis - as Port Alfred was known. Ships used regularly for more than 40 years before silting at the entrance became too much of a problem. William COCK served on the Legislative Council and was a member of the first Colonial Parliament. When he retired at 75 he lived in a house he had built on the heights above the Kowie.
COCK's Castle, as it is known, is a constant reminder of the Settler who gave his talents, energy and love to his adopted country.
transcribed from scrapbooks at the Port Elizabeth library that contains miscellaneous newspaper cuttings pertaining to the 1820 Settlers, by
Becky Horne,
Port Elizabeth, South Africa
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| | | | Newpaper Cuttings: 1820 Descendant with a difference. | | | | | |
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Posted by paul on Tuesday, March 09 @ 21:11:41 GMT (2190 reads)
Topic: Newspaper Articles of interest.
Newspaper cuttings from the Eastern Cape.
Herald, June 1970
1820 Descendant with a difference.
Settler Grandpa born at sea.
At 63, Mr. Gray MANDY of Port Elizabeth must be one of the youngest grandchildren of an 1820 Settler in the Eastern Cape. For his grandfather was one of the babies born at sea on the way from Britain to South Africa. Mr. MANDY, a well-known Port Elizabeth business manager, could not attend today's 150th anniversary celebrations. He is holidaying in Durban. but the elder brother, Mr. Baden MANDY, will be here for the festivities. During a visit to Port Elizabeth he is standing in for Mr. Gray MANDY as a manager of an accommodation centre during his absence. Before he left, Mr. Gray MANDY and his brother told me about their "baby Settler" grandfather.
LETTER
Their great-grandfather, Mr. John Penny MANDY, was the leader of a party which sailed from the Thames in the Nautilus in December, 1819, reaching Algoa Bay in April the following year. John MANDY and his wife, Mary Anne, left England with two sons, John Wilkinson, aged six and Stephen Day, aged five.
Two weeks before the ship reached Cape Town their third son was born. He was named William Nautilus - his second name, of course, being after the vessel.
The letter which John MANDY wrote to his mother in Kent and posted from Cape Town telling of the baby's birth, was presented to the Albany Museum, Grahamstown, but was destroyed in a fire in the 1920's However, Mr. Baden MANDY has a copy of it. This is how his grandfather's birth was announced:
"I have the pleasure to inform you that on the 1st March, Mary Ann was put to bed with a fine boy in latitude 18 degrees, longitude six degrees."
MANY MANDYS
John, who was a carpenter, and Mary Anne settled at Bathurst, where he built the Drostdy. After their home was burnt down during one of the Frontier Wars, they went to the farm Lushington Valley, between Grahamstown and Bathurst. They had five sons after settling in South Africa. Several of their eight children had large families, so there are many MANDY of Settler descent in the Eastern Cape, Mr. Baden MANDY pointed out.
John's unmarried brother Joseph also accompanied him on the voyage out. Joseph, a wheelwright, is believed to have gone to Harrismith in the Free State, later with the Voortrekkers - possibly with Louis TRICHARDT or Piet RETIEF.
SPORTSMAN
Mr. Baden MANDY and Mr. Gray MANDY are members of a large and closely knit family. The father, the late Mr. Stephen Day MANDY, of Bathurst, married twice. He had six sons of his first marriage and seven children of his second. On the first half of the family, three brothers are still living. They are Mr. Lawrie MANDY, 84 of Margate, a survivor of Delville Wood and Mr. Douglas MANDY, 77 and Mr. George MANDY, 75, both of Bathurst.
Mr. Baden MANDY, 69 is the eldest of the second half. Since retiring as postmaster of Krugersdorp, he and his wife Corrie, who is of French Huguenot descent, have spent most of their time caravanning. They have been in Knysna for the past year. Mr. Gray MANDY, a former Border sportsman, was manager of a big Port Elizabeth hotel, then managed a club before taking up his present position. His wife, Jo, incidentally, is the granddaughter of the Voortrekker leader Andries Hendrik POTGIETER.
The other three brothers, Mr. Stephen Day MANDY, 68, Mr. Aubrey MANDY, 66 and Mr. Claude MANDY, 61 who were all prominent Eastern Province and Border sportsmen, now live in Durban. The youngest member of the family, 58-year-old Mrs. Mary WARRENDER, lives in Salisbury. The other sister died some years ago.
Of the 11 brothers in the two halves of the family, five brothers served in World War I. (The other died before the war) and four survived during World War II - the remaining one, a police detective, being kept back for internal security work.
SOME OF THE HARDSHIPS
Some idea of what the 1820 Settlers endured during their long voyages out in tiny vessels, is given in John Penny MANDY's letters to his mother in England. In one letter, written in January, 1820, he describes the Nautilus disaster in the Downs. After they dropped anchor in the Queen's Channel, a day after leaving Gravesend, "it came on to blow tremendously hard, the sea running mountains high. We could not weigh anchor till Sunday afternoon, when our troubles began, the sea breaking over us in all directions, tables, chairs, boxes, plates and dishes; men, women and children all mixed together, tumbling over one another, and all dreadfully seasick, except myself and SMITH, who was on deck working the ship; I below, basin holder."
CONFUSION
"In the midst of this the sea broke into our cabin windows, dashing glass and frame in, the things that were below rolling and sliding, took to swimming."
John MANDY wrote that when the ship struck on the sands all was confusion and dismay - "even the sailors seemed panic struck." After an hour and a half, when a heavy sea set them afloat without much damage, (five or six boats) went to their help. Then followed better days , till they struck another storm, which lasted three days.
"The sea was running as high as our masthead, and two of the waves broke over us; the forepart of the ship had three tons of water in, which swamped almost every person in their beds, Joseph was washed out of his cot."
LANDED
In a letter written from Algoa Bay on April 20, 1820, John MANDY said, "I landed on Sunday night to get ready for Mary Anne and the children. When I had got all ready for them, a strong south-east wind set in, and stopped their landing for four days, the surf beating round the shore to a height of ten or twelve feet. They saw me, but could not get at me."
When his wife and children came ashore on the 19th they were "very much frightened, the boats three parts full of water." Things were better on shore. We are now living on the fat of the land, a fowl for 9d. beef 1½ d per lb, milk and eggs in great abundance." But of course, there was a lot of hardship still ahead.....
transcribed from scrapbooks at the Port Elizabeth library that contains miscellaneous newspaper cuttings pertaining to the 1820 Settlers, by
Becky Horne,
Port Elizabeth, South Africa
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| | | | Newpaper Cuttings: An 1820 Settler's son is 96. | | | | | |
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Posted by paul on Tuesday, March 09 @ 21:05:00 GMT (1370 reads)
Topic: Newspaper Articles of interest.
Newspaper cuttings from the Eastern Cape.
Weekend Post, 1970
An 1820 Settler's son is 96.
Pioneer's grandsons are 50 and 52.
Would you believe it? A son of an 1820 Settler is still living. He a 96-year-old Cape Town man, Mr. Basil HOLMES.
I learnt about Mr. HOLMES as a result of a recent Diary story about Mr. Gray MANDY, who at 63 is one of the youngest grandchildren of a Settler.
The Rev. Christopher HOLMES, Assistant Curate of St. Paul's Anglican Church in Port Elizabeth came to tell me that his father, Mr. Peter HOLMES, of Uitenhage, is an even younger Settler grandchild.
UNCLE
Mr. HOLMES, who is in the motor transport business, is 52. A cousin of his, Mr. Vivian HOLMES of Klerksdorp is only about 50. In the last Weekend Post, BANKS of Bathurst Rail, wrote to say that he is 60 and the grandson of an 1820 Settler, and that his brother, Gerald is 55.
Mr. BANKS said it would be interesting to know who is the youngest Settler grandchild. Well, it looks as if the honour goes to Mr. Vivian HOMES. But returning to the son of a Settler, Mr. Basil HOLMES is Mr. Peter HOLMES's uncle. The older man's father, Thomas HOLMES, was three when he came to South Africa with his father, also Thomas, mother and sisters in 1820. They travelled in the Aurora in Sephton's party.
The family went to Salem but later, probably because of the Frontier Wars, they left for the Free State. They settled in the Kaffir River area, about 40 kilometres (25 miles) from Bloemfontein. The family owned all the land in the area.
YOUNGEST
Thomas jun. farmed there. He changed the name of the farm from "Nooitgedacht" to The Hall. The homestead he built in 1857 is still standing, and has its original yellowwood floors, Mr. Chris HOLMES told me. This Thomas married twice. There were 12 children of his first marriage and eight of his second. The only surviving one is Mr. Basil HOLMES.
Mr. Peter HOLMES's father, Mr. Thomas ("Tup") HOLMES, was the youngest child. He was born when his father was 66. Mr. "Tup" HOLMES, and his three brothers, Basil, Gilbert and Reginald, played rugby for the Free State. Mr. "Tup" HOMES captained the Free State cricket team for many years and also represented Western Province at cricket. He was a national cricket selector from 1928 to 1945. He died in 1963, when he was 79.
CELEBRATIONS
His widow, Mrs. Noel HOLMES, sister of the actress Helen BRAITHWAITE, lives in Port Elizabeth.
Old Mr. Basil HOLMES's son, Mr. Hamilton HOLMES, of Somerset West, travelled to Port Elizabeth to attend the 1820 Settler landing anniversary celebrations. He also visited Grahamstown to have a look at the 1820 Settler Memorial Museum. Unfortunately, Mr. Basil HOLMES could not make the journey.
transcribed from scrapbooks at the Port Elizabeth library that contains miscellaneous newspaper cuttings pertaining to the 1820 Settlers, by
Becky Horne,
Port Elizabeth, South Africa
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| | | | Newpaper Cuttings: Last of the Settlers | | | | | |
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Posted by paul on Tuesday, March 09 @ 20:53:52 GMT (1966 reads)
Topic: Newspaper Articles of interest.
Newspaper cuttings from the Eastern Cape.
Newspaper unknown. 4 September 1967
Last of the Settlers
Today the Prime Minister of the Republic of South Africa, Mr. J.B. VORSTER and Mrs. VORSTER will lay the foundation stone of a memorial hall to commemorate the landing at Algoa Bay in 1820 of more than 4,000 British Settlers. The men, women and children were destined to act as human buffers between the hostile tribes to the east and the more civilised areas of the west.
Despite the hardships these early frontier people had to endure, a number of them survived into this centaury, but each succeeding year during the first decade saw the last of the settlers disappearing one by one. Some may have died unnoticed and unrecorded, but of the others, to whom some tribute was paid at the time of their deaths was Mrs. J.B. RENNIE, a daughter of Robert PRINGLE of Baviaans River, Bedford, who died in October, 1900.
SALEM
She landed from the transport Brilliant with her parents when she was ten years old. In the same year Mrs. Esther CROUCH, a sister of Mr. W. WEDDERBURN who had lived at Grahamstown, died in her 96th year at Salem. A settler, Job HARVEY, who served the Free Staters well, died at his home, The Retreat, near Kroonstad on October 10, 1901. He had arrived in the Northampton at the age of four and emigrated to the Orange Free State in the early days of the republic. For 28 years he was landdrost of Smithfield and after retiring, represented Smithfield in the State Volksraad for many years.
ADDO
Other settlers to come into the news in 1901 were Mr. Henry ROWE (probably Edward), Mrs. Eliza ALLEN, Mr. John WEAKLY, Miss Magdaline DALGAIRNS and Mr. & Mrs. Thomas BRUTON.
Mr. ROWE, who was born in England on March 23, 1819, was still alive and reported to be living on the farm Zoetgenocht at Addo. Almost as little as was recorded of the life of Mrs. ALLEN, born TIMM, who died at Bathurst on October 9, 1901, at the age of 90 years. John Weakly, born July 21, 1819 who came out on the Wymouth, was still living at Queenstown. Mrs. DALGAIRNS at 90 years of age lived in Knysna. Mr. & Mrs. Thomas BRUTON, who sailed on the Zoraster, were still living in Kowie, where they had settled. It was said that one of their daughters, a Mrs. STAINES was the first child to be born to settlers in that area.
SPIRIT
To the end these settlers showed plenty of spirit and determination. In 1902 it was reported that Mr. Frank HULLEY was mentioned in dispatches "for the good use to which he put his rifle throughout the long siege of Mafeking" although he was well over 80 during the South African War. In 1902 Mrs. Eliza SWEETMAN of the Winterberg died. She was the widow of Captain SWEETMAN and had interesting antecedents. She was born on May 11, 1819 at Mountmare, Paris. Her father, John Joseph SMITH, had been a prisoner-of-war in France and was released after the Battle of Waterloo. He had fought at the battles of Copenhagen, the Nile, St. Vincent and at Trafalgar. The family came out on the Nautilis.
At the time of her death. Mrs. SWEETMAN lived with her daughter, Mrs. D.MILLS at Port Retief. Her brother, Alfred Desire SMITH, who was born at Valencines, Paris, on November 17, 1817, was still alive and living at Barberton. He died at Bulawayo towards the end of 1912.
CHAPMAN
Two other old stagers to die in 1902 were Mr. James B. REED of Port Elizabeth and Mr. Bertram Egerton BOWKER of Johannesburg. Mr. REED died towards the end of May, 1902. He was son of Lieutenant W. REED, R.N. who arrived in South Africa in the Chapman. The party was located at North End, an area which subsequently became known as Chapman Gardens. He it was who so "largely assisted in building the monument on the hill" stated his obituary. He is also credited with having established a post cart service from Port Elizabeth to Grahamstown. He was associated with Capper in the establishment of the pontoon at the Sundays River. The pontoon became known to early travellers as Cappers Ferry. At the time of his death, Mr. REED was living at Pine Cottage, North End.
WARS
The next of the few was Mr. BOWKER who died at Santa Clara, Parktown, Johannesburg. He came to the colony at the age of 13 and took part in the successive Kaffir Wars from 1835 onwards. His fighting activities did not end until 1877, when at the age of 70, he was captain of BOWKER's Rovers in the Galka-Galeka wars. He had also represented the King William's Town constituency in the Cape House of Assembly.
Mrs. John USHER, Mr. James WHITAKER and Mrs. Charlotte GRAVETT all died during 1904. Mrs. John USHER, a five-year-old settler, was a sister of the Rev. H.H. DUGMORE. Mr. WHITAKER died at Tarkastad during June. The death notice stated his age was registered as 91, although he was thought to be much older. During the same month Mrs. GRAVETT died at the age of 95 at Kariega River Mouth where she lived with her son-in-law, Skipper BUTT. Mr. Richard PICKSTOCK, her father, had been in Wellington's Army.
BEAN
Still living at Orlando near Addo in 1905 was Mrs. Lavinia BEAN, the widow of Leonard BEAN and the youngest of the seven daughters of Thomas PULLEN, who came out in the Nautilis. She lived with her daughter, Mrs. L.H. WALTON, and was then 83 years of age. In September, 1905, Mrs. Eliza GRAHAM died at Cape Town aged 81. Her father, Mr. Arthur BARKER, a native of Waterfall, Ireland was a cousin of Sir Rufane DONKIN and came out to take a farm near the Kariega, but early border troubles persuaded the family to move to Cape Town. With the deaths of William FARLEY, Mrs. Caroline CALDER, Mrs. Judith WIGGINS, Mrs. Samuel (Rosa) CAWOOD and James STIRLING, the settler survivors numbered little more than six by 1906. .
TENTS
William FARLEY was about five years old when he left home in Devonshire with his parents and proceeded to Portsmouth in January 1820 where they embarked on the transport ship Weymouth. "I was in Harry HAYMAN's party and can remember landing at Algoa Bay by means of those lumbering surf-boats and our stay in the tents on the sand hill", he told a reporter more than 80 years ago. "When our turn came we trekked in wagons placed at our disposal to the location allotted to us at Rietfontein about six miles to the east of the Kowie River. Then we built a small wattle and daub house and made something of a garden and just as our peas were coming into bloom, the news arrived that a mistake had been made, and we were ordered to clear out and make room for another party. We then went to the top of the Reed River. There my father worked, sowed but did not reap much. Then he gave it up and joined the works at Kowie River. Very shortly afterwards he was drowned"
FARLEY went to Grahamstown in 1826 and as a youth had to fend for himself. "There was great distress in the land in those days. The wheat crop had failed year after year and proper good bread did not exist," he related.
Mrs. CALDER celebrated her 93rd birthday in July, 1906 and was the only surviving child of William STANTON. Mrs. Judith Africana WIGGINS born OWEN died at Halfmanshof, Tulbagh on September 20. Her brother, Mr. Frederick John OWEN founded the village of Porterville. Mr. James STIRLING, who arrived with his father in the Ocean worked all his life at his trade of shoemaker at Port Elizabeth up to the time of his death on Easter Monday, 1906.
UITENHAGE
Mrs CAWOOD was born on July 13, 1815, at Nottingham and came to South Africa with her parents, William and Mary PIKE in the ship, Albury. She, too, died in 1906, and was survived by her settler brother, Elijah PIKE of Clumber. Elijah died in August the following year at the age of 94 years.
Probably the very last of the band of British settlers were Mrs. Sarah BATES, of Uitenhage, Mrs. John LAKE, Mrs. Mary PAINTER, Mr. John Lowne FROST and a man named PALMER. Mrs. Sarah BATES died at her home in Durban Street, Uitenhage during April, 1907, in her 92nd year. Unfortunately the death notice did not give her maiden name.
Mrs. John LAKE of Somerset East died in Durban in September in her 98th year. She had been a Miss GRIFFIN, and since she emigrated in the Chapman, she was probably the daughter of Mr. Thomas GRIFFIN and his wife Sarah.
WAGONS
Mrs. Mary PAINTER, born KIRKMAN and widow of Mr. R. J. PAINTER, a former M.L.A. for Fort Beaufort, lived with her daughter and died in February. Before her death she had related that she could still remember how, at the age of 5 yrs 6 mths she had driven away from Algoa Bay in the wagons singing childish songs with the other children.
Mr. John Lawne FROST who came to the country in the Ocean, was said to be still in good health in 1908 at the age of 93 and living in Uitenhage. Sir Percy FITZPATRICK wrote to the newspapers the same year about a settler named PALMER, who lived on a farm near his own in the Harrismith district. Although he was reputed to be 102 years of age, he was still in possession of all his senses.
BULAWAYO
Most surprising was the report that a Mr. SMITH, the grandfather of Mr. C.L. EDWARDS, a leading farmer in the Bulawayo district, in 1910 distinctly remembered landing at Algoa Bay in 1820 at the age of five. He was still in the best of health and could be seen every day digging in his garden on the farm within seven miles of Bulawayo. These were probably the last of "A gallant band which entrusts itself to the sea and an unknown shore".
EP Herald, 16 September 1967
From: Richard D. TEE
20 Carrington Road,
Kimberley
I read with interest the special feature "Last of the Settlers" by Eric TURPIN but was a little disappointed to find that my great-great grandmother, Mrs. Susan Rudy TEE had not been mentioned. As she died in 1909 she must have been one of the last original settlers to have passed away. An obituary appeared in the Uitenhage Chronicle in October, 1909.
The following information may be of value to anyone interested in Settler Africana:
BORN IN LONDON
Mrs. Susan Rudy TEE, born WALKER was born in London on November 17, 1818, and when two years old was brought to South Africa by her parents with the 1820 Settlers. After living for some years, first at Salem, and then in Port Elizabeth, she went to Uitenhage where she married on December 24, 1838 to Mr. Richard TEE, who was born in Sedgeford, Norfolk, England, on October 5, 1812, and who had emigrated with his parents, Richard and Sarah TEE in 1820.
After their marriage, Mrs. TEE lived almost entirely in the Elands River Valley with her husband until his death on April 6, 1886, and later with her sons. She died in October 17, 1909, aged 90 years, 11 months. Her memory to the last was wonderfully clear and she delighted to talk about the early days in those parts. She remembered many Kaffir wars and used to recall, how on one occasion she had to flee from her home in Mimosadale.
transcribed from scrapbooks at the Port Elizabeth library that contains miscellaneous newspaper cuttings pertaining to the 1820 Settlers, by
Becky Horne,
Port Elizabeth, South Africa
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| | | | Newpaper Cuttings: Harper's Castle | | | | | |
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Posted by paul on Monday, March 08 @ 21:17:05 GMT (1056 reads)
Topic: Newspaper Articles of interest.
Newspaper cuttings from the Eastern Cape.
No source, July 1965.
I notice that the Grahamstown City Council is trying to persuade the Union Castle Company to name one of its ships 'Grahamstown Castle' I wonder if 'HARPER's Castle' would be even better. This is the story of HARPER's Castle, a fantastic creation which would have done credit to Heath ROBINSON.
Perhaps HARPER's Castle, or its like, could never have existed anywhere but at Grahamstown. It was one of the wonders of the city more than a century ago, and although for years the inhabitants considered it a public nuisance and continually complained about it, the Board of Commissioners did not, or could not, do anything about it.
The 'Castle' stood next to a Mr. T. COCKCROFT's wagon-makers shop in Bathurst Street, next to the bridge. HARPER had persuaded his brother to lend him the plot of land for the purpose of erecting a building and engaging in trade. So with all the bits of junk he could collect, he threw up a shack of sorts and started work as a cooper. But that was only the beginning.
HARPER was also a great frequenter of the sales held in the town, and here and there, at bargain prices, he picked up articles which were to form the foundation for his next venture, that of a second-hand dealer. He was too, always on the look-out for something for nothing, and this included all the stones dropped in the street in front of his shop from passing transport wagons. By these means he was able to lay the foundation for the building which became known as 'HARPER's Castle'
At first the Grahamstonians poked fun at old HARPER, but their astonishment increased as the building grew. Slowly the walls reached window level and when they rose to a height above the doors, the people, believing HARPER's work was done and that all was to come was the roof, ceased to take any interest in the place.
Then much to the bewilderment of everyone, HARPER went on. This time when he had completed the second storey, the residents waited apprehensively, fearing that the man was out of his mind and was about to add a third storey - perhaps even a forth. However, he had had enough of it, and added only the roof.
"But such a house never has been seen before nor since." related a diarist at the time. "In fact several celebrated artists attempted to make a drawing of it, but failed. Even a celebrated photographer tried to get a likeness, but all you could see on his prints was a mass of rubbish heaped together."
The diarist continued: "HARPER must have done well there for all that. The public discovered that most of the articles stolen by their servants and others, found their way to the castle. Not to say that HARPER or his journeyman had any hand in collecting them abroad, but it was proved that they had been purchased for a mere trifle from the thieves. The consequences was, that search warrants were issued and that the castle was turned inside out, and such collection will never be seen again."
In 1852, this monstrosity of a place was put up for auction and HARPER's dour description of his property in the advertisement of the sale he inserted in the Journal, is worth repetition. He advertised a large assortment of curious articles which he did not want to detail, 'as by making known the whole contents of the wondrous castle, I would only anticipate the curiosity of the Grahamstown public."
He continued: "Precisely at 2 o'clock will be sold, the whole of the materials constituting the ingenious fabric so well known by the name of HARPER's Castle. This building needs no comment. It having been the surprise of every architect that has viewed it, while it's symmetry of form has excited the admiration and wonder of every beholder. The edifice has baffled the most tempestuous storms and winds that our town has witnessed, and it stands at present, as a monument of stability and durability."
"It is therefore expected that as this will be the first exhibition ever presented to the public, that a splendid building will be manifested, for bear this in mind - the sight is gratis"
transcribed from scrapbooks at the Port Elizabeth library that contains miscellaneous newspaper cuttings pertaining to the 1820 Settlers, by
Becky Horne,
Port Elizabeth, South Africa
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| | | | Newpaper Cuttings: 14 Children died in Settler ship | | | | | |
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Posted by paul on Monday, March 08 @ 21:10:54 GMT (2383 reads)
Topic: Newspaper Articles of interest.
14 Children died in Settler ship by Adam Brand - EP Herald August 1964
It was 144 years ago that several shiploads of men, women, children and their belongings, including animals, set sail from British parts to start new lives in faraway South Africa. Much has been written about the 1820 Settlers and I don't propose to bore you by repeating history. However, in reading a book by Professor Arthur KEPPEL-JONES called "Phillips" 1820 Settler (Shuter and Shooter) I was intrigued by the description of the voyage of one of the 21 Settler ships.
The book is based on the authentic letters of Thomas PHILLIPS, one of the leaders of the Settlers. Phillips trained for the bar but turned later to banking. He was mainly interested in politics and when his hopes of a political career was dashed because of a quarrel with his influential patron, he decided to leave Britain for good.
He assembled a party in Pembrokeshire and his application for assisted emigration to the Cape was accepted. Early in January, 1820, PHILLIPS, his wife Charlotte, their three sons and four daughters boarded the Kennersley Castle in Bristol. The PHILLIPS family settled in the Albany district and it was Phillips himself who, on behalf of the British Settlers, presented the historic Bible to Jacobus UYS as he and his party were about to set off on the Great Trek. But back to the voyage to the Cape and Phillips first letter, which was written in diary form to a relative in England.
GALES
The first date in the letter is Tuesday, January 11, 1820 when the Kennersley Castle was still of the West Coast of Britain. Phillips describes how at about midnight the previous night a gale had suddenly sprung up and a sea, breaking in through the cabin windows washed 'poor Edward' (one of his sons) right out of his berth. "All our clothes got wetted and all our arrangements discomposed," Phipps wrote. The next day the gale continued. "Another child has died (the second) Both had been previously ill and both about 12 months old.
"The doctor gives us hopes that our numbers will not be diminished in the end and as we have several ladies in a forward state...
Saturday, the 15th was "a lovely day, wind moderated, sun shone quite warm. We remained on deck all day, the Settlers all dined there and most refreshing it was to them"
That evening they heard the sound of music and found out that a member of their party was playing the clarinet. "He was lugged to the quarter deck and during our dinner played us several airs, waltzes, etc. really well. Another gale sprung up early the next day. When daylight came, Phillips decided to investigate. "I ascended the ladder and on what a scene. We had only two sails set and we were lying to with the wind at S.E. directly in our teeth. The gales was still lashing the ship by the next Wednesday. The seaman seem a good deal worn and are wet and dry ten times a day with rain and sea-water. Not a Settler but ourselves to be seen on deck. The night of Saturday, the 22nd was the first quiet night we have passed. Sunday was a heavenly day. All mustered early on deck completely recovered and now all excellent sailors, everyone in their Sunday dress.
Fine weather continued with the ship averaging six to seven miles an hour. By now they were in the trade wind and crossed the Tropic of Cancer on January 31. Phillips gave this quaint explanation of the trade wind...
"The sails are never altered day or night. This is a most singular phenomenon and it is accounted for from the supposed great exhalation of air by the sun between the tropics which, creating a vacuum, the north-east wind is constantly rushing in to supply the deficiency."
ARK
On February 2 a very mild kind of measles broke out among the children aboard the Kennersley Castle. Phillips recorded that "the sheep are thriving most capitaily, and I think all danger of keeping them alive is over. They will be a treasure to me." Following calls at a few tropical islands, the ship resembled 'another Ark' with sheep, pigs, goats, monkeys, fowls, geese and dogs aboard.
On Tuesday, February 8 Phillips wrote: "... Getting very hot. Measles and Hooping Cough very general."
Thursday, the 10th: "The shoals of porpoises this day amuse us highly. They swim around and leap up four or five feet. seemingly highly entertained to accompany us"
Because of the heat...."There has been a cask fitted up aft and a screen around it. For the last two days we have been enjoying some delightful dips. The females are also able to bathe - the greatest possible treat."
On the 18th, two days before the ship crossed "the line" the temperature was 117 degrees Fahrenheit on deck.
Phillips recorded on the 17th, "Another child died today, this makes the seventh, and we have had only had two births, so that we are diminishing. Would to fate that we could get over these calms and burning suns.." But soon they hit the north-east trade winds and were spanking on their way again.
February 23 "We are beginning to make bets as to our getting to the Cape by the end of ten weeks. A baby died that day and two more that night.."It is now become quite distressing and heart-rendering." Exposure seems to have been the cause of most of the deaths and by March 1, 14 children had died. By March 24, everyone was looking forward desperately to seeing the Cape.
"Never did schoolboys long more the breaking up day than we do to tread on land once more..
On Sunday, March 26, land was sighted. Phillips said, "Now half-past one, Table Mountain is quite visible with all its accompanying rocks. "I had so often poured over maps and prints that the whole scene appears quite familiar to me."
One can imagine how great the excitement must have been aboard the Kennersley Castle. Seven o'clock (on the 27th) Behold us entering Table Bay by moonlight! Eight o'clock safe, thank heaven! Opposite to Cape Town.
"We this day eleven weeks ago left Lundy Island (off Bristol) and from land to land were only 75 days.
transcribed from scrapbooks at the Port Elizabeth library that contains miscellaneous newspaper cuttings pertaining to the 1820 Settlers, by
Becky Horne,
Port Elizabeth, South Africa
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