Robert Scotland Hart

Notes:

DEATH NOTICE:
MOOC6/9/195 R6559
Name of the Deceased: Robert HART
Birthplace of Deceased: 'Blockdrift', Alice
Names of Parents of the Deceased: James HART
Maria Susanna Wilhelmina VAN AARDT
Age at Death: 44 years
Condition in Life: Farmer
Ordinary Place of Residence:
Married
Name of Surviving Spouse:
Place of last marriage:
Date of Death: 29th March 1883
Names of the Children of the Deceased and whether Major or Minor:
Sarah Elizabeth HART
Robert Meintjies HART
William HART
Ellen Bowker HART
Anna Maria HART
Whether deceased has left any property and of what kind? Movable and Immovable
Signed: W.A. Hart, Son of the deceased

Robert married Ellen Tamplin Bowker on 18 Dec 1867 in Somerset East, Eastern Cape, South Africa. Ellen (daughter of Robert Mitford Bowker, 1820 Settler and Sarah Elizabeth Hart) was born on 19 Mar 1841 in 'Thornkloof', Fish River Randt, Eastern Cape, South Africa; was christened on 18 Apr 1841 in NGK Church, Someset East, Eastern Cape, South Africa; died on 14 Nov 1920 in Thomas River, Cathcart district, Eastern Cape, South Africa; was buried in Thomas River Historical village cemetey, Cathcart District, Eastern Cape, South Africa. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. Sarah Elizabeth Hart was born on 8 Jan 1869 in Thomas River, Cathcart district, Eastern Cape, South Africa; died on 21 Aug 1935 in Cathcart, Eastern Cape, South Africa.
2. Robert McInnes Hart was born on 17 Aug 1870 in Peelton Mission Station, King William's Town, Eastern Cape, South Africa; died on 13 Dec 1942 in Cathcart, Eastern Cape, South Africa; was buried in Thomas River Historical village cemetey, Cathcart District, Eastern Cape, South Africa.
3. Ellen Bowker Hart was born on 24 Jun 1871 in Somerset East, Eastern Cape, South Africa; died on 4 May 1945 in Barberton Hospital, Barberton, Eastern Transvaal, South Africa; was buried in White River, Mpumalanga, South Africa.
4. William Arthur Hart was born in 1872; died on 23 Jun 1956 in Sancyno Court, Elton Street, East London, Eastern Cape, South Africa.
5. Anna Maria Hart was born on 6 Mar 1880 in Thomas River, Cathcart district, Eastern Cape, South Africa; died on 6 Nov 1950 in Evelyn Nursing Home, East London, Eastern Cape, South Africa.

Notes:

DEPOT VAB
SOURCE MHG
TYPE LEER
VOLUME_NO 0
SYSTEM 01
REFERENCE H175
PART 1
DESCRIPTION HART, JAMES. EGGENOTES SUSANNA WILHELMINA VAN AARDT EN MARTHA LOUISA (GEBORE KLOPPER).
STARTING 18760000
ENDING 18760000

James was involved in a dispute with a Cornelius van Rooyen over the debt of a saddle. The dispute ended with James stabbing van Rooyen who died, and ending up in prison for 10 years.
###############
James was appointed Mayor of Queenstown.

James was jailed for stabbing his second wife's lover to death.

RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS OF CRIMINAL CASE CIRCUIT COURT OF ALBANY. THE QUEEN VERSUS JAMES HART, MURDER. STARTING 1845 ENDING 1845.

In the Supreme Court of the Colony of the Cape of Good Hope filed on Friday the seventh day of march 1845.
The Queen on the prosecution of Her Majesty's Attorney General James HART was charged with the Crime of Murder.
Upon reading the Affidavit of Daniel Jacob Cloete, Esquire, Clerk of the Peace for Cape Town and Cape District it is Ordered that the above named Criminal Action or Suit e removed from this Court for trial at the next ensuing Circuit Cout to be holden in and for the Division of Albany.

By the Court J.H. BOWLES, Registrar of the Supreme Court.

15.

Filed of Records in the Supreme Court of the Colobny of the Cape of Good Hope the fourth day of March 1845.

J.H. Bowles Reg. of the Supreme Court.

William PORTER, Esquire, Attorney-General of Our Sovereign Lady the Queen within the Colony of the Cape of Good Hope, who prosecutes for and on behalf of her Majesty, presents and gives the Court to be informed:
That James HART, now or lately an Agriculturist, and now or lately residing at Roode Wal on the Great Fish River in the division of Somerset is guilty of the crime of Murder - In that upon the eighteenth day of September in the Year of Our Lord One Thousand Eight Hundred and Forty-four and at Roode Wal aforesaid, the said James HART did wrongfully, unlawfully and maliciously assaul Cornelis van Rooyen in his lifetime an Agriculturist and residing at Vet Kuil in the Division aforesaid, and did then and there, with a knife, wrongfully, unlawfully and maliciously strike and stab the said Cornelis van Rooyen, by such striking and stabbing, one mortal wound, of which mortal wound, so inflicted as aforesaid the said Cornelis van Rooyen then and there died and thus the said James HART did wrongfully, unlawfully and maliciously kill and murder the said Cornelis van Rooyen.
Wherefore upon due proof and conviction thereofe the said Attorney-General prays the Judgment of the Court against the said James Hart, according to Law.
H. Porter,

Attorney General.

Circuit Court, Graham's Town 15th April 1845.

It is ordered that this case be removed in the Supreme Court and is hereby removed accordingly,

G. Groman.

To the Supreme Court,

Colony of the Cape of Good Hope,

In Queen in the prosecution of Attorney General against James HART charged with the crime of Murder.

Daniel Jacob Cloete, Clerk of the peace for Cape Town, Cape District that the aforesaid James HART is charged with having on or about the Eighteenth day of September in the Year of our Lord One Thousand Eight Hundred and forty four committed the crime of Murde at Roodeval in the Great Fish River situate in the District of Somerset.

Attorney General has instituted for Criminal Actin against the said James Hart for the said crime and has filed the Honourble Council that it is more expedient and will be less expensive to the Government and be held in the Court of the Court of the District of Albany and not in the Supreme Council

before me David J. Cloete this fifth day of March 1845.J.H. BOWLES.

15.

Circuit Court, Graham's Town

15th April 1845

Before this Court

James HART - Murder

being arraigned pleaded Not Guilty.

The Jury which found him Guilty of Culpable Homicide not Murder consisted of:
1. John Talbot
2. Thomas Berry
3. William Bartlet
4. Robert Blackbeard
5. Joseph Wilmot
6. Joseph Bradfield
7. William Upton
8. George Belfelds
9. Richard Bradfield.
The Circuit Court decided to refer the case to the Supreme Court.

VERDICT: NOT GUILTY OF MURDER but GUILTY OF CUPABLE HOMICIDE.

Judgement of the Court:

To be imprisoned in the gaol of Graham's Town or such other place as the Governor shall appoint for ten years with hard labour.
G. Cromer, Registrar of Court.

As it turned out he didn't serve the 10 years in gaol. For some reason he was sent to Robben Island (then a leper colony and insane asylum) and appears to have been released after about 4 years.

His 2nd wife Martha Louisa KLOPPER gave birth to Richard Tamplin (Dickie) HART on the 15th Novbember 1850 so he must have been out of gaol at least 9 months before that date.

Transcribed by Tombi Peck

James married Maria Susanna Wilhemina van Aardt on 28 Aug 1830 in Somerset East, Eastern Cape, South Africa. Maria was born on 24 Dec 1813 in Jagersdrift, Somerset East, Eastern Cape, South Africa; died on 21 Dec 1839 in Bruintjes Hoogte, Somerset East, Eastern Cape, South Africa. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Name: Maria Susanna W Van Aardt

Notes:

the VAN AARDT family are still on the same farm they occupied when James married Maria...their farm is 'Goede Hoop' which is about 12 miles from 'Glen Avon'.

Other Events and Attributes:

• Residence: Between 1811 and 1817, Grahamstown, Eastern Cape, South Africa
• Residence: Between 1817 and 1825, Somerset East, Eastern Cape, South Africa
• Residence: 1825, Glen Avon farm, Somerset East, Eastern Cape, South Africa

Notes:

Robert Hart (1776-1867) came from Strathavon in Lanarkshire, and as a young man joined the 78th Highland Regiment. The newly formed National Convention of the French Republic had just declared war on Great Britain and Holland, and was preparing to take possession of the Cape. So the British decided to take it first and immediately despatched Admiral Elphinstone with a fleet, which anchored in Simon's Bay in 1795. Robert Hart's regiment under General Craig was sent out with the troops that were to occupy the Cape. At this time the Cape was torn asunder by political intrigues and revolt against the bankrupt and despotic Dutch East India Company, and Graaff-Reinet and Swellendam had declared themselves Republics, but agreed to come under British rule.

In 1799 the Third Frontier War broke out and Chief Ndhlambi invaded the Zuurveld and Lieut Hart served with his regiment in the fighting on the frontier, which ended up in a patched peace leaving the Xhosa in possession of the ground that they had occupied.
In 1802, by the Treaty of Amiens peace was ratified between great Britain and the French Republic, and the Cape of Good Hope was given back to the Batavian Republic. British troops were withdrawn, and Robert Hart left with his Regiment for India. From here he returned to Scotland and married Hannah Tamplin. When the English retook the Cape in 1806, Robert Hart was again in the army of occupation under General Baird. In the following year Hart's regiment retook the Zuurveld, and pushed the Xhosa back over the Great Fish River, thus reclaiming the Albany and Bathurst areas where the bulk of the Settlers were located in 1820.
Grahamstown was founded in 1811, and Lt. Hart with his wife and family were stationed there until 1817, when he was put in charge of Somerset Farm which supplied wheat and fodder to the Military in the Eastern Province. When Somerset farm in 1825 became the town of Somerset East, Robert Hart, for his long and faithfull service to the Government, was given the farm Glen Avon, which he extended by purchasing additional land. Robert was Heemraad for the area, and he was responsible for the building of the Dutch Reformed Church in Somerset East. Some years later he contributed £1300 to the building of the Presbyterian Church.

Death date of 14 September 1867 is listed in "British Families in South Africa" by C Pama pub by Human & Rosseau 1992 on Page 87. Also on that page are: Robert Hart I born Scotland married to Mary Fleming parents of Robert Hart II born 1777 in Stathavon, Lanark, Scotland.

More about Glen Avon from Country life, March 2000;
When Robert Hart stepped off a boat at the Cape of Good Hope in 1795, he did not look like an important future figure. At the time he was 18 years old, a private in the Argyllshire Highlanders and penniless. Yet this young Scottish lad was destined to play a major role in taming the old Cape colony's wild eastern flank. After surviving the dangers of being a soldier on the turbulent eastern frontier, he took a short break in England before returning in 1807 to SA as a commissioned officer in Colonel Graham's newly formed Cape Regiment. By now he was also married to Hannah Tamplin, and the couple settled at the military base that later became Grahamstown. After a while, Robert took over Somerset farm, established in the Zuurveld by the government to supply the army. While there the Harts welcomed the Scottish party of 1820 settlers who ventured inland to the Baviaans River valley. Those were tough times for the Scots, but luckily they had a helpful friend in Robert. In 1825 Somerset Farm was shut down and the land set aside for the new town of Somerset East. Left with a small state pension, Robert Hart moved with his family to land he'd acquired a short distance away in a fertile valley below the Bosberg, a beautiful place he named Glen Avon.
Through hard work and great insight he soon made his farm a landmark in the region. He bred top merino sheep, a breed introduced to SA by Colonel Graham, and so contributed greatly to what became an important industry. His orchards produced a fantastic bounty of fruits, especially citrus, and his flood-irrigated fields delivered huge harvests of grain that soon justified a private mill.
The machinery for this was shipped out from Scotland and then transported by ox wagon from Algoa Bay over the Zuurberg Pass. The mill could produce two tons of meal a day and soon Robert was grinding all the wheat grown between Pearston, Ann's Villa and Zwagershoek.
....the amazing legacy of Robert Hart, who died in 1867 at the ripe old age of 90, is remarkable because everything has been so well looked after by his direct descendants. Their dedication preserved the old mill and the two homesteads...Although idle since 1991, Glen Avon's historic mill could be made to run again if it rained enough...and the rusted holes in the water feed troughs were patched up.

Newspaper cuttings from the Eastern Cape.
EP Herald, Oct 1967

The charming homestead on Glen Avon which was built by Robert HART round about 1825 and which is now occupied by his direct descendant, Mr. R.C. BROWN, his wife and family. The house was built of stone and roofed with imported Welsh slate. It has been restored under the supervision of a well-known Port Elizabeth architect and furnished with antiques appropriate to the period. A wing has been added to the house but is perfectly in keeping with the original structure. The veranda railings are those put up by Robert HART. They are of iron and are set in lead.

The old mill at Glen Avon, Somerset East, must be one of the very few mills of its type left in South Africa. It is still in working order and is used for grinding wheat and stock food. The wheat incidentally, which is grown on Glen Avon is used for baking the family bread. The mill machinery, which was made in Leeds, England in 1861 and the grinding stone, which came from Scotland and is of Aberdeen granite, were transported to Glen Avon from Algoa Bay and over the Zuurberg Mountains by ox wagon some time in the 1800's. The wheel is 20 feet in diameter.

The grave of Robert HART is on the estate and a Presbyterian church, erected in 1850, which is now used as a coloured school. The estate is about three miles out of Somerset East.

see also https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSVZ-5SMP-4?i=1164&cat=305287 and https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSVZ-5SMG-L?i=1165&cat=305287

Robert married Hannah May Tamplin on 10 Apr 1804 in Saint Peters Port, Guernsey. Hannah (daughter of Richard Tamplin and Susannah Randle) was born on 30 Jul 1777 in Chorlwood, Sussex, England; died on 3 Sep 1852 in Glen Avon, Somerset East, Eastern Cape, South Africa. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

I (Tombi Peck) received an email from Ruth LEVINE (we share their son JAMES HART as a common ancestor) on the 30th May 2007
"I have found a record in the Poor Law Records (Surrey) of a Hannah Tamplin aged 1 year 3 months in 1779. I think her age is wrong because it cites her brother Richard as 2 years old. It appears her family were subject to a removal order from Worth, Surrey (her mother's birth village) to Chorlwood, Surrey where they came from. Father: Richard TAMPLIN, Mother: Susannah TAMPLIN". We later found from the TAMPLIN ONE NAME SOCIETY that her mother was Susannah RANDLE from Worth, Surrey.
The Grahamstown Journal of the 11th September 1852 had the following
Obituary for her: (Photographed as usual by Sue Mackay)
"Departed this life on the 3rd September 1852, Mrs. Robert HART, Senior, aged 75 years, after a severe affliction, borne with christian resignation about 29 years - the last few years helpless as an infant - and a firm faith in her Redeemer, with whom I trust her soul is now enjoying all the blessings of redeeming love.

She has left a disconsolate husband, after a happy union of 48 years 5
months and a numerous family and circle of friends to lament a loss, which, notwithstanding her bodily helplessness, they acutely feel.
~
South African Commercial Advertiser, 11th September 1852:
"DIED at Glen Avon, District of Somerset, September 3rd 1852, aged 75 years, Hannah TAMPLIN, the beloved wife of Robert HART Esq. She bore a long affliction of 29 years with Christian patience and resignation to the Divine Will. Her last illness was marked by a firm reliance upon her Saviour, and a joyful anticipation of the rest and reward that awaited her; this to her bereaved and mourning Partner and Family is the best consolation."


Ruth LEVINE has found the birth Record for a Robert HART

5 January 1777 HART, Robert (O.P.R. Births 621/0010 0159
Page 156 1776/1777
Robert son of James HART, Weaver, Strathaven born 5 January 1777.

Further records uncovered by Ruth LEVINE shows:

To go with this information Ruth has found that his father James HART who died in Edinburgh and his mother was Isabel BROOM who was born and died in Scotland about 1791. Mary FLEMING married his father in 1807 so she was his stepmother, not his mother. He had two siblings, Andrew HART who married Isobele STEELE. Their daughter was Marion HART. His sister was Grizel HART who married David Campbell. Isabel BROOM'S (DIED 1791) parents were John BROOM and Bessie BINNIE. John BROOM'S father was William BROOM who was married to one Isobel BINNIE.
James HART'S FATHER was another James HART (mother unknown). His father appears to have been another James HART (mother unknown) The Stamvader being Robert HART and the Stammoeder Elizabeth DONALD.

Notes:

Description: Re marriage of Robert Hart to Hanna Templin
9 April 1804 St Peter Port Town Guernsey
Record states:
Robert Hart Sgt 91st Reg of Foot and Hannah Templin daughter of Richard of Worth Surrey and Susannah Randle

Other Events and Attributes:

• Name: James Heart
• Occupation: Weaver

James married Isabel Broom on 6 Feb 1774 in Polmont, Scotland. Isabel (daughter of John Broom and Jean Taylor) died in 1791 in Scotland. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Richard + Susannah Randle. Susannah was born in Worth, Surrey, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]