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- Moodie's Party: { per Andy Reed on Facebook, 27 Sep 2017}
Benjamin Moodie (1789 - 1856), Captain in the Leigh Militia, was the eldest son of James, the ninth Laird of Melsetter, the family estate in the Orkneys, which was at that stage deep in debt. Benjamin Moodie hoped to save Melsetter by initiating a scheme of assisted emigration to the Cape. Moodie's was the first large party of British settlers who went to the Cape Colony.
Having heard of Colonel John Graham's idea to populate the Zuurveld with Scottish Highlanders. Graham visited the Highlanders while on home leave in 1813, after the 'sweeping' of the Zuurveld under his command during the Frontier War of 1811/1812. He apparently had permission to find out whether any Highlanders were interested in migrating to the Cape.
In 1816, Moodie wrote a memorial to Lord Bathurst of the Colonial Secretary, with a proposal for a scheme to settle members of the Highland 'agricultural classes' in the Cape Colony. Although this proposal received no encouragement, Moody spent several months in the south of Scotland during 1816 and 1817, recruiting for the scheme, preferring young, single men of good character, laborers or artisans.
Moodie hoped to get assistance from the British government for the costs of their passage to the Cape, where he intended employing the best of these laborers on his own land, hiring out the others. From the more than 1 500 who applied in the space of a few weeks, Moodie chose 200 men, entering into written contracts with each regarding the terms of their 'apprenticeship' with him. He then set about finding a means of transporting them, eventually entering into an agreement with a visiting Cape Town merchant, Hamilton Ross (1774 - 1853), which secured their passage.
Moodie's parties sailed in the Brilliant, Clyde or the Garland. He sent his settlers out in groups of 50 at a time. The Brilliant took the first group to South Africa early in 1817.
Soon after arriving in the Cape, Benjamin Moodie acquired the farm 'Groot Vaders Bosch,' near Swellendam. However, his plans to establish himself as a landowner soon foundered. His request for financial assistance from the British government had been ignored, and Hamilton Ross, the agent with whom he had made a verbal contract to share the costs of the venture, failed to meet his obligations.
Moodie found himself having to try to recoup his costs from his apprentices. But the Scots artisans soon realized the shortage of skilled craftsmen and artisans in the Colony and some broke their written agreements with him, while others took up to ten years to repay their debts.
In July 1818, the family home of Melsetter in Scotland was sold. His youngest brother, John Wedderburn Moodie, had joined Benjamin by then, and brother Donald, who was a RN lieutenant, also came out after their father's death in 1820. John Moodie returned to England after about 10 years in South Africa, and wrote a book about his experiences. Benjamin and Donald Moodie both became prominent members of their communities.
Benjamin established himself in the Western Cape. Donald married Sophia Pigot, and lived in the Eastern Cape and later Natal, where he became Colonial Secretary. Their grandsons, Thomas and Dunbar Moodie, eventually led a trek to Rhodesia where they founded the town of Melsetter.
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