Rev. John Ayliff, 1820 Settler

1797 - 1862  (64 years)

• Name	John Ayliff
  Title	Rev.
  Suffix	1820 Settler
  Born	7 Nov 1797	London, England
  Gender	Male
  1820 Lineage	Yes
  1820 Settler	12 Feb 1820	The Downs, Deal, Kent, England
  Address: Willson's party on the La Belle Alliance
  Settler ID	76
  Died	17 May 1862	Fauresmith, Free State, South Africa
  Person ID	I24236	master
  Last Modified	11 Sep 2021

  
  

  Father	Johnathan Ayliff,   b. Abt 1777
  Family ID	F8822	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	Jane Catherine Dold, 1820 Settler,   b. 8 Jan 1799,   d. 7 May 1889, Grahamstown, Eastern Cape, South Africa  (Age 90 years)
  Married	25 Jun 1820
  Children	+ 1. John Ayliff,   b. 1821, Albany District, Eastern Cape, South Africa ,   d. 4 Dec 1878, Danube, Europe  (Age 57 years)   2. Reuben Ayliff,   b. 1823,   d. 1899  (Age 76 years)   3. Daughter Ayliff,   b. 6 Sep 1824, Bathurst, Eastern Cape, South Africa ,   d. 6 Sep 1824, Bathurst, Eastern Cape, South Africa  (Age 0 years)   4. William Ayliff,   b. 3 Aug 1825, Grahamstown, Eastern Cape, South Africa ,   d. 1905, Grahamstown, Eastern Cape, South Africa  (Age 79 years)   5. Matthew Ayliff,   b. 1826,   d. 1828  (Age 2 years) + 6. Jonathan Ayliff,   b. 17 Jun 1829, Salem, Eastern Cape, South Africa ,   d. 20 Oct 1885, London, England  (Age 56 years) + 7. James Ayliff,   b. 1831,   d. 11 May 1910, Cannon Street, Uitenhage, Eastern Cape, South Africa  (Age 79 years)   8. Jane Ayliff,   b. 1831,   d. 29 Jan 1847, Bathurst, Eastern Cape, South Africa  (Age 16 years)   9. Esther Ayliff,   b. 14 Sep 1835,   d. 1900  (Age 64 years)   10. Sarah Ann Ayliff,   b. 1837,   d. 1916  (Age 79 years)   11. Elizabeth Gardner Ayliff,   b. 1839,   d. 30 Apr 1897, Grahamstown, Eastern Cape, South Africa  (Age 58 years)   12. Nathaniel Arthur Ayliff,   b. 1842,   d. 17 May 1844, Haslope Hills Wesleyan Mission Station  (Age 2 years)
  Family ID	F7190	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

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  Born - 7 Nov 1797 - London, England 1820 Settler - Address: Willson's party on the La Belle Alliance - 12 Feb 1820 - The Downs, Deal, Kent, England Died - 17 May 1862 - Fauresmith, Free State, South Africa  = Link to Google Earth

  
  

• Settler Photos

  Ayliff, John Keywords: Picture

  
  

• Notes

  Stanton, Ellen, email, 8 Apr 2003, harprulz at bellsouth.net. "AYLIFF, John, undoubtedly came out with the 1820 Settlers, but there is no mention of his name in any Settler's list. A careful search has been made in the list in the Archives in Cape Town but without success. He is said to have been in Willson's party on the Belle Alliance-but no such name appears. In spite of this, however, there cannot be the slightest doubt but that he came with the Settlers of 1820. Rev. J. Ayliff (as well as his famous sons Reuben and William) played very important parts in the history of the east-to give a full account would be to write the history of those times." Could have been listed as Ayliff Dold, according to M D Nash, to bypass paying the fees! This is taken from the book "The Journal of John Ayliff 1821-1830" edited by Peter Hinchliff for the Rhodes University Graham's Town Series published by A A Balkema, Cape Town in 1971 for Rhodes University. This was Book 1 of the Series. These books, known as 'The Graham's Town Series' were sponsored by Rhodes University and the contents contained excerpts from diaries, reminiscences and letters mainly from the Eastern Cape. This particular book was prepared from 'The Diary of the Rev William Shaw' edited by W D Hammond-Tooke, 'The Reminiscences of Thomas Stubbs' edited by W A Maxwell and 'The Journal of Sophia Pigot' edited by M Rainier. "Very little is known about John Ayliff's life in the years before he sailed for the Cape, at the age of twenty-two, as a member of the parties of 1820 Settlers. He had been born in London on 7 November 1797. His conversion as a Methodist took place on 1 April 1817. All Fool's Day, for most people an inauspicious day dedicated to practical joking, became the annual reminder of his commitment to that which mattered most to him, his decision to become "a fool for Christ's sake". He was an accredited Methodist local preacher before he left England and his reason for coming to the Cape was at least partly an embryonic sense of vocation to missionary work. Ayliff was probably a silk weaver in London before 1820, employed by Peter Bedford, a Quaker merchant and enthusiastic supporter of missions. Such education as Ayliff had was picked up by his own efforts or through Sunday Schools, which in those days taught the children of the poorer classes the elements of reading and writing as well as the basic truths of religion. When the settlement of 1820 was planned, the British Colonial Office received, amongst the lists submitted by potential leaders of parties, a proposal from Matthew Dold for a group which included the name of J. Ayliff, a weaver. Dold's party collapsed. But Dold himself and some of his followers attached themselves to the party of Thomas Willson, which sailed for the Cape in the Belle Alliance."