Notes |
- The family emigrated to the Cape Colony on board the Zoroaster, which left Downs Harbour on 12/2/1820. They were part of the 1820 Settler scheme and Christopher appears to have been the leader of a party. His occupation on the ship's passenger list is given as merchantman. They arrived in Algoa Bay after transferring to the Albury in Cape Town. The leaders of the party, Christopher Thornhill Thornhill , 47, of Thornhill, Yorkshire, left estates in Cumberland and brought with him his wife, Dorothea Mounsey, 35, their two sons, Christopher, 8, and John, 15, and their two daughters, Mary Francis, 10, and Anna Margaret, 13.
Christopher THORNHILL was the leader of a small 1820 Settler Party which settled on the east bank of the Kowie River, on the farm which is still known as Thornhill.
He was born Christopher Thornhill CAMM and changed his name after receiving permission to do so by King George III. The THORNHILL's and CAMM's were related by marriage and were wealthy families living in the same area.
DEPOT Cory Library for Historical Research
TYPE Manuscript
REFERENCE MS14448
DESCRIPTION Thornhill family.
STARTING 0000
ENDING 0000
REMARKS 2 items. MS (Photocopies).
SUMMARY + Papers: granting Christopher Thornhill Camm the right to the surname Thornhill and to the Thornhill arms.
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Thornhill was made head of a party of his own, comprising sixteen men, including two of his nephews, Adam Gilfillan and Philip Camm. His labourers signed an agreement similar to Wait's, binding them to six years of service at a daily wage equivalent to the value of half a bushel of wheat. Working hours were to be from eight in the morning to four in the afternoon, and each man would be entitled to 'a suitable habitation' and half an acre of garden ground. Three of Thornhill's party deserted before the 'Zoroaster' sailed, but a late replacement, William Stokes, was allowed to board the ship while she was detained in the Downs awaiting a favourable wind.
The 'Zoroaster' left the Downs on 12 February 1820, and reached Simon's Bay on 30 April. Here her charter terminated, and the settlers were transhipped to the 'Albury' for the voyage to Algoa Bay, which they reached on 15 May. Thornhill was granted a plot of land at Algoa Bay for the erection of a prefabricated wooden house which he had brought with him, as its size made it difficult to transport to his location in Albany.
Thornhill's party - described by one of the colonial officials as 'the best regulated of any yet landed here' - was located between the Kowie and Rufane Rivers, and the location was named Thornhill. Lieut William Gilfillan (half-pay, late 60th Regt), a brother of Adam Gilfillan (nephew of Christopher Thornhill), also lived at Thornhill after his marriage to Christopher Thornhill's daughter Ann. William Gilfillan did not, as is popularly supposed, emigrate with Thornhill's party; he landed in Cape Town from the 'Importer' brig in March 1820, and applied for a grant of land by virtue of his seven years' army service at the Cape." The Lower Albany Chronicles - Part 1
LIST OF THORNHILL'S PARTY
ANNANDALE, George 20. Smith.
BROOKS, William 31. Farmer. w Ann 40. c Elizabeth 12, William 10, Ann 9 Joseph 6.
BRUTON, Thomas 27. Smith. w Charlotte 24. c Charlotte.
CAMM, Philip 20 Clerk.
DELL, Edward H. 38. Cooper. w Hannah 38. c John 10, Stephen 8, Edward 6, Samuel 3.
GILFILLAN, Adam 20. Merchant.
HOWARD, William 30. Chemist. w Sarah 25. c Jane 6, Richard 4.
MILDENHALL, Joseph 26. Husbandman.
SOPER, Robert 24. Carpenter. w Ellis 22.
STOKES, John 26. Husbandman. w Mary 26.
STREAK (or STREET), James 18. Husbandman.
STREAK (or STREET), William 27. Husbandman. w Elizabeth 22.
THORNHILL, Christopher 47. Merchant. w Dorothea 35. c John 15, Ann 13, Mary 10, Christian 8.
WHITE, Thomas 29. Husbandman.
*HOWARD, John Hassall 27. Chemist, druggist and apothecary. w 27. 2 children under 4.
Main sources for party list
Agent of Transports' Return of settlers under the direction of Messrs Wait, Thornhill and Dyason (Cape Archives CO 6138/2,98); Return of settlers under the direction of Christopher Thornhill (Cape Archives CO 6138/2, 56). The name Streak is given as Street in the official lists.
- 1820 settler on Zoroaster. Came from Yorkshire. Lived at Thornhill, Port Alfred on the Kariega River - Farm Glenfillan. [4]
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