Soldier, Official, Surveyor and Politician born in 1797 in Bristol, England and died on13th October 1882 at Glen Avon in Somerset East, South Africa.

Captain Stretch arrived in Cape Town with the 38th Regiment in 1815. He served on the staff of Col. Thomas Willshire during the defence of Grahamstown in 1819 and afterwards as government surveyor and engineer during the construction of Fort Cox and Fort Beresford.

He took part in the Sixth and Seventh Frontier Wars (1834-1835 and 1846-1847). Appointed in 1836 Government agent to Gaika and the Imidange and Amabele tribes, with headquarters at Fort Cox, he was transferred later to Block Drift (near Lovedale). He supported Lt. Gov. Andries Stockenström’s frontier policy and corresponded with Dr. John Philip, John Fairbairn and Stockenström. During the Seventh Frontier War the commanded a Fingo unit, but fell into disfavour with the Governor, Sir Henry Pottinger, and was dismissed in 1846. Stretch was a great friend of the missionaries, especially those at Lovedale.

The colonists named him the ‘philanthropic commissioner’ and the ‘peacemaker’. After his dismissal he resumed his surveying and served in Parliament (1854 – 1873), first as the representative of Fort Beaufort in the Legislative Assembly and afterwards in the Legislative Council.

His diary is preserved in manuscript in the Cape Archives, and his original property in Graaff-Reinet was purchased and renovated as Stretch’s Court by Historical Homes of South Africa Ltd.

The Stretch Family Tree

a1 Stephen Stretch x Margaret
b1 Richard Stretch x Elinor Coakley (daughter of Abraham and Mary Coakley)
c1 James St Leger Stretch x Catherine Devenish
d1 Ellen x John Mears Devenish
e1 John Donald
e2 James
e3 William
e4 George
e5 Charles
e6 Anthony
e7 Sarah Caroline
e8 Ellen
e9 Marcelle
e10 Catherine
e11 Elizabeth
d2 Catherine x George Bennett
e1 John
e2 Lennox
e3 James
e4 Michael
e5 Thomas
e6 George
e7 Ellen
e8 Catherine
e9 Anne
d3 Susan x Edward Parr xx John Pringle
e1 Susan x James Atwell
d4 Charles Lennox x Ann Hart
e1 James St. Leger
? aged 3 months
d5 Richard Aldworth x Maria Botha
e1 James St. Leger
e2 William
e3 Aldworth
e4 Anne
e5 Polly
c2 Coakley
c3 Michael
c4 Aldworth
c5 Charlotte
c6 Susan
c7 Mary
c8 Elicia
c9 Anne

Charles Lennox Stretch

Source: SESA (Standard Encyclopedia of Southern Africa)

In the early days of the settlement at the Cape people of note were buried inside church buildings. Provision for a place of worship was at once made inside the Castle. Consequently the Rev. Joan van Arckel was laid to rest at that particular spot in the unfinished Castle in Jan. 1666. Only a fortnight earlier he himself had officiated at the laying of one of the four foundation stones of the new defence structure. A few months later the wife of Commander Zacharias Wagenaer was buried in the same ground; likewise Commander Pieter Hackius, who died on 30th November 1671. By 1678 the little wooden church inside the Castle proved too small, and when a new site was selected provision was made for a cemetery immediately outside the church, but the custom of burials inside the building continued. The whole piece of ground where the Groote Kerk and its adjacent office building now stand was enclosed by a strong wall. People were buried on this site before the completion of the church building. The first to be buried there was the Rev. Petrus Hulsenaar, who died on 15th December 1677 and was laid to rest where the church was to be built. The bodies of those who were buried in the wooden church inside the Castle were reinterred here in a common grave. After that a fee equivalent to about R12 was charged for a grave inside the church, as against R1.00 for a burial-place in the churchyard.

The church building was completed in 1703, and the first governor buried inside its walls was Louis van Assenburgh, who died on Sunday, 27th December 1711. The following year ex-Governor Simon van der Stel died on 24th June and was buried inside the church; a memorial was put up behind the pulpit. He was followed by several notable persons, all buried inside the building: Governor Maurits Pasques de Chavonnes, whose death occurred on 8th September 1724; Governor Pieter Gijsbert Noodt (died 23rd April 1729); the wife of Governor Jan de la Fontaine (June 1730), Governor Adriaan van Kervel (19th September 1737) and Governor elect Pieter, Baron van Reede, who died at sea on the way out and was buried in the church on 16th April 1773. The last of the Governors to be buried in the Groote Kerk was Ryk Tulbagh. Although his death occurred on 11th August 1771, the burial was postponed 17th August to enable country folk to attend the funeral of the `Father' of the people. Some memorial tablets and escutcheons can still be seen at the Groote Kerk, but most disappeared during rebuilding operations, including that of Simon van der Stel. The escutcheon- of Baron Pieter van Reede is still to be seen on the outside wall of the enlarged building near the original steeple. Another conspicuous tablet, but of a much later date, is that of Chief Justice Sir John Truter and Lady Truter, who died in 1845 and 1849 respectively and were buried in the churchyard a few years after the reconstruction. It is believed that the first Jan Hendrik Hofineyr in South Africa, who was superintendent of De Schuur and died in 1805, lies buried in the little cemetery still preserved at Groote Schuur, but it is impossible to identify his grave.

Notable Huguenot personalities are buried in Huguenot cemeteries at French Hoek, La Motte and Dal Josafat. A historic Jewish cemetery has been preserved in Woodstock, while many notable figures lie buried in the cemeteries at Mowbray and Woltemade. The Cape Malay community at all times took a pride in the graves of their leaders who died at the Cape. Apart from the kramat at Faure where Sheik Yusuf lies buried, there are kramats on the slopes of Signal Hill, being tombs of Khordi Abdusalem, Tuan Said (Syed), Tuan Guru and Tuan Nurman. New structures were erected here in 1969.

Comdt. Tjaart van der Walt, 'the Lion-Heart', was buried in 1802 where he fell in battle against the Xhosa tribes in the hills at Cambria, a few km from the Gamtoos valley. Dr. John Philip of the London Missionary Society, who died in 1851, is buried near Hankey railway station in the Gamtoos valley, and with him his son William Enowy, who drowned on the day when his father's water scheme was officially opened. Frederik Cornelis Bezuidenhout, whose death in 1815 was the prelude to the Slachter's Nek Rebellion, lies buried on his farm on the upper reaches of the Baviaans River, near the Bedford-Tarka road. A significant number of British settlers and sons of the 1810 Settlers were killed in battle in the Frontier Wars. At least one had the place he was buried named after him – Bailie's Grave near Keiskammahoek in the Ciskei; Charles Bailie, son of Lt. John Bailie, the founder of East London, was killed here in the Sixth Frontier War. Settler cemeteries in various parts of the Eastern Province contain the graves of many leading pioneers.

At Keiskammahoek is Gaika's grave, proclaimed a national monument. He was the founder of the Gaika tribe and died in 1829. The grave of his son and successor, Sandile, killed in the Ninth Frontier War in 1878 and buried at Stutterheim, has been provided with a bronze inscription by the Historical Monuments Commission. In Durban, the cemetery of the Old Fort has been proclaimed a national monument along with the fort itself; also the grave of Lt. King on the B1uff (James Saunders King was one of the original settlers at Port Natal). The site was also proclaimed where a few Voortrekkers fell fighting against the British at Congella station.

In Zululand is Piet Retief's grave where he was buried, next to the other victims of the massacre, in 1839 in the present Babanango district by the Commando that avenged his death. Near by, on the battlefield of Italeni, European graves have been found recently by Dr. H. C. de Wet and farmers of the neighbourhood. Two graves, some distance away from the others, may possibly be those of Comdt. Piet Uys and his son Dirkie. The graves have as yet not been opened nor identified with any degree of certainty. In the immediate vicinity of Dingaan's Kraal, where Retief lies buried, the Historical Monuments Commission's bronze plaques protect several Zulu graves: Senzangakona, founder of the Zulu nation and father of Shaka, Dingaan, Mpande and Mageba – all in the district of Babanango. When Dinuzulu died near Middelburg (Tvl.) in 1913 his last wish was granted – to be buried with his fathers. His grave, like that of Senzangakona, has an inscription in the Zulu language only. The memorial to Shaka near Stanger has been proclaimed a national monument; also Mpande's kraal and grave in the Mahlabatini district. Cetewayo's kraal, also in Mahlabatini, has the Commission's plaque. Comdt. Hans de Lange's grave at Besters station near Ladysmith has been preserved.

In the Orange Free State the grave of Moroka, chief of the Seleka branch of the Barolong tribe near Thaba Nchu, has been provided with a bronze plaque. Of the Republican presidents three lie buried in Free State soil: J. P. Hoffman at Smithfield, J. H. Brand in the Old Cemetery at Bloemfontein, and M. T. Steyn at the foot of the National Women's Monument. President J. N. Boshof's grave is in the Old Cemetery at Pietermaritzburg, that of M. W. Pretorius in Potchefstroom, and F. W. Reitz at Woltemade in Cape Town. Gen. C. R. de Wet and the Rev. J. D. Kestell rest at the foot of the National Women's Monument, where the ashes of Emily Hobhouse are also preserved. Sarel Cilliers is buried at Doornkloof near Lindley.

Much of the early history of Kimberley can be read from tombstones in three old cemeteries: the Pioneers' cemetery; Du Toitspan cemetery, where the victims of the concentration camp (1901- 02) were laid to rest; and the Gladstone cemetery which contains the graves of Lt.-Col. N. Scott-Turner of the Black Watch, of George Labram, maker of `Long Cecil', and of those who fell during the siege of Kimberley at Fourteen Streams, Dronfield and Carter's Ridge.

Interest in Pretoria centres largely round the Heroes' Acre in the Old Cemetery in Church Street West where Paul Kruger was buried, and Andries Pretorius as well as President T. F. Burgers were reinterred in 1891 and 1895 respectively. The children of A. H. Potgieter refused the reinterment of their father and so he still rests where he died, at Schoemansdal in the Zoutpansberg. Of the Prime Ministers of the Union of South Africa, two lie in the Heroes' Acre, namely J. G. Strijdom and Dr. H. F. Verwoerd, while Gen. Louis Botha was buried in the same cemetery, but before a corner of it had come to be designated Heroes' Acre. Gen. J. B. M. Hertzog is buried on his farm Waterval in the Witbank district. Gen. J. C. Smuts was cremated and his ashes scattered on a koppie on his farm near Irene. Dr. Malan was laid to rest in the cemetery outside Stellenbosch, as well as the President elect, Dr. T. E. Donges. Dr. E. G. Jansen, Governor-General, was buried in the Heroes' Acre.

Of the Prime Ministers of the Cape Colony, Dr. L. S. Jameson died in-London, W: P. Schreiner in Wales, and T. C. Scanlan in Salisbury, while Cecil John Rhodes rests at World's View in the Matopos. The first Prime Minister, Sir John Molteno, lies in Claremont cemetery, Sir Thomas Upington at Maitland, Sir Gordon Sprigg at Mowbray; and John X. Merriman, though he died at Stellenbosch, was laid to rest in Maitland cemetery. J. H. Hofmeyr (`Onze Jan'), by whose grace the Prime Ministers ruled, is buried at Somerset West. Of the Prime Ministers of Natal, Sir Henry Binns, who died at Pietermaritzburg, was buried in the military cemetery, Durban. Natal's first Prime Minister, Sir John Robinson, lies in the Church of England cemetery in Durban; Sir Frederick Moor at Estcourt, Sir George Sutton at Howick, and C. J. Smythe at Nottingham Road. Sir Albert Hime died abroad. The only Prime Minister of the Orange River Colony (1907-10), Abraham Fischer, died in Cape Town and was buried at Maitland.

Of the Boer generals among the older generation, Piet Joubert was buried on his farm Rustfontein in Wakkerstroom, in accordance with his own request; Schalk Burger on his farm Goedgedacht in Lydenburg, Piet Cronje on his farm Mahemsvlei in Klerksdorp, and J. H. de la Rey in the Western Transvaal town Lichtenburg. Of the famous South African literary figures, Olive Schreiner, initially buried at Maitland, was reinterred on the summit of Buffelskop, near Cradock; Jan Lion Cachet and Totius (J. D. du Toit) at Potchefstroom, and Jan F. E. Celliers in the Old Cemetery, Pretoria; while C. Louis Leipoldt's ashes were interred on the Pakhuisberg in Clanwilliam. The co-founder of the Kruger National Park, Piet Grobler, was buried in the New Cemetery, Pretoria, and the best-known finance minister of the Union, N. C. Havenga, at his home town Fauresmith. Public-spirited communities as well as private families all over South Africa have at numerous places gone to great trouble to preserve the graves of pioneers and public figures. At Ohrigstad the tombstones of Voortrekker graves have been brought together in a concrete but in the form of an ox-wagon, the oldest stone being that of J. J. Burger, born at Stellenbosch, over 1 600 km away, in the 18th century.

The origins of the Presbyterian Church of Southern Africa are to be found in Cape Town and in the Baviaans River valley in the Eastern Province. In 1806 a Scottish regiment, the 93rd Southern Fencibles, was posted to the Cape of Good Hope. No chaplains were appointed to regiments at that time, and on their own initiative the men founded a Calvinist Society. In 1812 George Thom, a Scottish Presbyterian minister, arrived at the Cape, and from that society formed a congregation, mainly Presbyterian, although members of other denominations were enrolled. Thom was called to be minister of the Dutch Reformed Church at Caledon, and the congregation which he had formed was left without a minister. In 1818 Dr. John Philip of the London Missionary Society arrived and consented to minister to the congregation. Under his ministry the congregation ceased to be Presbyterian, and no services distinctively Presbyterian were held for four years. Representations were made to the Governor on the forlorn condition of the Presbyterian community, and as a result funds were raised voluntarily, a grant was secured from the Government, and the foundation-stone of the present St. Andrew’s Church in Cape Town was laid in 1827. James Adamson was the first minister, and the church was officially opened in 1829.

Meanwhile the 1810 Settlers had arrived at Algoa Bay and a Scottish company trekked to the Baviaans River valley, where, under the leadership of Thomas Pringle, services were held from the first Sunday of their arrival. A place of worship was erected at Glen Lynden in 1828, and John Pears was called as the first minister. Later on this church was taken over by the Ned. Geref. Kerk. The building still stands and has been proclaimed a historical monument.

From these beginnings the Church expanded as the country developed. Isolated Presbyterian communities sprang up wherever towns or settlements were established, e.g. at Grahamstown, King William’s Town, Queenstown, Port Elizabeth and East London. A similar development took place in Natal (mainly at Durban and Pietermaritzburg) and in the Orange Free State (at Harrismith, Bloemfontein, Bethlehem and other centres). After the discovery of diamonds and gold, congregations were formed at Kimberley and on the Witwatersrand. The Rev. Dr. James Gray of Harrismith conducted the first Presbyterian service in Johannesburg in 1887, in an unfinished building which was to become the Heights Hotel, Doornfontein. This led to the formation of the congregation of St. George’s in 1888, followed by those of Fordsburg, Jeppe, Germiston, Boksburg, Pretoria and Klerksdorp, in 1890. At Bulawayo a congregation was established during the Matabele rebellion. The movement spread in Rhodesia to Salisbury, Livingstone, Gwelo and Umtali.

In view of the growing number of Presbyterian congregations, steps were taken in 1892, through a federal council, toward the establishment of a South African Presbyterian Church. Four presbyteries, those of Cape Town, Kaffraria, Natal and Transvaal, together with the congregation at Port Elizabeth (not then attached to any presbytery), declared their willingness to become constituent parts of a united church, on a basis adopted at a meeting of the above named Federal Council held at King William’s Town in July 1896. As a result, the first general assembly of the united church was held in Durban (17-22 September 1897) under the moderatorship of Dr. John Smith of Pietermaritzburg. In 1898 the recently established congregation at Bulawayo passed a unanimous resolution attaching their congregation to the Presbyterian Church of South Africa. In 1903 the Moderator, James Gray (afterwards Dr. Gray) opened the newly erected church and then went to Salisbury to found a congregation there. As at Bulawayo, the charge at Salisbury, and later the charges at Gwelo, Livingstone and Umtali, attached themselves to the Presbyterian Church of South Africa. In the course of time the Presbyterian Church has expanded, keeping pace with economic development in the countries north and south of the Limpopo, and the vast area from the Cape to the Copperbelt is now ministered to. In 1959 the name was changed to the Presbyterian Church of Southern Africa.

Missionary endeavour was an important feature of the Church’s work from the very beginning. St. Andrew’s Church in Cape Town had a missionary society, and still has, work in the early days being carried out among the slave population and the Bantu. In the Baviaans River valley Thomas Pringle held services for the native people. This missionary enterprise has been well maintained and today is carried on among the rural and urban Bantu and among the Coloured people and Indians. Educational work is carried out in Rhodesia in a large number of Church lower primary schools, in the secondary hoarding schools of Mondoro near Salisbury and David Livingstone near Bulawayo, and in an institution at Gloag Ranch, near Bulawayo, which includes an agricultural school.

Other aspects of Christian work have not been neglected. The General Assembly initiated an orphan society in 1905, and a children’s home was established at Queenstown. In King William’s Town a hostel for boys attending Dale College was set up in 1924. Theological students are trained through the divinity faculty at Rhodes University, Grahamstown, and there is therefore no need to recruit men from overseas, as was done for many years. A two-year post academic course of practical training for newly ordained ministers was instituted in Johannesburg in 1971. The Eventide Homes Committee make provision for the aged by endowing rooms and/or flatlets in existing homes for the aged.

The general assembly’s method of administering and maintaining all the Church’s various activities is through a number of standing committees, several of which now have full-time staff. These officials of the Church and their respective departments (church extension, education and training for the ministry, Christian education), together with the Church’s central office and book room, are situated in Johannesburg.

In 1972 the Church celebrated the 75th anniversary of its first general assembly, marking it by the establishment of the Presbyterian Educational Fund of R100 000 to provide bursaries for the education of needy children; by the holding of a national conference of celebration and study on the issues of Christian mission, ministry and renewal; and by the production of a history of the Church.

The Cape Town Congregational Church started as a Church for the members of the 93rd Regiment of the Sutherland Highlanders.
With the arrival of James Read in 1800 a Calvinistic Society was formed with members pledging to help each other in Christian Life. With the arrival then of Rev. George Thom in 1813 members of the Fellowship on 6 May 1813 gave each other the hand of Christian fellowship, which constituted themselves into a church and the Rev Thom, conducted the first Free Church service ever held on South African soil. Out of 90 communicants, 63 were members of the 93rd Regiment of the Sutherland Highlanders. The following year this regiment was transferred to India leaving the membership of the church with 27 members.
On 3 April 1820 Dr. John Philip arrived in the Cape and was formally invited to the Pastorate of this Church. He accepted the offer however with the stipulation that the church should be governed by a Church Meeting – the start of the First Definite Congregational Church in South Africa came into being. They met in the Orphan Chambers in Parliament Street and moved later to a building in Church Square which later became the Cape Town Club, and was known as the Union Chapel. Later a Church was built in Caledon Square which became the headquarters of the Congregational Church in Cape Town.
This church however had a small membership. The group that met in Church Square had to vacate the premises and the Rev Pitt started the Trinity Congregational Church, quite independently from the one in Caledon Square, in the St. Martini's School room in Queen Victoria Street. The use of this building was kindly granted at a nominal rental by the German Evangelical Lutheran Church in Long Street.
The first service to be held in this room by the Rev Pitt was on Sunday 11 April 1896 and three adults and 5 children were present. It was decided to buy as site for a church in the area known as Tamboerskloof. Part of the Saasveld Historical Gardens was obtained and the new Trinity Church, Kloof Street was opened on the 13 February 1898.
A Management board was also formed. On 30 January 1907 the Trinity Church, Kloof Street and the Congregational Church Caledon Square united and the Union Church in Kloof Street were formed. Early in 1916 , Rev Pitt and his Church Council started looking for a larger site for the Church. In 1919 Rev Pitt's health became poorly and a young man was appointed to assist his as the members did not want him to retire. He died in July 1919 and was succeeded by the Rev. Penalligon. In 1920 the present site was bought and a church built was officially opened by Princess Alice Countess of Athlone in April 1925. In 1917 Rev Bowen also became the minister but died in 1928.
The Stephenson Hall was added in 1935, in 1964 Louis Bosman Hall and in 1968 the Chapel.
Many ministers of the church occupy a notable place in South African History, including Dr. John Philip, Rev James Cameron, Rev T.D. Philip and the Rev John Mullineux.
But perhaps one of the most prolific people was the famed explorer Dr. Livingstone would preach at the desk which is now the communion table inside our church.
One of the other prominent members of the church was actually invited to serve as Prime Minister; the man was Saul Solomon founder of the Cape Argus.
The organ was bought from St. Mary's in Woodstock, and completely renovated after the last war in memory of Messrs Ernest Hammond, Jack Van Niekerk, Duncan Bowen, Neville Bellamy and Jack Mills who paid the supreme sacrifice during the 2nd World War.
If you look near the entrance to the Graafs Trust Building, you will see a circular blue plaque reading "Site of Union Chapel. First Congregational Church in South Africa 1921"
The following churches were also then established: Claremont Congregational Church 1840, Sea Point 1893, Observatory 1894 and Rondebosch 1903.
The church records for the Trinity Church which go back to 1821 are now housed in the Kloof Street Church. The Sea Point Church records are also available at the church as well.