MONTSIOA, or Seja-Nkabo-aTauana. Among the best known chiefs of the mid-Victorian days. The son of Tauana, the son of Thutlwa, the son of Tshidi, head of the second branch of the House of Tau, who was King of the Barolong about 1740. Montsioa was born soon after 1810, so that he was a young man in the late•twenties of the last century when Mzilikazi, with his well-trained
armies, trekked from the east; conquered the Bechuana Tribes and proclaimed himself supreme ruler of Central South Africa. He then commenced to levy taxes on the Bechuana tribes, including the Barolong along the Molopo River. In 1830 the Barolong seized King Mzilikazi’s tax-collector, by name Bhoya, and killed him and his companion in cold blood. This seemingly isolated act brought down upon the Barolong the full force of Mzilikazi’s wrath, and the Matabele impies swooped down upon them like an avalanche. The Barolong, who had fought their way down from the great lakes and were known among other tribes as ” baga Rungoana le bogale” (the people with the sharp spear)) witnessed, for the first time, a kind of warfare which made no distinction between man, woman or child; and for nearly three-quarters of a century thereafter, the Matabele and all tribes allied to them, (e.g., Zulu, Xosa, Swazi, Shangaan, etc.,)) were regarded with awe, and the Bechuana would have nothing in common with them. It speaks volumes for the magical force of Christianity if their descendants now intermarry with members of such tribes.

Montsioa, as a young man just turned twenty, must have taken a prominent part in Bhoya’s execution, for the poets of the day immortalised the event with the following lines in his honour:

Re kile ra ineelela dichaba,
Ra ineela, ka lecogo, merafe;
Seja-Nkabo a sale mmotlana,
A sale mo tharing eaga Sebodio.
Jaana ke mmonye a tlhatlosa Motho lekgabana
A mo pega ncoe ja Ga-Khunoana tlhogo,
A nale mmaba, a ea go bolaoa,
Seja-Nkabo-a-Tauana.

Too long we’ve bent the knee to foreigners,
Too long we’ve yielded the arm to strangers;
Montsioa, at that time, was still a baby Astride the back of his mother, Sebodio. Now have I seen him lead a man up hill, Leading him up to the crest of Mount Kunana; Conducting a foeman up to his kill,
Seja-Nkabo, the son of Tauana.

After their destruction by the Matabele, Tauna and his people found a shelter among Moroka’s people-the Seleka branch of the tribe at Thaba ‘Nchu, now O.F.S. Here the first party of immigrant Boers, under Sarel Celliers, on their way north, found them. They, too, had a taste of Mzilikazi’s sword and also found an asylum under the. wing of Moroka at Thaba ‘Nchu. The Barolong and the Boers were later reinforced by a contingent of Griqua horsemen, under an intrepid leader named Dout. The Barolong evies were led by Tauana’s son, Motshegare; the combined forces being under the supreme command of Hendrik Potgieter-a friend of the natives, if ever there was one. Together they defeated Mzilikazi’s armies and forced the Matabele to trek to the far north, now known as Southern Rhodesia.

After this overthrow and expulsion of Mzilikazi, Tauana and his people returned to the Molopo region, where he died and was succeeded by Montsioa as Chief of the Ra-Tshidi section; but, under him, they were not left long to enjoy their hard won peace. Soon after the voortrekker wave had spent itself by spreading out and settling land in the distant areas of the Northern Transvaal, the southern territories were overrun by stray whites, whose land-hunger vied with their utter disregard of the vested rights of those whose territories they invaded. Some bands of these were labelled filibusters (or freebooters), but the difference between the aspirations of such freelances and those of the newly established Transvaal Republic the natives found it very hard to define. The similarity between them was particularly noticeable after the passing of the Potgieters, the Pretoriuses and others who, with their native friends,. bore the brunt of the pioneer work. Their places in the now settled country were taken by the new Pharaohs who knew not Joseph, and it was the bane of Montsioa’s chequered life to have them as neighbours.

For instance, parties established the miniature republics of Stellaland and Goschen, with Vryburg as their capital; but, to their credit let it be said that these settlers in their diminutive republic troubled the Bechuana very little. Much of the brigandage against Montsioa and the filibustering forays into Bechuanaland were usually organised on Transvaal soil and all captured cattle were promptly driven across the frontier into the South African Republic. Other Barolong tribes were cajoled and organised against Montsioa. The Ra-Tlou section, descended from the senior House of Tau, were assured that they alone should be at the head of all Barolong affairs including Montsioa’s, and they were urged to join the Boers in their campaign against that usurper in order to bring about a desirable readjustment. Of course, white people were new in the country and it was not suspected that the solicitude of these intriguers for the regulation of the Barolong succession was stimulated by anything but a keen desire to place the House of Tau in its rightful position.

The tactics of the adventurers were remarkable. They first .engineered a treaty between the British Government and the Transvaal Republic. Under this treaty the English were to prevent the sale of arms to savages, so that white men alone could purchase firearms. The terms of this agreement were enforced by the British authorities with a firm hand, but some white men soon saw that the effect of the pact was to limit the spread of British Dominion in the interior. Most ” savages ” resisted the Boer expansion with no other object but to bring their own people under British protection; and many British pioneers sympathised with the violation of that treaty. Some actually came into Barolong territory and shared in the native defence of their country against Boer encroachments. Among these may be mentioned the late Richard Rowland, Christopher Bethell and others. They not only procured arms for Montsioa but actually helped his warriors in battle. Bethell fell on the battlefield among the sons of Montsioa near the present Transvaal-Bechuanaland boundary.

The clashes between the Barolong and the Boers extended over several decades. These hostilities necessitated the removal of the headquarters of the tribe to the present site, where the natural formation of the rocks and the thickets in Montsioastad afforded some shelter to the defenders. Thus Baden-Powell’s long defence of Mafeking was not the first; the place having been beleaguered more than once before the British annexation.
The High Commissioner, in a dispatch to the Colonial Office, about this time, points out the cruel anomaly whereby Her Majesty’s Colonial Forces at the Cape were employed to prevent the delivery of arms and ammunition to Natives who were waging a grim struggle in the interests of British colonisation; while the British Colonial Authorities, at the same time, were doing everything in their power to facilitate the delivery of arms to the Boers for use in subduing such loyal friends of the Imperial Government as Montsioa and his Barolong-War Office Dispatches, 1877

Dr. J. E. Mackenzie, son of the famous missionary, writing on the development of Rhodesia, in a colonial magazine some years later, said,  “The British would never be able to repay the debt they owe to those two Bechuana chiefs, Montsioa and Mankuroane of the Batlhaping, for the losses they have sustained in the wars they waged against the Boers in order to keep open for the British the trade route to the North, often in the face of British opposition”.
The history of these hostilities is unique in that Montsioa had! among his praise names an Afrikaans ditty that was sung and played by Boers in the Western Transvaal. I have forgotten the stanzas,. but the refrain was:-

Hoe ry die pad, hoe ry die pad,
Na Montsioa toe?
Kanoonkop o’er en die Molopo deur;
Die Boer die skiet dat die stof so staan Maar die Kaffir op sy plek bly staan.

It is not difficult to realise how these persistent raids and continuous losses of men and possessions which they involved were having a demoralising effect upon Montsioa’s tribe, and their plight eventually attracted the attention of friends of the Natives at the Cape. They strongly supported the Barolong’s frantic appeals for British protection. The result of these petitions was the Warren expedition in 1885, which annexed Bechuanaland as far as the Ramatlhabama Spruit, and proclaimed a protectorate over the territories of Bechuana tribes further north up to the Matabele borders. So that, after a most eventful life, the old warrior and hunter was able to spend the evening of his life in comparative peace.
This peace continued until 1896, shortly after the annexation to the Cape, when he was unsettled by the rinderpest scourge, which swept through Bechuanaland like a blizzard and denuded his territories of nearly every beast. Buffaloes and wildebeest in the forests perished like domestic trine and many flourishing cattle posts were reduced to ruins. So that where formerly large herds of sleek fat oxen swarmed over the grasslands as a moving testimony of Barolong wealth, only heaps of whitened skeletons remained, the only vestige of the animal life that once throve there. It was a heart-breaking situation. The misery of his people being a thing terrible to contemplate. Hyenas and wild hounds gorged themselves to excess, while flocks of carrion birds and other scaven• gers of the woods were attracted by the stench of rotting carcasses.

As a hunter in the chase, Chief Montsioa from his youth up, was as fearless as he was brave in war. He enjoyed a great reputation as a lion-killer-one of the few Bechuana who would follow a wounded lion straight into a thicket. His character in that respect has also been put into irregular verse by the court jesters of his time, for they sang:-

Moogatsa Majang, tau ga di kalo!
Tau ga di kalo, ntoroa Mhenyana.
Ga di ke di bolaoa leroborobo,
Di ba di etsa dipholofolo tsa gopo,
Di ba di edioa pitse tsa gopo,
Lekau ja Gontse-a-Tauana!
Tau di bolaoa dile thataro,
Lefa dile pedi dia bo di ntse.

(That’s not the way to kill lions,
0, husband of Majang!
That’s not the way, 0, offspring of M’Henyana!
Lions should not be butchered by the score
Nor like hunted animals at the chase;
Lions should not be slaughtered in such numbers,
To litter the field like carcasses of dead zebra,
0, descendant of Gontse, son of Tauana! Six lions at a time are quite enough
For, even two at a time are not too few!)

And here is a rare coincidence: the name ” Montsioa ” (he who is taken out) bears the same meaning as the Hebrew name “Musheh” (Moses) ; and, as the Se-Rolong expression has it-Ina lebe seromo (an ill name is an evil omen).
Chief Montsioa survived the rinderpest catastrophe by barely one year. At the age of 86 he succumbed to pulmonary disorders aggravated by a fatty heart. He was buried by his people in his cattle fold. Rev. Alfred S. Sharp, Wesleyan Missionary, now in retirement in England, conducted the funeral service. Among the Europeans in attendance were Mr. George J. Boyes, Resident Magistrate (who died at Capetown, not long ago) and some Transvaal Boers, including his former military foes who, despite their proverbial weakness in the face of colour, could respect a brave man whenever they met one.

Among Chief Montsioa’s Transvaal friends included General Piet Cronje, a former adversary and the noblest Minister of Native Affairs that ever sat in a Kruger Cabinet. He spoke the Barolong tongue almost like a native and answered to ‘the native sobriquet of ” Ra-Ntho’akgale.” After the peace in 1885, the old chief sometimes visited his Boer friends across the Transvaal border. On such occasions Dr. Molema’s father or the Doctor’s father-in-law (Rev. M. J. Moshoela, now of Klerksdorp) accompanied the old warrior as secretary, and sent back during his absence, one bulletin after another to keep his people informed of the progress of their beloved chief and his reception among the Boers.
SOL T. PLAATJE.

Cetshwayo, son of Mpande - Source: Cape Archives, E3248

What were our ancestors doing in 1882?

Who was making the headlines and What did they talk about around the supper table?

Here is a look at some of the people, places and events that made the news in 1882.

Huguenot Memorial School

The Huguenot Memorial School (Gedenkschool der Hugenoten) was opened on the 1st February 1882 on the farm Kleinbosch in Daljosafat, near Paarl. It was a private Christian school and the first school with Afrikaans as teaching medium.

The school was under the auspices of the Genootskap van Regte Afrikaners. Past pupils included the writers Andries Gerhardus VISSER, Daniël François MALHERBE and Jakob Daniël DU TOIT (Totius). The first classes were given in a small room but soon an old wine cellar was converted into a two-storey building which housed two classrooms downstairs and the boarding school upstairs. The first Afrikaans newspaper, Die Patriot, as well as the first Afrikaans magazine, Ons Klyntji, came from this school.

The Coat of Arms of "Die Genootskap van Regte Afrikaners"

The school was closed down in 1910 as by then Afrikaans was taught in government schools. In 2001 renovation work was started after a fundraising campaign brought in more than R1-million. Most of the money came from readers of the Afrikaans newspapers, Die Burger and the Volksblad. Naspers, the Stigting vir Afrikaans and KWV also made important contributions. The renovated building was opened in March 2002. It has an Afrikaans training centre upstairs and guest rooms downstairs.

The main people behind the renovation project were writer Dr. Willem Abraham DE KLERK (1917 – 1996) and Fanie THERON (chairman of the Simon van der Stel Foundation and the Huguenot Society, deceased 1989). Others who were also very involved included Sr. C.F. ALBERTYN (Naspers director), Van der Spuy UYS and Dr. Eduard BEUKKMAN. In 1985 they launched the Hugenote Gedenkskool Board of Trustees and with a R10 000 donation from the Helpmekaarfonds, a servitude on the building and land was bought. De Klerk’s wife, Finnie, and Theron’s wife, Anna, were at the official opening as their husbands did not live to see their dream come to fruition.

Dutch as official language

After the second British occupation of the Cape in 1806, English became the only official language. In 1856 J.A. KRUGER, the M.L.A. for Albert, asked for permission to address Parliament in Dutch. His requested was denied, and this started a campaign to get Dutch recognised as an official language in Parliament. On the 30th March 1882, Jan Hendrik HOFMEYR (1845 – 1909), also known as Onze Jan, appealed for the use of Dutch as an official language in Parliament alongside English. He was supported by Saul SOLOMON, a Jewish newspaper publisher and printer in Cape Town. On the 9th June the campaign finally got a positive result when an amendement was made to the Constitution allowing the use of Dutch in Parliament.

Official status was granted on the 1st May and the Act was later passed. On the 13th June, Jan Roeland Georg LUTTIG, the Beaufort-West M.L.A., was the first to officially deliver a speech in Dutch. There is no official record of the speech in Dutch, but the English version was published in the 14th June 1882 Cape Argus newspaper. The other version is in the Cape Parliament Hansard.

It was a short speech – “Meneer die Speaker, ons is baie dankbaar dat die opsionele gebruik van die Hollandse taal in albei huise van die parlement toegelaat is. Wanneer ek sê dankbaar, dink ek praat ek namens diegene wat die twee huise met hul petisies vir dié doel genader het. Ek put vreugde daaruit dat my Engelssprekende vriende die voorstel nie teengestaan het nie, my komplimente gaan aan hulle.

Ek hoop om die raad in die toekoms ook in Engels, in my ou Boere styl, toe te spreek. Sodoende kan dié Engelse vriende wat nie Hollands verstaan nie, die geleentheid hê om te verstaan wat ek probeer oordra. Ek vertrou ook dat alle nasionale verskille in die toekoms sal verdwyn en dat mense van alle nasionaliteite en standpunte hand aan hand sal beweeg om die welvaart en vooruitgang van die kolonie te bevorder”. According to the Hansard, the Speaker pointed out that the Act had not yet been proclaimed, so members could not yet make speeches in Dutch, but that the House would accommodate him this time.

On the 15th June, Cape school regulations were amended to allow the use of Dutch alongside English.

On the 26th and 27th June, the town of Burgersdorp celebrated the use of Dutch. The celebrations were organised by Jotham JOUBERT (M.L.A. and later a Cape Rebel ) who also proposed a monument to mark the occassion. A country-wide fundraising campaign was launched. The monument was built by S.R. OGDEN of Aliwal-North for £430. It consisted of a sandstone pedestal on which stood a life-size marble statue of a woman. She points her finger at a tablet held in her other hand on which the main inscription reads “De Overwinning de Hollandsche Taal “. The monument was unveiled on the 18th January 1893 by D.P. VAN DEN HEEVER, with Stephanus Jacobus DU TOIT (1847 – 1911) delivering the main speech.

During the Anglo-Boer war, the monument was vandalised by British soldiers who took parts of it to King William’s Town where they buried it. After the war, Lord Alfred MILNER had the rest of the statue removed from Burgersdorp. After much protesting, the British eventually provided Burgersdorp with a replica in 1907. This one was unveiled at ceremonies on the 24th and 25th May 1907 when former President M.T. STYEN and the author D.F. MALHERBE addressed the crowd. The original monument was found in 1939 and returned to Burgersdorp. In 1957 the damaged original monument was placed next to the replica.

In 1883 knowledge of Dutch was compulsory for some government positions. In 1884, it was permitted in the High Courts and in 1887 it became a compulsory subject for civil service candidates. Afrikaans only gained equal status with Dutch and English as an official language in South Africa via Act 8 of 1925. Dutch remained an official language until the 1961 Constitution stipulated the two official languages in South Africa to be Afrikaans and English.

Goosen and Stellaland republics

In 1882 a group of Boers established the short-lived republics of Stellaland and Het Land Goosen (aka Goshen ) to the north of Griqualand West, in contravention of the Pretoria and London conventions by which the Zuid Afrikaansche Republiek had regained its independence.

On the 1st April the republic of Het Land Goosen was declared. The terms of the Pretoria Convention of August 1881 had cut away part of the Transvaal. This led to problems as local Chiefs disputed the boundaries. Britain did not help matters by acknowledging Mankoroane as Chief of the Batlapin and Montsioa as Chief of the Barolong, both beyond their traditional territories. Supporters of Moshete, under the leadership of Nicolaas Claudius GEY VAN PITTIUS (1837 – 1893), established Het Land Goosen. One of the co-founders was Hermanus Richard (Manie) LEMMER, who later became a General in the Anglo-Boer War. Het Land Goosen later merged with the Stellaland republic to form the United States of Stellaland.

Stellaland was also a short-lived republic established in 1882 by David MASSOUW and about 400 followers, who invaded a Bechuana area west of the Transvaal. They founded the town of Vryburg, making it their capital. The republic was formally created on the 26th July 1882, under the leadership of Gerrit Jacobus VAN NIEKERK (1849 – 1896). In 1885 the British sent in troops under Sir Charles WARREN, abolished the republic, and incorporated it in British Bechuanaland.

Shipping accidents

Shipping accidents (wrecks, groundings, etc…) were common along the South African coast. In 1882 there were quite a few:

January – James Gaddarn, a barque, off Durban

February – Johanna, a barque, off East London

March – Poonah, off Blaauwberg

March – Queen of Ceylon, a barque, off Durban

April – Gleam, a barque, off Port Nolloth

April – Roxburg, off East London

April – Seafield, a barque, off East London

May – Francesca, a barque, off East London

May – Louisa Dorothea, a schooner, ran aground at Mossel Bay

May – Clansman, a schooner, off East London

May 28 – two ships, the Agnes (Capt. NEEDHAM) and the Christin a (Capt. G. LOVE), run ashore at Plettenberg Bay

June – Bridgetown, a barque, off Durban

June – Louisa Schiller, a barque, off Cape Hangklip

June – Ludwig, a schooner, off Algoa Bay

June – Gloria Deo, a barque, off Quoin Point

July – Elvira, a barque, off Durban

July – Erwood, off Durban

December – Adonis, a steamer, off Portst Johns

December – Zambezi, a schooner, off Durban

Smallpox

A smallpox epidemic broke out in District Six in 1882. This led to the closure of inner city cemeteries, and the construction of drains and wash-houses in the city. These improvements didn’t go as planned. The cemetery closures led to riots in 1886. The cemeteries along Somerset Road were not in a good condition, so Maitland cemetery was built. As the Muslim community carried their dead for burial, Maitland was too far for them, and along with the Dutch, they protested against Maitland for two years. Once the inner city cemeteries closed, the Dutch compromised but the Muslim community did not. They buried a child in the Tanu Baru (first Muslim cemetery) in protest. About 3 000 Muslims followed the funeral procession, as police watched. After someone threw stones at the police, a riot started and volunteer regiments were called out. One of the Muslim leaders, Abdol BURNS, a cab driver, was arrested. In the end, neither the Dutch nor the Muslims used Maitland. They found a piece of ground next tost Peter’s cemetery in Mowbray and used it as their cemetery.

The smallpox threat was felt further afield. It was believed that smallpox could be beaten by whitewashing the walls of homes, and for this reason lime and carbolic acid was distributed free to residents in Beaufort West. At Modder River, about 35 km from Kimberley, the settlement was used as a quarantine station to keep smallpox away from Kimberley. Travellers enroute to Kimberley had to produce a valid vaccination certificate or be vaccinated at the station.

Zulu King in London

Cetshwayo reigned as King of the Zulus from 1873 to 1884. He made an alliance with the British in order to keep his long standing enemies, the Boers, away. The alliance collapsed when the British annexed the Transvaal and supported Boer land claims in the border dispute with Zululand. This led to the 1879 Anglo-Zulu War where the British suffered defeat at the Battle of Isandlwana and Zulus at the Battle of Ulundi. Cetshwayo was captured and taken to the Cape. In 1882 he travelled to London where he met Queen Victoria on the 14th August. On his return he was reinstated as King in a much reduced territory and with less autonomy. He died on the 8th February 1884.

Sporting moments

Ottomans Cricket Club was founded in the Bo-Kaap in 1882. The Rovers Rugby Club was founded in Cradock on the 6th September 1882. The first rugby match in Mossel Bay was played on Saturday, 2nd September 1882. Mossel Bay Athletic Club played against George Athletic Club. The first bowling green was laid out in 1882 when a club was established atst George’s Park in Port Elizabeth. In 1882 the Jockey Club was founded by 10 horse-racing members at a meeting held in the Phoenix Hotel in Port Elizabeth. The first South African soccer club was Pietermaritzburg County. On the 17th June 1882, its delegates met at the London Restaurant in Durban ‘s West Street and the Natal Football Association was founded.

Transit of Venus

The transit of Venus was observed from stations in Durban, Touws River, Wellington, Aberdeen Road (a railway stop) and at Cape Town ‘s Royal Observatory.

Banking

District Bank was established in Stellenbosch in 1882. It paid between 5 to 6% on fixed deposits and 2% on current accounts, compared to the Standard Bank which paid an average of 3.5% on fixed deposits and no interest on current accounts. The District Bank did not charge cheque fees or ledger fees. It was later taken over by Boland Bank. The Natal Building Society (NBS) was also established in 1882, in Durban.

New brewery

The Old Cannon Brewery in Newlands was established in 1852. In 1882 it merged with Ohlsson’s Cape Breweries.

Steel industry

South Africa ‘s industrial development has heavy roots in its mining industry. With virtually no steel industry of its own, the country relied on imported steel. The first efforts to introduce steel production dates back to the creation of the South African Coal and Iron Company in 1882. The first successful production of pig iron occurred only in 1901, in Pietermaritzburg.

Mariannhill Monastery

The monastery near Pinetown was founded as a Trappist monastery by Father Francis PFANNER in 1882. It became a renowned missionary institute with schools, a hospital, an art centre and a retreat.

Boswell’s Circus

The BOSWELL family has been involved in the circus business since the 1800s in England. James BOSWELL was born in 1826 and went on to perform in various English circuses as a clown, horseman and equilibrist. He died in the circus ring of Cirque Napoleon in Paris in 1859 while performing a balancing ladder act. He had three 3 children, all of whom performed in circuses. His eldest son, James Clements, opened his own circus, Boswell’s Circus, in 1882 in Yorkshire.

Boswell’s Circus toured England and was very popular until it closed in 1898. James Clements and his five sons – Jim, Alfred, Walter, Sydney and Claude – continued performing in theatres and music halls, and eventually put their own show together called Boswell’s Stage Circus. Madame FILLIS, who owned Fillis’ Circus in South Africa, saw one of their performances and signed them up for a six-month contract. In 1911 James Clements, his sons, Walter and Jim’s wives, six ponies, a donkey and some dogs set sail for South Africa. The family and their animals were stranded when Fillis’ Circus closed down some months later. Fortunately for generations of South African children, this did not stop them and they went on to build a successful business that is still in existence.

Pretoria

A public sale on Church Square, Pretoria, in the 1890's

Church Square was created in 1855, on the orders of M.W. PRETORIUS. The DEVEREAUX brothers, town planners, designed a square for market and church purposes. Pretoria expanded around Church Square. During its early days the square was also used as a sports field and in 1883 the long-jumper Izak PRINSLOO set the first world record by a South African. The first church on the square was completed in 1857, but burnt down in 1882. Burgers Park was established as Pretoria ‘s first park in 1882. On the 14th June 1882, the Transvaalsche Artillerie Corps was formed under the command of Cmdt. H.J.P. PRETORIUS.

Stephanus Johannes Paulus KRUGER, later President of the Zuid-Afrikaanse Republiek, was born on the 10th October 1825. He was so respected by his people that the first Kruger Day was celebrated on the 10th October 1882. The following year it was declared a public holiday. After the Anglo-Boer war it lost official status, until it was again declared a public holiday in 1952. In 1994 the day again lost its official status.

Kimberley

On the 2nd September Kimberley became the first town in the southern hemisphere to install electric street lighting. It was an initiative of the Cape Electric Light Company. Electric lighting was also installed in Parliament in 1882, and an arc-lighting installation was commissioned in the harbour. Meanwhile, across the Atlantic, Christmas 1882 saw the world’s first electrically-lit Christmas tree installed in the New York house of Thomas EDISON’s associate Edward H. JOHNSON.

The Kimberley Club was founded in August 1881 and opened its doors on the 14th August 1882. Cecil John RHODES was one of the men behind the club’s establishment. Amongst the first members were Charles D. RUDD, Dr. Leander Starr JAMESON, Lionel PHILLIPS and J.B. ROBINSON.

Knysna

The farm Melkhoutkraal was laid out in 1770. In 1808 George REX, who arrived at the Cape in 1797, bought the farm. In 1825 Lord Charles SOMERSET decided to establish a town on the lagoon, to make use of the surrounding forests for ship building. George REX donated 16 ha of land for the new village, named Melville for Viscount MELVILLE, First Sea Lord from 1812 – 1827. Knysna was formally founded in 1882 when the two villages, Melville and Newhaven (founded in 1846) amalgamated.

Muizenberg

In 1882 the railway line reached Muizenberg. The area was originally a cattle outpost for the VOC before it became a military post in 1743. It was named Muijs se Berg after the commander Sergeant Willem MUIJS. Muizenberg was a staging post between Cape Town and Simon’s Town. After the railway line was extended, the area developed fast and became a popular holiday destination.

One of Muizenberg’s prominent residents was Professor James GILL. He was born in Cornwall in 1831 and came to the Cape in 1860, where he took the post of professor of Classics at Graaff-Reinet College. In 1871 he moved to Cape Town as Classics professor at the Diocesan College. He was an opininated man who did good things throughout his career but was also involved in many controversies. He was dismissed from the College in 1882. He opened a private school in Muizenberg and became the editor of the Cape Illustrated Magazine. He died in Muizenberg on the 1st February 1904.

Villiers

The town of Villiers, on the Vaal River, was established in 1882 on the farms Pearson Valley and Grootdraai. It was named after the owner, L.B. DE VILLIERS. In 1882 the Volksraad was requested to open a post office there, and this led to Villiers being proclaimed in 1891. In 1917 it acquired municipal status.

Newcastle

The first government school in Newcastle was established in 1882 as a junior primary school with 47 boys and 30 girls.

Okiep

The Cornish Pump House was built in 1882. It was used to pump water from the mine and this pump house is the only remaining one of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere.

East London

A view of East London in the 1880's

The prison in Lock Street was built in 1880, replacing the old one on the West Bank. It was built by James TYRRELL and comprised an officers’ quarters, administration block, hospital, kitchen and two single-storey cell blocks to hold 100 prisoners. The first execution happened in 1882, for which a drop gallows was placed in the hospital yard. St.Andrew’s Lutheran Church was established by German settlers in 1872. It is the second oldest church in East London and was dedicated on the 30th November 1882.

Grahamstown

City Hall was officially opened on the 24th May 1882 by the acting Mayor Samuel CAWOOD. The foundation stone was laid on the 28th August 1877 by Sir Henry Bartle FRERE, Governor of the Cape.

Durban

Durban Girls’ High School was established in 1882. The old theatre Royale was built in 1882 and had seating for 1 000. It was closed in 1937. The Natal Herbarium was started in 1882 by John Medley WOOD, then Curator of the Durban Botanical Gardens. It was initially known as the Colonial Herbarium but changed its name in 1910 when it was donated by the Durban Botanical Society to the Union of South Africa.

Port Elizabeth

South End Cemetery in Port Elizabeth was started. The country’s oldest art school, Port Elizabeth Art School, was founded in 1882. It later became the College for Advanced Technical Education, originally situated in Russell Road, Central. In 1974 it moved to Summerstrand and became the PE Technikon in 1979.

Kaapsehoop

In 1882 gold was discovered in the Kaapsehoop valley. When a larger deposit of gold was found near the present day Barberton, most of the prospectors moved there. The first payable gold was mined at Pioneer Reef by Auguste ROBERTE (aka French Bob) in June 1883. Barber’s Reef was the next big find in 1884. Sheba ‘s Reef, the richest of all, was discovered by Edwin BRAY in May 1885.

Port Shepstone

Port Shepstone came into being when marble was discovered near the Umzimkulu River mouth in 1867. It flourished from 1879 when William BAZLEY, one of the world’s first underwater demolition experts, blasted away rock at the mouth to form the Umzimkulu breakwater. The town was named after a Mr SHEPSTONE, one of the area’s prominent residents. Before 1901 the area depended solely on a port that was developed inside the river’s mouth. Boats were often wrecked and blocked the harbour entrance, but it provided a vital transport link for the tea, coffee and sugar cane grown by farmers along the river’s banks.

Supplies were brought in on the return voyages from Durban. With the arrval in 1882 of 246 Norwegian, 175 Briton and 112 German settlers, this shipping service became more important. The Norwegians arrived on the 29th August aboard the CHMS Lapland. The new settlers were offered 100 acre lots around the town at 7 shillings and 6 pence an acre. Port Shepstone was declared a full fiscal port in 1893 and, after Durban, became the region’s second harbour. Eventually, with the ongoing ship wreckages and the arrival of the railway, the harbour was closed down.

Harding

In 1882 the first hotel was opened in Harding. The village then consisted of three trading stores and four private homes.

Dundee

Dundee was established on the farm Fort Jones belonging to Peter SMITH, who had bought it from a Voortrekker settler, Mr DEKKER. He named the town Dundee, in memory of his original home in Scotland. By 1879, as a result of the Anglo-Zulu War, a tent town had sprung up on a portion of the farm. British soldiers attracted traders, missionaries, craftsmen and hunters but after their departure the tent town ceased to exist. With his son, William Craighead; son-in-law Dugald MACPHAIL; and Charles WILSON, Peter proclaimed the town in 1882.

Dewetsdorp

The Anglican Church was inaugurated on the 17th December 1882 by the Anglican Bishop of Bloemfontein. It was named St. Bartholomew’s. Before this, Anglicans held services in the town hall. The church’s foundation stone was laid on the 18th August. It cost £395 to build and seated 60. Rev. L.A. KIRBY was the first minister. The first baptism was on the 7th January 1883, that of Arthur SKEA. The church was declared a national monument in 1996.

Fort Hare

Fort Hare was built in 1847. It was named after Lt.-Col. John HARE and remained a military post until 1882, when part was given to Lovedale and part to the town of Alice.

Kuruman

The London Missionary Society (LMS) established the Moffat Institute in Kuruman in 1882, as a memorial to Robert and Mary MOFFATT and in the hope that it would revive the mission station.

Upington

Upington’s history starts with Klaas Lukas., a Koranna chief, who asked for missionaries to teach his people to read and write. In 1871 Rev. Christiaan SCHRODER left Namaqualand for Olyvenhoudtsdrift as the Upington area was then known. He built the first church, which today houses the Kalahari-Oranje Museum. In 1879 Sir Thomas UPINGTON visited the area to establish a police post, which was later named after him.

In 1881 SCHRODER, Abraham SEPTEMBER and Japie LUTZ helped build an irrigation canal. Abraham (Holbors) SEPTEMBER, said to be a Baster and the son of a slave from West Africa, was farming in the area in 1860. He was married to Elizabeth GOOIMAN. He devised a way to draw water from the river for irrigation purposes. In 1882 he was granted land facing the river. In 1896 Abraham and Elizabeth drew up a will, bequeathing the land to the survivor and thereafter to their three sons. Abraham died in 1898. In 1909 Elizabeth appeared before the Court in Upington on a charge that squatters where living on the land. It was here that she heard that Willem DORINGS, a smous, was claiming the land as his. This claim was to have repercussions, even in 2000 when the great-great-grandchildren of Abraham were still fighting for the land in the Land Claims Court.

Elizabeth and her sons owed Willem £326, but Willem produced documents that they sold him the land for that sum. The family were under the impression that they had a debt agreement with Willem. They refused to leave the farm and Elizabeth died there in 1918. In 1920 the family were removed from the farm by the new owners who had bought it from Willem. According to Henk WILLEMSE, Abraham’s great-great-grandson, the family started action in 1921 to get their land back. He has documents dating back all these years, which also show that Willem DORINGS was William THORN. Part of their land claim was for the land on which the Prisons Department building stands in Upington’s main road. This belonged to Abraham’s eldest daughter, Elizabeth, who lost it when service fees were not paid. In 1997 Nelson MANDELA unveiled a memorial plaque to Abraham.

The Waterfront

A view of East London in the 1880's

The Victorian Gothic-style Clock Tower, situated near the site of the original Bertie’s Landing restaurant in Cape Town, has always been a feature of the old harbour. It was the original Port Captain’s office and was completed in 1882. On the second floor is a decorative mirror room, which enabled the Port Captain to have a view of all activities in the harbour. On the ground floor is a tide-gauge mechanism used to check the level of the tide. Restoration of the Clock Tower was completed in 1997. The Robinson Graving Dock was also constructed in 1882, as was the Pump House. The Breakwater Convict Station was declared a military prison in 1882. This allowed military offenders from ships and shore stations to be committed for hard labour.

Sources:

Drakenstein Heemkring

Afrikanerbakens; Federasie van Afrikaanse Kultuurvereniginge publication

Burgersdorp: http://www.burgersdorp.za.net/burgersdorp_photos.html

Maritime Casualties: http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Ridge/2216/text/MARITIME.TXT

The Will of Abraham and Elizabeth September: The Struggle for Land in Gordonia, 1898-1995; by Martin Legassick; Journal of African History, Vol. 37, No. 3 (1996)

Land Claim Case: http://www.law.wits.ac.za/lcc/wp-content/uploads/jacobs2/jacobs2.pdf

Rapport newspaper, 23 Jan 2000

Boswell’s Circus: http://www.boswell.co.za/

Article researched and written by Anne Lehmkuhl, June 2007

(*Ormiston, East Lothian, Scot., 21.12.1795 – †Leigh, Kent, Eng., 8.8.1883), missionary of the L.M.S., Tswana linguist and Bible translator, was born of humble parentage, the third son in a family of five sons and two daughters. His father, Robert Moffat, was a custom-house officer, his mother was Ann Gardiner, of Ormiston. His sketchy elementary education was supplemented by the teaching of the minister and by the influence of his kind, but sternly religious mother.

After serving his apprenticeship as a gardener he from 1809 found employment first in Fifeshire, then in Cheshire, and, subsequently, in 1815, with a nursery gardener named James Smith at Dukinfield, near Manchester. Smith was of a strongly religious turn and his daughter, Mary, was a pious young woman with ‘a warm missionary heart’. M.’s own heart was set on missionary work and in 1816 he was accepted by the L.M.S. A Presbyterian by upbringing, M. had, while serving as a gardener in Cheshire, come under the influence of some earnest Wesleyan Methodists. He had resolved to devote his life to religious work and to become a missionary.

He sailed for South Africa in October 1816 in the company of the missionaries J. Kitchingman, J. Evans, J. Taylor and John Brownlee and arrived in Cape Town on 13.1.1817. During his stay at Dukinfield he had fallen in love with Mary Smith (1795-1871), and she with him. James Smith, however, was determined that his daughter should not go abroad, and it was not until three years later that this objection was overcome.

M.’s destination was Great Namaqualand, north of the Orange river, but to his disappointment the local authorities, for political reasons, at first refused him permission to proceed there. M. usefully filled in the time of waiting by going to Stellenbosch to acquire a working knowledge of Dutch. He also accompanied the missionary Dr George Thom to mission stations of the L.M.S. and reported many irregularities. Permission was eventually obtained; he left Cape Town in October 1817, crossed the Orange river at Pella drift, and reached Great Namaqualand in the following January.

The people among whom he was to work were ruled by Jager (Christiaan) Afrikaner, formerly a notorious Hottentot freebooter who lived at Afrikanerskraal, some distance to the east of the present Warmbad in South-West Africa. M. made a considerable impression on Afrikaner, and persuaded him to go with him on a joint visit to Cape Town . Meanwhile he had journeyed far north in South-West Africa with Afrikaner, but saw no hope of establishing a mission there, and travelled eastward to Griquatown and Dithakong in Bechuanaland before returning to Afrikanerskraal and to Cape Town. His early observations on the geology of the Griqua and Bechuana country are of particular interest in view of later mineral exploitation of this region.

On his arrival in April 1819, M. found in Cape Town a deputation from the L.M.S. This consisted of Dr John Philip and John Campbell, who had been sent out to investigate various allegations that had been made against the society’s missions and missionaries. The deputation invited M. to accompany them as their interpreter in Dutch, but their tour was cut short by the Fifth Frontier War (1819) on the eastern border of the colony. M. returned to Cape Town in time to welcome his fiancee when she landed in South Africa for the first time. Robert and Mary were married in St George’s church, Cape Town, on 27.12.1819.

It was an ideally happy union; Mary had faith and courage of a high order, for without these she could not have left her home and parents to sail to the other end of the world. She also had a will of her own and her views on people were direct and uncompromising. At the same time she was wholly engrossed in her husband’s work and found her fulfilment in supporting him with a care that grew more constant with the years.

Apart from his marriage M.’s visit to Cape Town had other important consequences. He was persuaded by the deputation to abandon Namaqualand and to take over the society’s station among the Tswana. He arrived at Dithakong, one hundred miles north of Klaarwater (Griquatown) in March 1820. Permission to live there was at first withheld by the authorities, but was given after M. had temporarily returned to Griquatown. In May 1821 the Moffats again took up residence at Dithakong.

The people among whom M. laboured were the Tlhaping, the most southerly of the tribes collectively known as Tswana (Bechuana). They were not unknown to Europeans, having been visited by Truter and Somerville in 1801 and thereafter by several travellers. Their chief was Mothibi, son of Molehabangwe, who in 1813 had invited John Campbell to ‘send instructors’ to his country, at the same time promising to be ‘a father’ to them.

The first missionaries sent in response to his invitation, John Evans and Robert Hamilton, were, in fact, rebuffed, but the. elder James Read and Hamilton obtained a foothold at the end of 1816. In the following year Read persuaded Mothibi to move the tribal capital southwards from Dithakong (Old Lithako) to the Kuruman river. Read was transferred and Hamilton then struggled on alone until M.’s arrival.

The Moffats had not long settled at Dithakong when there began a period of considerable excitement and anxiety. In 1823 one of the hordes, part refugees, part banditti, set in motion by the wars of the Zulu chief Shaka invaded southern Bechuanaland . M. acted promptly and enlisted the help of some of Andries Waterhoer’s Griquas, mounted riflemen, who put the invaders to flight.

Although the immediate danger of invaders from the east had been averted, the following years were difficult and depressing, as can be gauged from M.’s letters and journals of the period 1820-1828, published in 1951 (Schapera, infra ). The people remained deaf to the missionaries’ teaching; bands of marauders roamed the countryside and sometimes threatened the station; Mothibi drifted away with most of his people. The missionaries refused to be discouraged and in 1829, as if miraculously, the sky seemed to clear and thereafter there was peace. In that year, too, the first converts were baptized. Meanwhile the station itself had moved. In 1824 M. persuaded Mothibi to transfer the tribal capital from New Lithako (Maruping) to Seoding, the present site. This was further up-stream and nearer the famous ‘eye’ of Kuruman, where a veritable underground river bursts into the open.

By instinct and training a gardener, M, used the water of the river to raise crops by irrigation. His efforts to teach the natives better agriculture, though not quickly successful, showed results in the long run.

The year 1829 was not only memorable for an improvement in the fortunes of the mission. It also saw the beginning of M’s extraordinary friendship with Mzilikazi, chief of the Matebele. This chief, his curiosity aroused by tales about the white men, sent two headmen to Kuruman on a visit of inquiry. M. accompanied them to Mzilikazi’s town near the site of future Pretoria. At their first meeting Mzilikazi conceived an extraordinary affection for M. which remained undiminished for thirty years. M. visited Mzilikazi again in 1835 at Mosega in the western Transvaal , this time accompanying the great expedition to the interior led by Dr Andrew Smith. After the Matebele had moved beyond the Limpopo to Bulawayo , M. paid three more visits to Mzilikazi in 1854, 1857 and 1859. The extensive journals kept by M. and dealing with these occasions were discovered in 1942 and published in 1945 (cf. L P. R. Wallis, infra).

It was never remotely likely that Mzilikazi would become a Christian, but, short of that, he went to extraordinary lengths to please the man whom he revered. He moderated his laws, mitigated his punishments, submitted meekly to many harsh reproofs for his depravity, and in his old age actually permitted the L.M.S. to establish a station in his country at Inyati.

Almost as soon as he had mastered the Tlhaping dialect of the Tswana language, M. began to translate the Bible and to prepare other devotional and educational publications in this language. Of his first Tswana spelling and reading book (published in London in 1826) only a fragment has survived. With the help of Rogers Edwards this became the Buka ea Likaélo tsa ntla … (Kuruman, 1842), of which a third edition, with variation of contents, appeared in 1843, other editions following in 1850 and 1857.

In his early years at Kuruman M. also prepared the first Tswana catechism, a translation of the catechism of Dr Brown, of Edinburgh , to which he added the third chapter of St John (printed in Holborn, London, in 1826). Various later editions appeared at Kuruman and in London until 1848, all containing, besides questions, extracts from the Holy Scriptures.

By 1830 M. had completed his translation of St Luke, which he took to Cape Town and composed for printing with his own hands at the government press. The book was printed under the supervision of B. J. van de Sandt, from whom M. learned to set up type, to print and to bind. This knowledge he was to apply when, in 1831, he brought his hand printing-press by ox-wagon to Kuruman and started the printing of his own Tlhaping work, as well as literature produced by his missionary colleagues of the Paris Evangelical mission society at Mothito, who used the Rolong dialect of Tswana.

While working on his Bible translation, M. published a collection of hymns ( Lihela tsa tuto le puloko tsa Yesu Kereste, Kuruman , 1831), with later editions and a supplement in 1855. With Edwards he wrote and printed at Kuruman a book of Bible lessons ( Likaelo tsa ri tlauchoeng mo Bibelieng … ) in 1833, with a second edition of 5,000 copies in 1841, and this was evidently used in teaching at other mission stations, too.

M.’s publication of the gospel of St Luke in 1830 had been the first published translation of a portion of the Bible in any South African native language. By 1836 he had struck off on his press part of his translation of St James, and in 1839 took to Cape Town for printing his translation of the whole New Testament. As he could not arrange for the printing to be done in Cape Town, he took his manuscript to Britain where his Tswana New Testament appeared the following year ( Kholagano enca ea Yesu Keresete … London, 1840). This was the first complete translation of its kind into a South African native language, and was followed in 1841 by the publication in London of his translation of Psalms, which he had actually done while in Britain.

On his return to Kuruman M. continued his monumental task of also translating the Old Testament with the help of his colleague, William Ashton (1817-1897), also printing it on his trusty old mission press (now preserved in the Kimberley public library) in two parts: the first in 1853, the second in 1857. When M. presented the final parts of his Bibela ea boitsépho to Sir George Grey in November 1857, it was the first full translation of the Bible in any South African native tongue. Likewise, through M.’s initiative and energy, Tswana was the fifth language in Africa to have a translation of the New Testament, and the third to have a complete translation of the Bible. At the same time M. had confirmed his claim to a place among the great translators by completing this herculean labour.

During his sojourn in Britain from June 1839 to the beginning of 1843, he wrote and published his Missionary labours and scenes in southern Africa ( London, 1840), which aroused unprecedented public interest. The fourth edition appeared in 1842 while he was still in Britain, and by 1846 eleven thousand copies and a French edition had been printed. M. appeared before enthusiastic gatherings, preaching and lecturing, and some of his addresses were published: Africa: or, gospel light shining in the midst of heathen darkness. A sermon on Isaiah IX2 … preached … before the directors of the London missionary society ( London, 1840); African scenes; being a series of anecdotes … related by the Rev. R. Moffat, at public meetings … (Sunderland, 1843); Incidents in the life of the Rev. R. Moll at, being an address delivered by him … 1842 ( Birmingham, 1842); The farewell services of Robert Moffat, in Edinburgh, Manchester, and London. Edited by John Campbell ( London, 1843).

His visit also gave rise to a number of publications by others on his work in South Africa . It was in 1841, too, that M. met young David Livingstone, then studying for his ordination in London, directed his interest to Africa and secured his services for the mission to the Kwena. By the end of 1843 he was back at Kuruman.

M.’s fourth visit to Mzilikazi in 1857 had as its object a mission to the Matebele. It was on this journey that he persuaded Mzilikazi to release from military servitude Matsheng, rightful chief of the Ngwato. In doing so he innocently brought much trouble on that tribe (cf. Sekgoma I and John Mackenzie).

In 1858 irresponsible Tlhapings raided the O.F.S. and the Transvaal republic, suspecting that the Kuruman missionaries were in league with the tribesmen. The Transvaal seemed disposed to frustrate the expedition which Moffat was to lead to Matebeleland. At the same time burghers were reported to be making preparations to attack Kuruman. M. appealed to Sir George Grey, governor of the Cape Colony, who obtained from President M. W. Pretorius a repudiation of the plan to attack Kuruman; nor was anything more done to stop the proposed journey. M. accordingly led a missionary party to Matebeleland and returned to Kuruman in August 1860, leaving his companions at the new station of Inyati. One of the Matebele party was his own son, John Smith Moffat.

After this date M. did not undertake any more long journeys. He remained at Kuruman, devoting himself to the work of the station and out-stations, where there was more than enough for him to do.

In 1848 he had translated and published at Kuruman Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s progress; his third visit to Mzilikazi he described in a pamphlet in 1856, and in 1863 appeared an account of his work in the mission field, entitled Rivers of water in a dry place. An account of the introduction of Christianity into southern Africa, and of Mr. Moffat’s missionary labours.

(London, 1863, with new editions in 1867 and 1869).

M.’s last years were saddened by family bereavements. He preached at Kuruman for the last time on 20.3.1870 and a few days later the patriarchal pair set out for Britain and retirement. Mary Moffat died in Brixton in January 1871. M. continued to travel about the United kingdom, preaching and advancing the cause of missions. He revised his translation of the New Testament, of which a new edition, as well as an edition of the whole Tswana Bible appeared in 1872. In the same year the University of Edinburgh conferred on him the honorary degree of D.D.

He went to live in London, where he was present at the funeral of David Livingstone in 1874, and at the unveiling of the Livingstone statue in Edinburgh in 1876. In 1877 he visited Paris by invitation to address a great gathering of French children. In 1879 he went to live at Leigh, near Tunbridge, and on 7.5.1881 he was publicly honoured in London at a dinner attended by leading figures in the religious, and philanthropic world, and representatives of both houses of parliament.

M. lies buried in Norwood cemetery, beside the remains of his wife. There is a monument to his memory in Ormiston, his birthplace. He and his wife had ten children, four sons and six daughters, of whom two daughters and a son died young. His eldest daughter, Mary Moffat (1821-1862), was the wife of David Livingstone; the second daughter, Anne Moffat (1823-1893), married a French missionary, Jean Fr6doux (1823-1866), of Mothitho; the eldest surviving son, Robert Moffat (1827-1862), was a trader; Helen Moffat (1829-1902) married J. Vavasseur; the youngest son, the missionary John Smith Moffat, was also the biographer of his parents; Elizabeth (Bessie) Lees Moffat (1839-1919) became the wife of Roger Price, and the youngest daughter, Jane Gardiner Moffat (1840 to 1927), died unmarried.

M. was a simple man of extraordinary zeal, de-termination and courage. He was essentially evangelical, holding that the missionary’s chief task, indeed his only task, was to ‘teach poor heathen to know the Saviour’. Any other interest he held to be irrelevant and likely to obscure this supreme objective. He disapproved strongly; for example, of John Philip’s ‘political’ activities, al-though these were aimed at improving the lot of the native peoples. He had no interest in native customs and traditional usages, which he either condemned as sinful or dismissed as silly and squalid.

He was also strangely insensitive to the devotion which he inspired in Mzilikazi, which he neither understood nor appreciated. Although M. missed so much, his writings, which consist of letters, reports and an autobiography, nevertheless contain much historical material concerning the native peoples, as well as many vivid sidelights on the trials and triumphs of a missionary’s life. It has been suggested that his overwhelming personality allowed little scope for the development of a strong succession; that he centralized too much and fostered initiative too little; that his prestige obscured the contribution made by other workers in his field. Even if true, this does not detract from his achievements. Under his guidance Kuruman became not only the focus of Christian civilization in southern Bechuanaland, but also a springboard for the exploration and evangelization of the still more remote interior. M.’s place is among the great nineteenth-century missionaries.

Portraits of M. are to be found in the three volumes of his published journals and letters, the biography by his son, and most other works on his life. The frontispiece of the 1843 edition of his Missionary labours contains the Baxter print of the youthful missionary; an etching of the portrait by Leon Richelson at the time of M.’s visit to Paris in April 1877 is in the Africana museum, Johannesburg. The stone church at Kuruman, built by M. from 1830 to 1833, was proclaimed as a national monument in 1939. M.’s home, though dilapidated, was still in existence in 1964.

Source: Dictionary of South African Biography (Volume 1)

Some information on Robert Moffat’s wife, Mary Smith Moffat:

Mary Smith Moffat (1795-1871) was missionary wife of Robert Moffat, and mother of Mary, the wife of David Livingstone. Born in New Windsor, England, she married Robert Moffat in December, 1819 at Cape Town, South Africa. They settled at Kuruman in Bechuanaland and established a mission there. They had ten children: Mary (who married David Livingstone), Ann, Robert (died as an infant), Robert, Helen, Elizabeth (died as an infant), James, John, Elizabeth, and Jean. The Moffats returned to England in 1839 for their only furlough. In 1870, the aged missionaries returned to England to stay. Mary died shortly thereafter.

Robert Moffat

Mary Smith

Born in Harlingerode, Brunswick, Germany on 7th May 1803 and died in Rosebank, Cape, 28th February 1905), merchant, artist and musician, was the youngest son of Cornelius (von) Landsberg (1765-1843) who emigrated from Brunswick because of political oppression after the fall of Napoleon. With his wife, Elisabeth Knoblanch (1763-1857), and his children he arrived on 8 August 1818, after a voyage of eleven months and settled in Cape Town as a watchmaker. According to family tradition the Landsberg’s originated from royalty and owned a German castle built by Count Hero in 976. From 1415 to 1798 the castle was the seat of the Bernese governors. In 1803 it was awarded to the canton of Aargau and at present belongs to the city of Lenzburg. Family correspondence in the Potchefstroom Museum tends to discredit this tradition.

Soon after his arrival at the Cape L. joined trading ventures to the interior. By the early 1820s he had become a snuff manufacturer (‘Landsberg’s snuff’ is still used) and by 1831 was registered as a retailer in Shortmarket Street, Cape Town, where the firm still exists. His business soon expanded to embrace tobacco and cigars, medicines, and later, wines and spirits. By the end of the century Landsberg travellers were known throughout South Africa.

As a young man he taught drawing and music at the Tot Nut van’t Algemeen school from 1847 to 1851, and at the South African College. In 1870 he still had his studio at 17 Roeland Street. He was a co-founder of the Cape Musical Society, playing first violin in its orchestra. Of his 200 works as an artist, some seventy-five, including sculptured heads of his grandparents, were presented to the Potchefstroom Museum by a grandson, August D’Astre. ‘The Magi’, a large painting, was removed from the Mowbray town hall, Cape Town, after repeated mutilation by vandals and, so far, has not been traced. A lithography of his painting of Brandvlei Baths, near Worcester, is included in Poortermans, while the Potchefstroom Museum has a number of Landsberg’s original paintings.

His European scenes were developed from sketches perhaps made during his visit to Europe in 1864, or, in the case of earlier ones, were painted from memory. Of his Cape scenes (some are in water-colours) good examples are ‘Farmstead at Worcester, 1847′; ‘Storm at the Cape, 1865′; ‘Washerwomen in Platteklip, 1882′; and ‘A rugby match on the Camp Ground, 1888′.

His larger works are either Biblical or historical, being realistic and minutely detailed. Cape characters such as Hottentot women, Bantu and piccanins appear in his ‘Christ addressing the people’ and ‘The last trump’. The large ‘ Battle between Germani and Romans’ is full of action and human expression. His men and women are muscular and often ruggedly Semitic-featured. His ‘Moses with the ten Commandments’ was presented to the Cape Parliament in 1883. The Africana Museum, Johannesburg, possesses a large painting (44½ inches by 66½ inches) of the battle of Amajuba, done in 1881, and Personality contains coloured reproductions of four brilliant pieces: ‘Gibraltar’, ‘Frederick the Great of Prussia’, ‘Arrival of Julius Caesar on the British coast’ (showing the fierce struggle in the water), and the peaceful ‘Camp ground, Rondebosch’. Mrs Thora Botha, a descendant, owns the painting of the Tugela River (1823), in which his sister was drowned.

Hottentot Girl

Otto lived moderately and was a devout Unitarian. He remained an active walker and horse-man, an excellent raconteur, and was in his hundredth year strong enough to play the violin and to start a painting, ‘The Creation’.
His profits were invested in bonds on farms and by 1880 he was able to hand his business over to his grandson, Julius Otto Jeppe, and retire in comfort to Vredenburg, Rosebank.

He died at almost 102 years, possibly the last South African to have seen Napoleon en route for Russia in 1812. After one of the largest funerals seen in Cape Town, he was buried on 2nd March 1905 in St Peter’s Cemetery, Mowbray. His first wife was Maria Jacoba de Jongh (1809 -10 March 1861); his second wife, Catherine Matchell (1840 -30 April 1911), accompanied him, in 1864, on his only visit to Europe. One of Otto’s sons was Ernst Landsberg, M.L.C. for the western divisions in the Cape Parliament (1864 -68). Of the thirteen children of his first marriage only two daughters, Julia Elizabeth D’Astre and Sophia Theresa Henrietta Lithman, survived him; they and the children of a deceased daughter, Maria Jacoba Carolina Jeppo (first wife of Hermann Jeppe), and his widow became the main heirs of his estate, which amounted to over £95 000. Bequests also went to some servants, and to churches of all denominations. There are portraits of Landsberg in the Potchefstroom Museum (they include a photograph of him at the age of 100 years) and (infra) in The Veld and The Cape Argus.

Source: Dictionary of South African Biography

Image Source: SA Standard Encyclopaedia – Hottentot Girl, by Otto Landsberg, in the Potchefstroom Museum

At a State funeral in South Africa the State assumes responsibility for the ceremonial arrangements and provides appropriate military honours. Such a funeral constitutes the final act of homage by the State and the nation to South Africans who have held high public office or rendered distinguished service. The Cabinet decides whether a State funeral should be offered. It is guided by precedent and by such considerations as the public office which the deceased held, the nature of the services rendered to the nation and the public esteem which the deceased enjoyed.

State funerals were accorded to Sir Patrick Duncan and Dr. E. G. Jansen, both of whom died while serving as Governor-General. Other recipients of this honour were General Louis Botha, the first Prime Minister of the Union, and General C. R. de Wet, as well as Advocate J. G. Strijdom and Dr. H. F. Verwoerd, both of whom died in office as Prime Minister; Dr. D. F. Malan, a former Prime Minister; Dr. T. E. Donges, State President Elect and former Cabinet Minister; Mrs. Rachel Isabella Steyn, widow of the last President of the Orange Free State, and Cabinet Ministers such as Mr. J. H. Viljoen, Dr. A. J. Stals and Mr. M. C. G. J. (Basie) van Rensburg, who died in office. General J. B. M. Hertzog’s family declined the offer of a State funeral. The family of Field Marshal J. C. Smuts also declined an offer of a State funeral and preferred a military funeral.

If the offer of a State funeral is accepted by the family, the funeral service is usually held in a church of the denomination to which the deceased belonged. A historic change was introduced on the death of Prime Minister Strijdom when the Cabinet decided that the service should be held in the amphitheatre of the Union Buildings in Pretoria. This precedent was followed a few years later at the time of Dr. Verwoerd’s death. The officiating clergymen are selected in consultation with the deceased’s family, whose wishes are also sought on such matters as the order of service and choice of hymns. Clergymen are drawn from both language groups. The military honours, which are an integral part of State funerals, are determined by military protocol, by the deceased’s military associations and the public office which the deceased held. Flags are flown at half-mast from Government buildings on the day of the State funeral.

South African diplomatic and consular missions abroad also fly their flags half-mast on that day.

Unlike several other countries, South Africa has no national church, cemetery or pantheon for the burial of its leaders and famous citizens. Dr. Jansen and Prime Ministers Strijdom and Verwoerd were buried in the Heroes’ Acre at the Old Cemetery in Church Street West , Pretoria , which has acquired some of the attributes of a national cemetery. General Louis Botha was buried in the New Cemetery in Pretoria West. General Hertzog was buried on his farm Waterval, near Witbank. Field Marshal Smuts was cremated and his ashes scattered from a hilltop on his farm near Irene. Dr. Malan and Dr. Donges were buried in the cemetery at Stellenbosch.

For the Afrikaners, the National Women’s Monument at Bloemfontein is also a national burial-place.

An elaborate ritual takes place when a Cape Malay dies. A dying Moslem is never left alone; there is always someone present praying for him. The words `There is no God but Allah and Mohammed is his Prophet’ are said over and over again by the imam, and the dying man repeats them. When he has died there is an ablution ceremony called abdas, followed by the ghusl, when water is poured three times down the right side and three times down the left side. The body is then wrapped up and set upon the katil, so placed that it points toward Mecca. The iman reads portions of the Koran, and offers prayers for peace and blessing on the deceased. Then the corpse is placed on a bier and carried shoulder high by bearers through the streets to the cemetery, followed by friends and relatives. Only men take part in the procession. The body is laid to rest in the grave on its right side, facing in the direction of Mecca. For several nights after the burial the mourners visit the house of the deceased and recite various prayers. They are usually given something to eat before they depart.

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.

Practically all forms of insurance in South Africa are contracted on the same lines as in England . Only funeral assurance developed solely in South Africa . In its original form the actual funeral instead of a cash sum was provided upon the death of the assured. According to the Insurance Act life insurance that provides a benefit in value and not necessarily in cash is regarded as funeral assurance, provided that the total value does not exceed 1300. In practice the majority of funeral assurance policies are taken out to provide funerals. Some policies provide for both cash and a funeral, and there are some that even include mourning clothes and tombstones. Funeral assurance may be compared with industrial insurance in that it involves fairly small amounts, but no obligation rests upon the funeral assurer to collect premiums at the homes or places of work of policyholders. Upon each payment he has, however, to provide the policy-holder with a receipt containing certain information.

Under all policies issued since 1944 the policy-holder automatically has the option of a funeral or payment in cash. In the majority of cases, however, claims are for actual funerals, and the public expects the funeral assurer to be in a position to arrange for the funeral. Most funeral assurers therefore have the same responsibility as undertakers, and the majority of claims under funeral policies are carried out by undertakers financially associated with funeral assurers. A number of smaller funeral assurers do not have such financial agreements and enter into contracts with undertakers to carry out funerals required under claims.

Assurers are prepared to provide such a funeral, but often one that costs more is preferred. In such instances the relatives of the deceased have to make an additional cash payment. The greatest problem affecting funeral assurance is rising costs. Usually the assurer could avoid this by paying out a cash sum, but his reputation will suffer if he cannot at least provide a minimum funeral. The assurer has to provide a service purchased with depreciating currency. To provide for subsequent losses, he makes dual provision: in the rate of premiums and by means of suitable investments. Perhaps as a result of funeral assurance, funerals are generally cheaper in South Africa than in other countries with a similar standard of living. The establishment of American funeral assurance companies on the same lines as those in South Africa is an attempt to counteract the high cost of funerals in that country.

Funeral assurance companies originated from mutual aid societies providing funerals for members of societies that had contracts with certain undertakers so that members could provide for their funerals before their decease. This meant that the undertakers were assured of business and indemnified against bad debts. It is not possible to determine the date of the establishment of the first funeral society. Mutual aid societies that contracted for undertakers’ services to a greater or lesser degree already existed in Cape Town in the first half of the 19th century. Societies associated with undertakers were active in the Transvaal shortly after the Second Anglo-Boer War. Societies of these two types gradually acquired a greater similarity of function. Mutual aid societies wanted to be assured of the services of undertakers, and even in the early years close co-operation existed between such societies and undertakers. Several mutual aid societies established their own funeral parlours. On the other hand, independent undertakers found that the public had increasing confidence in their funeral funds if these were controlled by reliable trustees. The pattern thus evolved was that of separate funeral funds with their own managements, but somehow associated with specific undertakers.

The movement gained strength rapidly after the influenza epidemic of 1918 when the need for funeral assurance was universally experienced. One o£ the best-known societies, established in Bloemfontein in 1921 by H. H. van Rooijen, is the Afrikaanse Verbond Begrafnis-Onderneming Beperk. The Insurance Act (No. 37 of 1923) unintentionally aided the movement in the Cape Province. An old Cape law had required Treasury deposits by all funeral funds, but this was not included in the new act passed by the Union Parliament. Attempts by the Senate to include funeral funds were abandoned when the Minister promised that legislation controlling all aid societies would soon be tabled – but this did not happen till 20 years later.

After 1920 the industry grew rapidly, and in 1937 several hundred funeral funds existed, but few of these had adequate reserves to meet obligations. Serious cases of inadequacy of funds did not occur, but the situation was potentially dangerous. It was thus decided that the Government would incorporate funeral assurance in the insurance Act of 1923. Legislation was not immediately introduced and despite representations by the industry for a separate law on funeral funds, these were not included before the insurance Act of 1943 (Act 27 Of 1943).

This caused many problems. Before the passing of the Act in 1943 Dr. M. S. Louw suggested to a committee of the House of Assembly that funeral assurance and undertaking business be transacted by separate companies, since funeral assurance is naturally the business of a large company, whilst undertaking is an essentially personal service. As he had predicted, the small-time businessman lost his place after the new law had been passed. In 1945 there were about 80 registered funds; in 1965 only about zo financially independent funds existed. Of these the four largest controlled at least 85 % of the industry. Since all these companies are associated with undertakers, the small, independent undertaker is also gradually losing ground.

Funeral assurance is mainly transacted by organisations controlled by Afrikaans-speaking people. The biggest is Homes Trust, a company which originally issued only industrial insurance. In 1935 it started selling funeral assurance in order to compete with funeral societies. Avsos developed from a Bloemfontein cultural organisation. SAFFAS (South African Federation of Funeral Assurance Companies) is third in size. About 30 small funds belonging to individual enterprises in the Transvaal amalgamated to form this federation. Fourth is the Funeral Assurance Group, formed by the amalgamation of about 12 small Cape funds.

Growth of funeral assurance in South Africa:

*Figures refer to statements for financial years ending in the relative calendar year.

BIBL. Reports of Select Committees on Funeral Insurance (1937) and the Insurance Act (1943); Annual reports of the Registrar of Insurance; E. Buys: Triomf vnn ‘n reddingsdnnd (1955).