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

The term Huguenots is used nowhere in contemporary Cape sources for the French immigrants who settled in South Africa toward the end of the 18th century; in all official documents they are referred to as the French Refugees. Before the Edict of Nantes was repealed by Louis XIV on 17 October 1685 many Protestants had already left France. It is estimated that between 75 000 and 100 000 entered the Netherlands either to settle there or in transit to other Protestant countries. Even at the beginning of the 17th century some had chosen to live among people of their own religion and to leave predominantly Roman Catholic France.

After the visits of Rijckloff van Goens and Hendrik Adriaan van Reede to the Cape, it was decided to encourage the development of agriculture. On 3 October 1685 the Directors of the Dutch East India Company resolved to send free burghers to the Cape. Before this time only Company officials had been sent out, who became free burghers if they decided to remain. It was also decided that among these colonists French refugees of the Reformed religion could be included. Preference would be given to persons with some knowledge of viticulture and the making of brandy, and it was emphasised that they should be honest people who would then be considered Netherlanders.

The first invitation to go to the Cape went practically unheeded, but in October 1687 the Directors of the Company again decided to give the French an opportunity to go, with the promise that they could return to Europe after five years, and not, as had previously been stipulated, after fifteen years. Dutch free burghers were not released, however, from their obligatory stay of fifteen years. The French were also promised that one of their own ministers of religion would accompany them.

The first group of French arrived at Saldanha Bay in the Voorschooten in April 1688. Among them were Charles Marais and Philip Fouche and their families. The Oosterland arrived in Table Bay in the same month and brought the family of Jacques de Savoye, the Nortiers and the Taillefer(t)s. In the Borssenburg, which arrived on 12 May, were a group of Piedmontese. The Schelde, which brought the family Des Pres (Du Pre, Du Preez), cast anchor in Table Bay in June. The largest group left Rotterdam in the Berg China on 20 March and arrived on 4th August, but of the 34 passengers more than half did not survive the voyage. The Zuid Beveland, which arrived on 19th August, brought the minister, Pierre Simond. He helped Commander Simon van der Stel to establish the French on their small farms and on 17th October at Stellenbosch he delivered the first French sermon. He was himself given a farm between Stellenbosch and Drakenstein and a horse on which to visit his flock.

New Testament in French and Dutch 1672

During 1689 further small groups of refugees arrived, amongst others in ‘t Wapen van Alkmaar (on 27 January); and on 6th May the brothers Pierre, Abraham and Jacob de Villiers from La Rochelle arrived in the Zion, having been sent because of their knowledge of viticulture. During the nineties ten more men and women arrived in the Vosmaer, while the Driebergen in 1698 and the Donkervliet and Westhoven in 1699 brought another handful of refugees.

Those arriving at the Cape before 1688 and after 1699 did not come in groups. In any case all officially supported immigration ceased after 1707 when W.A. van der Stel was dismissed. The number of French refugees cannot be precisely stated, since a number of ships’ lists are missing and it cannot always be established with certainty how many died during the long voyage. The lowest figure appearing in the sources is 155, Theal gives a list of 176, and others assert that about 200 French arrived at the Cape. Their proportion to the rest of the White population at the time is put at17 % by H. T. Colenbrander, and by D. B. Bosman at 15 %.

The reception of the French was very cordial. Simon van der Stel expressed his joy at their arrival. He observed that those who had come in the Schelde outdid the others in merit and eagerness to help. He praised the Flemish merchant Jacques de Savoye for his knowledge and industry, and since he had full command of both languages appointed him as heemraad. Since most of the French had no money or possessions, a considerable voluntary collection in money and stock was contributed by officials and burghers, and Van der Stel in a letter to Batavia dated 22 April 1689 asked that a collection toward the support of these poor people should be made at Batavia. The church relief board immediately obliged and sent 18 000 guilders, the contents of the poor-box on the island of Formosa, which the Company had lost in 1682. This money was distributed in April 16 by the Rev. Simond and the council of the French congregation according to need.
In spite of this assistance the first years were diffcult. The first winter and spring were cold and wet. Some complained about the quality of the farms which they had been given. Van der Stel did his best to satisfy them, but in the journal of 24 October 1688 he had it recorded that he had already had much trouble with the French free burghers, and that it would appear that these people were not at all as industrious as one had expected of them.
The holdings which Van der Stel had granted the French were interspersed among those of the Dutch free burghers, especially along the Berg River, but also at the foot of Simonsberg, Paarlberg and Diamantberg. The area formerly known as Olifantshoek now received the name of `De Fransche Hoek’ (the French Corner). Simond preached in Stellenbosch and Drakenstein on alternate Sundays, and in November 1688 Paul Roux was appointed as reader and schoolmaster in the French language at a salary of 15 guilders per month.

Sarel Arnoldus Cilliers - Direct descendant of French Huguenot: Josué Cellier

The French were however, not satisfied with their minister’s seat on the church council of Stellenbosch and the consistory of the Cape, but wanted their own church council. They delegated Simond with a deputation of four – Jacob (Jacques) de Savoye, Daniel de Ruelle, Abraham de Villiers and Louis Cordier – to put their request to the Council of Policy on 28 November 1689. Van der Stel was very indignant, and he and the Council refused the request. The Directors, however, discussed it at their meeting on 6 December 1690 and granted permission for the election of a French church council in Drakenstein. The explicit policy was, however, to scatter the French among the Dutch free burghers and to teach their children French as well as Dutch.

The first council of the French congregation was established on 30 December 1691. Claude Marais, Louis de Berault and Louis Cordier were chosen as elders, and Abraham de Villiers, Pierre Meyer, Pierre Beneset and Pierre Rousseau as deacons. In the beginning the French congregation of Drakenstein assembled in the house of one of the free burghers; later a shed was built, which collapsed in 1718. The congregation was then already engaged in drawing up plans for a new church, of which the first stone was laid on 6 September 1718. This building was consecrated in June 1720.
The complete disappearance of the French language can be ascribed to various causes. In the first place many of the French were already quite familiar with Dutch when they arrived at the Cape, and there were some families who had lived in the Netherlands for years. Among these were the Nels, who had lived at Utrecht since 1644, and the Du Toits who had lived at Leyden since 1605. The Malans (from 1625), the Jouberts (from 1645), and the Mesnards (from 1638, later called Minnaar), had also lived at Leyden, and the Malherbes (from 1618) had lived at Dordrecht. Secondly, there were among the French free burghers many young people and children, who quickly learnt the language of their new neighbours and fellow countrymen. Thirdly, the authorities did not encourage the use of French. Although until 1697 some proclamations still appeared in French as well, and although the French often wrote their letters to the authorities in French, the church council of Drakenstein was asked in 1709 to write no more letters to the Government in the French language. The departure of their own minister in 1702 also hastened the disappearance of French. Although the Company saw to it that Simond’s successor, the Rev. Henricus Beck, who arrived on the Reijgersdael in April 1702, could speak and understand French, in their letter dated 20 September 1701 to the Governor and Council of Policy they wrote that Beck was not to preach in that language `but only through visits, admonition and consolation to serve the aged colonists who do not know our language, so that French would in due course die out as if banned from use.’ At school no more instruction was to be given in French.
The new governor, W. A. van der Stel, did not interpret this letter from the Directors as prohibiting the use of French in the church, for the Rev. Beck was allowed to preach in French on alternate weeks. Paul Roux also read sermons in French and taught in French. When he died in 1723 there were still about 25 old persons who could understand no other language. Sermons in French became progressively rarer, and it can be said that the French language had died out by the time the second generation had grown up.
Much has been written about the influence of the French free burghers on their adopted country and the people. Since such influences cannot be measured with accuracy, such evaluations are necessarily subjective. According to Simon van der Stel, their influence on the development of viticulture and agriculture was small. After their arrival there was certainly an increase in quantity, but the quality did not improve appreciably. It is even more difficult to determine the French influence on the South African national character. Possibly a certain light-heartedness and quickness of wit may be attributed to the French infusion. The darker Latin type among Afrikaners may also be ascribed to French blood. The French and the already established Dutch and German colonists evinced the same love of freedom, the same independence and the same sense of justice. The influence of Calvinism left an unmistakable imprint on both population groups, so that as early as the beginning of the 18th century a sense of unity developed in the burghers’ struggle against Governor W. A. van der Stel.

Besides the new surnames which the French brought, many of the interesting names which they gave to their farms have been preserved, such as La Terre de Luc, La Dauphine, La Provence, Cabriere, Champagne and Non Pareille – names which still adorn the elegant gables and white gates of old Cape farms, where the architectural style and traditions which they developed along with their Dutch and German compatriots, and to which English influences later contributed, have been preserved.

Source: SESA (Standard Encyclopedia of Southern Africa)

Graveyards at Franschoek, Paarl and Wellington, popularly referred to as ‘Huguenot cemeteries’ merely because French refugees and their descendants were predominant in the particular localities. There are, however, no exclusive Huguenot graveyards in existence in South Africa. `Apartheid’ between French and Dutch colonists, so eagerly desired by the former to preserve their identity, was effectively countered by Governor Simon van der Stel. Besides, it is impossible today to identify the grave of any of the original French settlers. One can safely say that François du Toit and most of his successors lie buried at Kleinbosch, Dal Josafat, and that Pierre de Villiers and his wife Marie E. Taillefer were buried in the churchyard of the old N.G. church (Strooidakkerk) in Paarl, but the graves cannot be identified.

In French Hoek’s historic cemetery near the Huguenot Monument one looks in vain for the grave of a Huguenot immigrant or a first-generation descendant. The `Huguenot cemetery’ at near-by La Motte was laid out in 1760, almost a century after the landing of the Huguenots and the question arises as to the extent to which the people buried there were genealogically still French. The Standard Encyclopaedia of Southern Africa has made its own investigation, based on 300 marriages in the male line, spread over 13 Huguenot families and contracted between 1688 and 1788. This sample revealed that 5-7 per cent of the brides bore French names while 43 per cent were of Dutch, German and Scandinavian extraction. It would therefore appear that the term ‘Huguenot cemetery’ is not entirely a misnomer and that – seen in its true perspective – it is historically justified and culturally desirable to preserve these few graveyards as Huguenot cemeteries.

The National Monuments Council has already erected bronze plaques at La Motte and at Kleinbosch, which provide some protection even though the sites remain unproclaimed. The Kleinbosch cemetery was laid out in about 1692 by the ancestor of the Du Toit family, but the known graves there date from the close of the 19th century. Important Huguenot members of the Genootskap van Regte Afrikaners (1875) lie buried there, as well as a sister of Piet Retief, the famous Voortrekker (see Kleinbosch). At La Motte gravestones were placed for Huguenot descendants known to be buried there but whose graves could not be identified with any degree of certainty. One other graveyard, popularly known as a Huguenot cemetery, is at Wehevreden, Wellington. Here, also, it is impossible to identify the graves of any particular Huguenots of the early years but numbers of Huguenot descendants were buried there.

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 town was named after Simon van der Stel. Simon’s Bay was made the official winter anchorage for the Dutch East India Company’s ships in 1743. Baron G. W. van Imhoff, Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies, who touched at the Cape in the same year, chose a site for a magazine, hospital and barracks at Simonstown.

Search for Baptism, Marriage and Burial records for Simonstown

A small garrison was stationed there, and when a stone pier was constructed in 1768, a bakery, a slaughter-house, a carpenter’s shop and a smithy were erected, as well as a residence for the Governor (who always spent a few days there when the fleet arrived). The post was raised to a residency in 1786 on the representation of the local post-holder, Christoffel Brand. During the war with Britain two small forts, Boetselaar and Zoutman, were built in 1794. When the British arrived on m June 1795 the garrison, too small to resist, was withdrawn. The bulk of the negotiations with the British preceding the Battle of Muizenberg was conducted by the resident, Christoffel Brand. The little settlement first became known as ‘Simon’s Town’ after the Second British occupation in 1806. In 1810 a whaling station operated at Simon’s Bay, and there were about 40 houses, belonging to people who resided in Cape Town during the summer months.

Simonstown: Water colour of Simonstown circa 1838 by Christopher Webb-Smith

In 1814 Simonstown was turned into a naval establishment, and a harbour was constructed, which became the base of the South Atlantic squadron of the Royal Navy. A road was built from Cape Town at a cost of £16 000. In 1895 Simonstown was ceded to the British Admiralty as a naval station. Extensive alterations were begun in 1899. The Second Anglo Boer War, which broke out that year, enormously increased the importance of Simonstown, and work went ahead rapidly on the Selborne Dock, as well as on a dry-dock and engineering and construction workshops. By 1902 the population was 4684, of which Whites numbered 3209 and Coloured people 1575. There were 450 dwellings in the town.

During the First World War, with the Suez Canal closed, Simonstown rendered important service as a British naval base, and during the Second World War it again became a key point. The dockyard staff then rose to 5000, and some 170 warships and 60 damaged merchant vessels were repaired there. Until 1957 the British dockyard was policed by a special unit, whose commanding officers were largely recruited
from the London Metropolitan Police and wore a special uniform. At an impressive ceremony on 2 April 1957 the naval base was transferred to South Africa by Britain under an agreement guaranteeing Britain the use of the naval facilities in peace and in war.

Simonstown is South Africa’s main naval base, and Admiralty House is the official residence of the chief of the South African navy. The naval base was adapted continually during the 1960′s and early 1970′s to meet the requirements of South Africa’s growing maritime defences. The developments included accommodation for the country’s submarines.
Simonstown has had its own municipality since 1883 and, after Cape Town, it is the oldest independent municipality in the Cape Peninsula. Probably the oldest building is the Residency, which was rebuilt in 1776 and later became the official dwelling of the Resident; today it is occupied by the magistrate. Admiralty House was bought in 1814 from the widow Maria Munnick for £10 833.6.8.

St. Francis’ Church, consecrated in 1814, is reputed to be the oldest English church in South Africa.

In addition to churches, schools and a public library, Simonstown has a provincial hospital. For many years an aerial cableway linked the dockyard to a naval sanatorium on Red Hill overlooking the town; but in 1932 a motor road was built and the cableway ceased operations. There used to be a fish-oil refinery in an industrial area at Dido Valley just outside the town.

The water-supply has always caused difficulties. In 1902 the entire supply was a concrete reservoir containing 131/2 million litres, an Admiralty reservoir containing R36m litres, and springs yielding 68 000 litres a day. Thirty years ago Simonstown had, in addition, the Neptune and Prince George reservoirs, with a joint capacity of 68m litres, the Lewis Gay Dam, opened in 1952 and holding R86m litres, and the Kleinplaas Dam, built in 1967, holding 500m kilolitres. Electricity is supplied by the Cape Town municipality.

Simonstown is the terminus of the suburban railway from Cape Town. It has many excellent bathing beaches, the best-known being Seaforth and the Boulders, south of the town, and the fishing grounds round Simonstown are an angler’s paradise. The town lies on the marine drive leading to Cape Point. A martello tower built in Simonstown in 1796, the first building erected after the British occupation and possibly the oldest British structure of its kind in the world, was declared a national monument in 1972. The following year it was officially opened as a naval museum by the chief of the South African Defence Force, Adm. H. H. Biermann.

District. Area 249 sq km, covering the southern portion of the Cape Peninsula below a line south of Chapman’s Peak eastwards along the mountains and across the Cape Flats nearly to Strandfontein. It in cludes the southern suburbs of metropolitan Cape

Town from Muizenberg to Kalk Bay and the municipality of Fish Hoek, as well as Glencairn, Noordhoek, Scarborough, the local area of Kommetjie, and the township of Da Gama Park. It also embraces Sandvlei and the Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve. Population 1970): White 20 663; Coloured 10357;

Asiatic 289; Bantu 686 . Source: Standard Encylopeadia of South Africa Copyright Naspers. Image: Acknowledgement Library of Parliament Cape Town.

It is a difficult matter to realise what a voyage must have been two hundred years ago when we think of our large modern liners plying between Europe and South Africa.
Today the distance is covered within seventeen days, then it took anywhere from four to six months; today the food is kept in ice chambers, then the meat had to be salted and cured. The ships then were small, and living and sleeping space was limited; some of the vessels were no longer than one hundred and fifteen feet. Not only were the people faced by the danger of tempestuous seas, stranding or fire, but they also ran the risk of capture by pirates or a foreign enemy.

Death was of frequent occurrence during the voyage, and the means for combating it limited. The want of fresh food, vegetables and a limited allowance of water caused scurvy. This played havoc with a great number, and it often ended fatally. Water was a precious thing on board, and every precaution was taken to preserve it. To eke out the fresh water as long as possible, the meat and salt pork were cooked in the salt water and thus consumed by those on board. Water was given out on short allowance, but one or two glasses of wine were distributed to make up for it.

Poor people, what agonies they must have suffered sometimes, especially when passing through the tropics! Such, however, were the risks and discomforts which the French Refugees who ventured to leave their country had to run before they found an asylum in the southern hemisphere.

The ships of the Dutch East India Company that brought out the first batches of Refugees were the Voorschooten, Borssenburg, Oosterlandt, Berg China, Schelde, Zuid Beveland, and ‘t Wapen van Alkmaar. The Voorschooten was the first ship to leave Holland, and sailed on the 31st December, 1687. On the 13th April following she was obliged to drop her anchors in Saldanha Bay on account of a strong south-east wind, although her destination was Table Bay.’ Her officers considered it necessary to remain in the bay to effect some repairs. When the Commander at the Castle was informed of her arrival, he despatched the cutter Jupiter from Table Bay with fresh provisions. On her return she brought the Refugees safely to the Cape.
The Voorschooten was a flute of one hundred and thirty feet (Dutch) long. Twenty-two French emigrants were on board. Amongst them were Charles Marais of Plessis, his wife and four children, Philippe Fouché with wife and three children, also eight young bachelors, amongst whom were the brothers Jean and Gabriel le Roux of Blois, and Gideon Malherbe. Jacques Pinard and his wife Esther Fouché had been married previous to the sailing of the Voorschooten from Holland.
The Oosterlandt left Middelburg on the 29th January. 1688, and reached Table Bay on the 26th April, 1688, after a most successful voyage of two months and ten days. She was a much larger built ship than the Voorschooten, measuring one hundred and sixty feet. She brought out twenty-four Refugees. One of then was Jacques de Savoye of Aeth, a wealthy merchant. Jean Prier du Plessis of Poitiers, who had practised as a surgeon, and Isaac Taillefert of Chateau Thierry, a hat-maker, were also on board; they all brought out their wives and children.

Another of the boats to have a most successful voyage was the flute Borssenburg, which left Texel on the 6th January, 1688. She was the smallest of the ships, as she was only one hundred and fifteen feet in length. She cast anchor in the Bay on May 12th, having suffered no deaths amongst the passengers or crew during the voyage, and landed all those on board in a healthy condition at the Cape. Among her passengers was a party of “French Piedmontese fugitives.” The list of names is wanting. I have been unable to trace any particular individual who came out in her.
A most exciting voyage was experienced by the Schelde, a boat of one hundred and forty feet long. She brought out twenty-three French Refugees, men, women and children. Seven or eight days out at sea a terrible storm sprang up, and the skipper was compelled to put into St. Jago. On her arrival at Porto Pravo, he was told that on the previous day an English pirate ship had captured three ships belonging to the English, Portuguese and Dutch respectively. She sailed away almost immediately, and when five days from the Cape ran into another storm. On board were several members of the des Pres family.

On the 4th August, 1688, there arrived in Table Bay the Berg China, which had lett Rotterdam on the 20th March previously. The Berg China was of the same dimensions as the Oosterlandt. There were thirty-four French fugitives on board when she set sail, but the greater portion of the thirty who died on the voyage were Refugees.
When the Zuid Beveland, a vessel as big as the Voorschooten, sailed from Holland on the 22nd April, 1688, she had on board twenty-five Refugees, eleven men, four women and ten children. Amongst them was an important person whose arrival had been eagerly looked forward to by those who had come earlier to the Cape shores. This person was the Revd. Pierre Simond of Embrun in Dauphine, lately minister at Zirikzee. He was to play an active part in the early history of the French community at Drakenstein. Reverend Simond, whose name has been perpetuated today in the Drakenstein Valley by the place Simondium, was accompanied by his wife, Anne de Berault. Amongst the soldiers on board belonging to the Dutch East India Company was Sergeant Louis de Berault, brother of the minister’s wife. In October, 1688, Sergeant de Berault accompanied an expedition to Rio de la Goa to search for some wrecked seamen of the ship Stavinisse. He afterwards settled down as a burgher.

After a run of nearly four months the Zuid Beveland dropped anchor in Table Bay on the 19th August, but it was too late that day for anyone to come ashore. Between eight and nine o’clock next morning the first boat shoved off for land, but a squall of wind suddenly sprang up and upset the boat. Soon everyone was floundering in the sea. Several of the occupants were drowned, including Mr. Cornelis Moerkerke, who was on his way to Malacca to take up his appointment as Fiscal. Both the Schelde and Zuid Beveland lost a number of the French Refugees by death during the voyage. The lists of Refugees who came out in these two vessels are not to be found in the Archives at the Cape nor in Holland. From other documents, however, the names of some are found mentioned as having arrived with her. For instance, the Schelde brought out Charles Prévot, wife and three children, Hercules des Pres with wife and four children, and Abraham Bleuset, which makes a total of twelve out of the twenty-three who embarked.
In the Zuid Beveland came Rev. Simond and his wife, Jean le Long, wife and two children, Estienne Viret, Salomon de Gournay and David Senecal, eight souls out of the number of twenty-five known to have embarked. From the number of Refugees who had sailed by the 1st April, 1688, it is seen that more men than women came out. After the Zuid Beveland had left, sixty-seven men, thirty-three women and fifty-one children had embarked in the various boats, but, as we find upon comparing the lists of those we know set sail and those who landed here, several of them died on the voyage or shortly after their arrival.

About forty Refugees set sail from Texel on the 27th July, 1688, on board ‘t Wapen van Alkmaar, commanded by Captain Carel Goske, and arrived six months after, i.e., the 27th January, 1689. They lost thirty-seven persons by death and brought one hundred and four sick ones, the latter being placed immediately in the Company’s hospital at Cape Town. The French emigrants were sent into the country to their new homes on the 1st February, after they had been given all the necessaries to carry on their agricultural pursuits. The only name I have been able to trace of those who sailed in the Alkmaar is that of Antonie Martin.
About one thousand souls represented by two hundred families, Piedmontese and Vaudois refugees, had taken refuge in Nuremberg. Their number included agriculturists, experienced tradesmen, and four ministers; they all expressed a wish to go to any of the Colonies of the Dutch East or Dutch West India Companies, but on condition that they be allowed to settle close to each other and exercise their own religion. Commissioners, appointed by the Chamber of Seventeen, enquired into the matter, and meanwhile the French and Vaudois fugitives presented a petition asking that certain other conditions be allowed. The petitioners had deputed Jean Pastre Marchand as their spokesmen, who stated that he had been requested by the Refugees at Erlagh and the Vaudois near Nuremberg to plead their cause.
A kindly and compassionate view was taken of the matter by the Seventeen, who decided to settle these people at the Cape of Good Hope, and provide them with free passages and money, and to supply them with building materials on credit. They were to be given provisions and treated on the same footing as the Dutch emigrants. It was thought that after the aged, lame and sick persons had been deducted, there would be between six and seven hundred souls who would be prepared to emigrate.
Arrangements were made for sending out two or three hundred Waldenses or Vaudoisen in the Company’s ship the Schielandt, but afterwards in ‘t Wapen van Alkmaar. Everything was in readiness, but the emigrants declined to go, and the Seventeen wrote to the Cape that “these people, being averse to the sea and long voyage, had changed their minds and settled in Germany, and that forty French Refugees bred to agriculture were being sent out in ‘t Wapen van Alkmaar.”

The above ships brought out the greater portion of the French emigrés to the Cape between 1688 and 1700, and after the former date we find them arriving in small batches. The other ships which brought some of them out were the Zion, Vosmaar, Westhoven, Donkervliet and Driebergen. In the Zion, which left Holland on the 8th January, 1689, and arrived on the 6th May following, came three brothers, Pierre, Abraham and Jacob de Villiers. Writing to the Cape on the 16th December, 1688, the Chamber at Delft said of them: “With this ship (the Zion) we have again permitted the following French Refugees to sail to the Cape and earn their living as freemen, Pierre de Villiers, Abraham de Villiers and Jacob de Villiers, all three brothers born near la Rochelle. We are informed that these persons have a good knowledge of laying out vineyards and managing the same, and thus we hope that the Company will acquire their good service. You are recommended to give them a helping hand.”

Today the name of de Villiers is to be found throughout the sub-continent, and descendants of Pierre de Villiers have given us some of the cleverest men in the legal profession, one of whom was the late Baron de Villiers of Wynberg, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Union of South Africa.
A sad fate overtook the ten men and women Refugees who sailed from Holland in April, 1616, in the Vosmaar. The voyage had been most disastrous. When she arrived in October she had lost ninety-three persons by death, five of whom were of the French emigrants. Of the remainder of two hundred and thirty-six persons who were mostly sick and in a weak condition, only four were left in a good state of health. The Middelburg Chamber wrote to van der Stel that at the request of these French Refugees they had been given permission to proceed to the Cape, and that the Company in granting this did so with the object of populating the Colony. The Directors expressed the hope that they would not be a trouble to the Colony, but that each one would be able to maintain himself honestly by his trade or handicraft. To enable them to do so they were to be given as much help as the orders of the Seventeen required.
Of the five survivors who arrived in the Vosmaar the only name to be found is that of Jacques Bisseux of Picardy, who became a baker.
The Donkervliet and Westhoven both came out in 1699 and arrived on the 20th July and 16th June respectively.4 On the 25th May 1698, the Driebergen, in command of Captain Martin de Jeugd, destined for Batavia, left Holland. On board were five French refugees who, upon their arrival at the Cape on the 3rd September, 1698, settled at Drakenstein as agriculturists. When north of the Canary Islands the Driebergen encountered a pirate vessel, which she took to be Turkish although the boat flew an English flag, and after Captain de Jeugd had warned her to keep off he fired a broadside and shattered her sails. She left the pirate without Damage. A despatch, dated 7th May, 1698, from the Chamber at Delft mentioned the names of the five fugitives sent out with the Driebergen:
Louwys de Ryck alais Louis le Riche, Pieter Cronier alias Pierre Crosnier, Stephen Cronier alias Estienne Cronier, Jean van het tichelje alias Jean du Tuillet, Philip van Renan alias Philippe Drouin.

When the newcomers landed everything had been arranged to receive and convey them to their new homes along the Berg River in the Drakenstein Valley. In 1687 this beautiful and fertile valley had been named by Commander Simon van der Stel after one of the family seats in Holland of the High Commissioner, Hendrik Adriaan van Reede, Lord of Mydrecht, who had come out to the Cape in 1685 to inspect the Company’s affairs. In the same year twenty-three farms along the Berg River were marked out, each measuring 60 morgen in extent, and given to a like number of agriculturists.’ Six wagons were supplied by the Burgher Councillors of the Cape and six by the Heemraden of Stellenbosch, to transfer the new arrivals and their baggage to Drakenstein. The Company supplied provisions which would last them for a few months, and planks to build temporary shelters.

When the farms were allotted care was taken to scatter the French among the Dutch farmers already settled there and those arriving at the same time. Some were given ground in the Stellenbosch district, but the greater number were at Drakenstein and French Hoek. This intermingling of the Dutch and French caused dissatisfaction among the latter. The Landdrost and Heemraden of Stellenbosch were requested to receive the Reverend Simond with the respect and reverence which his office and position demanded, and to assist him, as much as lay in their power, in erecting a house for himself. Upon his arrival he was conveyed to his destination in comfort and ease.
The majority of the Refugees to the Cape possessed little or nothing when they landed. Many had escaped with only their lives. They erected shelters which could be put up rapidly, and did not waste time upon buildings of an elaborate nature. It is reasonable to suppose that the first structures which they built were of a primitive nature, and none would have been of the class so general during the eighteenth century.
What pioneer in a strange land has ever built his first house with all the comforts and architectural beauty in which he indulges when he has made headway and reaped the good results of his work?

We must look back upon the time, two centuries ago, and imagine these Refugees arriving in a beautiful, extensive and wooded valley, where wild animals such as lions and tigers made their lair, where Hottentots in their wild state roamed about ready to plunder the homestead. Under such conditions and with little money or material, only simple and small dwellings would have been erected. Later on, however, when the Colony expanded and the emigrants saw the good fruits of their labours, they built themselves better houses with many lofty and spacious rooms.
Not long after their coming a subscription list was sent round on their behalf among the older settlers of the Colony and Company’s servants. This was readily responded to by contributions of money, cattle and grain. The fund was given to Reverend Simond and the deacons of the Stellenbosch church for distribution. The records in referring to this collection say that it did the older colonists credit and was most acceptable to the Refugees.
Two years later pecuniary assistance from quite a different source was given to the Huguenots. On the 22nd April, 1689, Commander van der Stel wrote to the Batavian Government and complained of the extreme poverty of the French Refugees, who, he said, would not be able to enjoy the fruits of their work for three or four years to come; they were being supported by the Company and from such means as were available from the poor fund. The settlers had no easy task in preparing their land for cultivation. The ground, which had never been tilled since the world began, was overgrown with bush and roots, and it would take several years to produce some return. Their life at first was full of trials; tools and implements had to be obtained from the Company, to whom they became debtors. He asked that a collection might be made for these poor people; this would relieve the Company of supporting them. The petition was not in vain. Although a collection was not made, a bill of exchange for 6,000 rixdollars, or £1,250, was immediately sent over. This bill was drawn on the Cape Government in favour of the Reverend Pierre Simond, the pastor of the French congregation at Drakenstein.

The money had been in the Batavian Treasury for many years, and represented the poor fund of a church at Formosa, one of the Dutch possessions which had been seized by the Chinese pirate Coxinga, who had compelled the Dutch to evacuate it. This money was taken away and placed in the treasury at Batavia. On the 18th and 19th April, 1690, the Cape Government distributed the amount amongst the French community, who were greatly pleased with a present so welcome in their dire distress.’ Another surprise was in store for them the next day; they received from the Commander, through the Landdrost of Stellenbosch, a present of oxen. They returned to their homes highly pleased, alter having thanked the Commander for his kindly feeling and thought for them.
Article: Extracted from: “The French Refugees at the Cape” – C Graham Botha

All Saints Church, Springbok, Centenary, 18th November 1864 – 18th November 1964Guest of Honour: Most Rev. Robert Selby Taylor. Archbishop of Cape Town.
All Saints Church SpringbokAn Historical Sketch

The history of the Church in Namaqualand is intimately linked with the mining of copper. The miners came and the Church followed. Since the first miners, after Simon van der Stel, were Welshmen, Phillips and King, it is not surprising to find that the Anglican Church was the first to be established in Springbok. The Dutch Reformed Church followed in 1860 when the Namaqualand Congregation separated from the Clanwilliam congregation and built their first church at Bowersdorp in Kamieskroon.
The Anglican Church at Springbok is the oldest Anglican Church and one of the oldest buildings in the district, yet after one hundred years, it is still incomplete. It seems clear from the flat top of the gable at the West end of the Church that a stone arch was originally intended to be built above this gable, to hold the bell. Only this year the holes, left open for joining the walls of a porch over the South door of the church, have been filled in. The vestry inside the main building rather spoils the interior, but there appears to have been no intention to add a vestry when the church was built.
The furnishings have not worn as well as the building and, in order to provide for all these things, and to surround the churchyard in a more worthy manner, a Centenary Fund has been opened to which all collections and donations received during the Centenary will be added.
The Altar, reredos, curtain, canopy, and sanctuary carpet are all modern, having been put in to adorn the Church for the Centenary. The only decoration of historical interest in the Church is the Altar Cross which is of brass set with rare stones and was given in 1903 by officers and men of the Cape Mounted Police.
The Congregation is older and more important than the Church building. The first “curate” was the rev. Henry Whitehead who was in office by September 30th 1856 when he solemnised the first marriage “at Springbokfontein in the district of little Namaqua Land” between John Wolstenholme, widower, a baker of full age, and Hendrina Johanna Mostert, spinster, aged 23 years. The couple came from Kamiesberg and the groom’s father is described as a Copperas Manufacturer while the bride’s father was a farmer. The witnesses were George Cooper and Mary Rutledge. If Mr. Whitehead had been a marriage officer today, the certificate would have been returned, as two different spellings of the groom’s surname and of the bride’s Christian names appear. 1858 was a good year for marriages; there were seven that year and none in 1859. Two of the 1858 brides were widows, aged 19 and 27, a sad commentary on the sort of conditions in which people must have lived in those days.
The Church was built two years after Mr Whitehead left when the Rector was the Rev W.J.R. Morris (whose grandson was later to become rector). The Rev W.J.R. Morris designed and built the Church, and it is only from Mr. Morris’s time that we have complete records of Baptisms and burials.1 The first Baptism was that of Eliza Maria Gould on August 23rd, 1863, and the first burial that of Jantjie Gertze on April 11th, 1864. It is fascinating to look through these old registers. Not only do well-known names appear over and over again, but the ages of the people who were buried speak for themselves. On some pages recording burials in the 1860′s as many as half the dead were infants. In the Baptism Register, there is a column which records the “quality, trade or profession of the father.” What sort of people were the members of the Church in those days.
George Gould, traderThomas Griffiths, blacksmithHenry Wechler, ostlerWilliam Davis, builderThomas Smith, minerJohn Wolstenholme, farmer
This is the same John whose marriage was the first to be solemnised. His daughter Margaret, was born on August 15th 1863 and baptised six weeks later.

Then there is John Townsend, Merchant and Frederick Rutledge, Shopkeeper (doubtless a subtle difference!); John Howe, Gentleman; Spenser Innes, General Agent; Edward Judge, Civil service; Samuel Gifford, Captain of Mine; George Shaw, Conductor of Mule Train. And so the story goes on. Edward Judge had become Resident Magistrate by 1865 when his next child was baptised.
In any church which retains the three traditional orders of Bishops, Priests and Deacons, the Bishop must visit each congregation from time to time, to administer the Sacrament of Confirmation. For a place a remote as Springbok used to be, these Episcopal visits are landmarks. Bishop Gray, first Bishop of Cape Town, first visited Springbok in 1866, when he confirmed four people on May 8th, the oldest being 41 years old. He then went to Hondeklip Bay where he confirmed five people on May 13th, so that he evidently took four days for the journey.
Bishop Gray’s second visit was in 1871 just after his wife had died. She was devoted to him and had accompanied her husband to Springbok on his first visit making notes and sketches along the way. Finding his way to Springbok again without her, the Bishop wrote nostalgically that his only guide “over a great part of the Journey is a tracing of the country with all the information connected with it in her dear hand. She was bent on making this journey with me.”

The Bishop went to Port Nolloth on his second visit where he confirmed four people, and twelve days later – he had been ill during this time – confirmed 23 people at Springbok, two of whom were 50 years old.
And so the Church grew. Bishop West Jones came in 1875, 1877, and 1890. Bishop Gibson in 1896 and Bishop West Jones again in 1898. When snow fell a few weeks ago at Nababeep it caused quite a stir. Bishop West Jones encountered snow for the first time in South Africa on his visit to Springbok in July / August, 1898.
There has always been a spirit of friendship and co-operation between the different denominations in the Parish, even if there has been friction occasionally. We have a letter from Bishop West Jones dated December 4th, 1890 – alas the stamp has been torn off the envelope written to a Mr Brock saying that Mr Morris has given the Wesleyans permission to use our cemetery. He advised this should go on provided that they realised the cemetery did not belong to the Wesleyans and that they should always ask permission before using it. Apparently at one stage the cemetery gate had been locked “and that more than once the lock has been forced or the staple removed by persons desirous of obtaining access to the ground for the purposes of burial.” The Bishop tells Mr Brock not to allow “such violent intrusion.”2

The records indicate that from the earliest days, services were held in both English and Dutch. The tenth marriage solemnised by the Rev. Henry Whitehead, on July 12th 1858. has one copy of the register in English and the other in Dutch.

“Dit Huwelyk is voltrokken tusschen onsP.A. EsterhuizenKatrina Maria Janetta van den Heeverhaar X merk.”There was an unusually large congregation in Springbok when the Rev. Walter Richardson preached on “The Children of God” on Thursday February 19th, 1903. 75 people were present and the collection was £1.5s.41/2d. for the preacher, 1/- for the driver. This was a bigger congregation than on Easter Day the same year but the reason is not evident. There are records of services being held regularly in English and Dutch. The last Dutch entry is on October 1st, 1933, when the Rev. C.G. Green conducted Dutch Evensong at 4 p.m. They kept All Saints’ Festival on Sunday October 29th, when the same priest celebrated Afrikaans Eucharist at 7.30 a.m. 26 people received Communion and the collection was 3/3d.
The Anglican Church has always been a pioneer in the field of education. The first school at Springbok was opened in 1865 and conducted in an old building near the open mine. Mrs Kwaza, wife of a Fingo interpreter, was one of the first schoolmistresses. The present school building came into use this year while the previous one was completed in 1941. There is a loose slip of printed paper, undated, between the pages of the burial register for 1871 which is evidently some kind of statistical return. It asks:-
No. (total) at present in the school able (a) to say the Lord’s Prayer
do.                              do.                      (b) do.          Creed
do.                              do.                      (c) do.          Ten Commandments  
do.                              do.                      (d) do.          Church Catechism
do.                              do.                      (e) do.          to read the Bible
It seems a far cry from those days but what we have been able to do has been built on the foundations laid over the last hundred years. We look back with interest, occasional amusement and, above all, gratitude to the achievements of those who have gone before us and look forward in faith and hope as we continue the work for God’s Kingdom so nobly begun.
Acknowledgements and sources.Parish RegistersParish of Namaqualand Centenary Leaflet 1852 – 1952 by the Rev. J.W.L. LavisLetter from the Ven. W.V. Gregorowski, October 1964Letter from the Rev. L.R. Morris, October 1964.

Written by Guy Barker