4th February 1488
Bartolomeu Dias reached Mossel Bay.
Diogo Cão had made two voyages to try to reach the southern end of Africa’s western coastline but had failed both times. Nevertheless, King John II of Portugal remained determined to continue the effort. In October 1486, he commissioned Dias to lead an expedition in search of a trade route around the southern tip of Africa. Dias was also charged with searching for Prester John, a legendary figure believed to be the powerful Christian ruler of a realm somewhere beyond Europe, possibly in the African interior. Dias was provided with two caravels of about 50 tons each and a square-rigged supply ship captained by his brother Diogo. He recruited some of the leading pilots of the day, including Pêro de Alenquer and João de Santiago, who had previously sailed with Cão.
No contemporary documents detailing this historic voyage have been found as almost all maritime records were destroyed in the 1755 Lisbon earthquake and ensuing tsunami. Much of the available information comes from the sixteenth-century historian João de Barros, who wrote about the voyage some sixty years later.
The small fleet left Lisbon in or around July 1487. Like his predecessor, Cão, Dias carried a set of padrãos, carved stone pillars to be used to mark his progress at important landfalls. Also on board were six Africans who had been kidnapped by Cão and taught Portuguese. Dias's plan was to drop them off at various points along the African coast so that they could testify to the grandeur of the Portuguese kingdom and make inquiries into the possible whereabouts of Prester John.[9]
The expedition sailed directly to the Congo, and from there proceeded more carefully down the African coast, often naming notable geographic features after saints that were honored on the Catholic Church’s calendar. When they weighed anchor at what today is Porto Alexandre, Angola, Dias left the supply ship behind so that it could re-provision them later, on their return voyage. By December, Dias had passed the farthest point reached by Cão, and on 8 December 1487 he arrived at the Golfo da Conceicão (modern-day Walvis Bay, Namibia). After making slow progress along the Namibian coast, the two ships turned southwest, away from land. Historians have debated whether this happened because they were driven offshore by a storm or because they were deliberately trying to find more favorable winds. Whatever its cause, the change of course brought them success: the ships traced a broad arc around the tip of Africa and, on 4 February 1488, after 30 days on the open ocean, they reached the continent’s southern cape and entered what would later become known as Mossel Bay.
The ships continued east for a time and confirmed that the coast gradually trended to the northeast. Dias realized that they had accomplished Portugal's long-sought goal: they had rounded the southern cape of Africa. Dias's expedition reached its furthest point on 12 March 1488, when it anchored at Kwaaihoek, near the mouth of the Boesmans River—where they erected the Padrão de São Gregório. By then, the crew had become restless and was urging Dias to turn around. Supplies were low and the ships were battered. Although Dias wanted to continue, the rest of the officers unanimously favored returning to Portugal, so he agreed to turn back. On their return voyage, they sailed close enough to Africa’s southwestern coast to encounter the Cape of Good Hope for the first time in May 1488. Tradition has it that Dias originally named it the Cape of Storms (Cabo das Tormentas) and that King John II later renamed it the Cape of Good Hope (Cabo da Boa Esperança) because it symbolized the opening of a sea route from west to east.
At the cape, Dias erected the last of their padrãos and then headed northward. They reached their supply ship in July, after nine months of absence, and found that six of that ship’s nine crewmen had died in skirmishes with the natives. The vessel had become rotten with worms, so they unloaded the supplies they needed from it, and burnt it on the beach. Few details are known about the remainder of the voyage. The ships made stops at Príncipe, the Rio do Resgate (in present-day Liberia), and the Portuguese trading post of São Jorge da Mina. Dias returned to Lisbon in December 1488, after an absence of 16 months.
The Dias expedition had explored a thousand more miles of the African coastline than previous expeditions had reached; it had rounded the southern tip of the continent, and it had demonstrated that the most effective southward ship route lay in the open ocean well to the west of the African coast-a route that would be followed by generations of Portuguese sailors. Despite these successes, Dias' reception at court was muted. There were no official proclamations, and, at the time, Dias received little in recognition of his accomplishments.
Bartolomeu Dias reached Mossel Bay.
Diogo Cão had made two voyages to try to reach the southern end of Africa’s western coastline but had failed both times. Nevertheless, King John II of Portugal remained determined to continue the effort. In October 1486, he commissioned Dias to lead an expedition in search of a trade route around the southern tip of Africa. Dias was also charged with searching for Prester John, a legendary figure believed to be the powerful Christian ruler of a realm somewhere beyond Europe, possibly in the African interior. Dias was provided with two caravels of about 50 tons each and a square-rigged supply ship captained by his brother Diogo. He recruited some of the leading pilots of the day, including Pêro de Alenquer and João de Santiago, who had previously sailed with Cão.
No contemporary documents detailing this historic voyage have been found as almost all maritime records were destroyed in the 1755 Lisbon earthquake and ensuing tsunami. Much of the available information comes from the sixteenth-century historian João de Barros, who wrote about the voyage some sixty years later.
The small fleet left Lisbon in or around July 1487. Like his predecessor, Cão, Dias carried a set of padrãos, carved stone pillars to be used to mark his progress at important landfalls. Also on board were six Africans who had been kidnapped by Cão and taught Portuguese. Dias's plan was to drop them off at various points along the African coast so that they could testify to the grandeur of the Portuguese kingdom and make inquiries into the possible whereabouts of Prester John.[9]
The expedition sailed directly to the Congo, and from there proceeded more carefully down the African coast, often naming notable geographic features after saints that were honored on the Catholic Church’s calendar. When they weighed anchor at what today is Porto Alexandre, Angola, Dias left the supply ship behind so that it could re-provision them later, on their return voyage. By December, Dias had passed the farthest point reached by Cão, and on 8 December 1487 he arrived at the Golfo da Conceicão (modern-day Walvis Bay, Namibia). After making slow progress along the Namibian coast, the two ships turned southwest, away from land. Historians have debated whether this happened because they were driven offshore by a storm or because they were deliberately trying to find more favorable winds. Whatever its cause, the change of course brought them success: the ships traced a broad arc around the tip of Africa and, on 4 February 1488, after 30 days on the open ocean, they reached the continent’s southern cape and entered what would later become known as Mossel Bay.
The ships continued east for a time and confirmed that the coast gradually trended to the northeast. Dias realized that they had accomplished Portugal's long-sought goal: they had rounded the southern cape of Africa. Dias's expedition reached its furthest point on 12 March 1488, when it anchored at Kwaaihoek, near the mouth of the Boesmans River—where they erected the Padrão de São Gregório. By then, the crew had become restless and was urging Dias to turn around. Supplies were low and the ships were battered. Although Dias wanted to continue, the rest of the officers unanimously favored returning to Portugal, so he agreed to turn back. On their return voyage, they sailed close enough to Africa’s southwestern coast to encounter the Cape of Good Hope for the first time in May 1488. Tradition has it that Dias originally named it the Cape of Storms (Cabo das Tormentas) and that King John II later renamed it the Cape of Good Hope (Cabo da Boa Esperança) because it symbolized the opening of a sea route from west to east.
At the cape, Dias erected the last of their padrãos and then headed northward. They reached their supply ship in July, after nine months of absence, and found that six of that ship’s nine crewmen had died in skirmishes with the natives. The vessel had become rotten with worms, so they unloaded the supplies they needed from it, and burnt it on the beach. Few details are known about the remainder of the voyage. The ships made stops at Príncipe, the Rio do Resgate (in present-day Liberia), and the Portuguese trading post of São Jorge da Mina. Dias returned to Lisbon in December 1488, after an absence of 16 months.
The Dias expedition had explored a thousand more miles of the African coastline than previous expeditions had reached; it had rounded the southern tip of the continent, and it had demonstrated that the most effective southward ship route lay in the open ocean well to the west of the African coast-a route that would be followed by generations of Portuguese sailors. Despite these successes, Dias' reception at court was muted. There were no official proclamations, and, at the time, Dias received little in recognition of his accomplishments.
The years 1488 to 1902
Bartolomeu Dias
Dias Museum Complex in Mossel Bay
Dias on his voyage to the Cape
21st May 1502
St. Helena was discovered by João da Nova Castella, a Portuguese navigator.
Nova's armada left India in January 1502. On his return journey, Nova is said to have discovered the South Atlantic island of Saint Helena on 21 May 1502, the feast day of Helena of Constantinople.
However, a paper published in 2015 reviewed the discovery date and suggests Jan Huyghen van Linschoten was probably the first (in 1596) to state that the island was so named because it was found on the 21 May. Given that Linschoten correctly stated Whitsunday fell on the Western Christian date of 21 May 1589 (rather than the Orthodox Church date of 28 May), the paper suggests that Linschoten was referring to the Protestant feast-day for Saint Helena on 21 May, not the Orthodox Church version on the same date. It is then argued the Portuguese found the island two decades before the start of the Reformation and the establishment of Protestantism, and it is therefore not possible that the island was so named because it was found on the Protestant feast day.
An alternative discovery date of 3 May on the Catholic feast-day celebrating the finding of the True Cross by Saint Helena in Jerusalem, as quoted by Odoardo Duarte Lopes in 1591 and by Sir Thomas Herbert in 1638, is suggested as historically more credible than the Protestant date of 21 May. The paper observes that if da Nova made the discovery on 3 May 1502, he may have been inhibited from naming the island Ilha de Vera Cruz (Island of the True Cross) because Pedro Álvares Cabral had already assigned that same name to the Brazilian coastline, which he thought to be a large island, on 3 May 1500. News of Cabral’s discovery reached Lisbon directly from South America before da Nova’s fleet set off on the voyage to India in 1501. If da Nova knew the True Cross name had already been assigned, the most obvious and plausible alternative name for him to give the island was "Santa Helena".
St. Helena was discovered by João da Nova Castella, a Portuguese navigator.
Nova's armada left India in January 1502. On his return journey, Nova is said to have discovered the South Atlantic island of Saint Helena on 21 May 1502, the feast day of Helena of Constantinople.
However, a paper published in 2015 reviewed the discovery date and suggests Jan Huyghen van Linschoten was probably the first (in 1596) to state that the island was so named because it was found on the 21 May. Given that Linschoten correctly stated Whitsunday fell on the Western Christian date of 21 May 1589 (rather than the Orthodox Church date of 28 May), the paper suggests that Linschoten was referring to the Protestant feast-day for Saint Helena on 21 May, not the Orthodox Church version on the same date. It is then argued the Portuguese found the island two decades before the start of the Reformation and the establishment of Protestantism, and it is therefore not possible that the island was so named because it was found on the Protestant feast day.
An alternative discovery date of 3 May on the Catholic feast-day celebrating the finding of the True Cross by Saint Helena in Jerusalem, as quoted by Odoardo Duarte Lopes in 1591 and by Sir Thomas Herbert in 1638, is suggested as historically more credible than the Protestant date of 21 May. The paper observes that if da Nova made the discovery on 3 May 1502, he may have been inhibited from naming the island Ilha de Vera Cruz (Island of the True Cross) because Pedro Álvares Cabral had already assigned that same name to the Brazilian coastline, which he thought to be a large island, on 3 May 1500. News of Cabral’s discovery reached Lisbon directly from South America before da Nova’s fleet set off on the voyage to India in 1501. If da Nova knew the True Cross name had already been assigned, the most obvious and plausible alternative name for him to give the island was "Santa Helena".
Saint Helena
João da Nova
1659-1660
First Khoikhoi-Dutch War
The Khoikhoi–Dutch Wars were a series of conflicts that took place in the last half of the 17th century in what was known then as the Cape of Good Hope (today it refers to a smaller geographic spot), in the area of present-day Cape Town, South Africa, between Dutch colonizers who came from the Netherlands and the local African people, the indigenous Khoikhoi, who had lived in that part of the world for millennia.
The arrival of the Dutch East India Company began a complicated series of relations between the Khoisan and the Dutch. The chief Hessequa Khoisan opened up trade with the Dutch, leading to economic prosperity for the Khoisan. The extended trade offers opened up the Khoisan to infiltration by the Dutch.
The Dutch began disrupting lands used by Khoisan for seasonal farming, forcing adaptation of the Khoisan in the form of finding new resources or rationing existing resources. The Khoikhoi nomadic people were disgruntled by the disruption of their seasonal visit to the area for which purpose they grazed their cattle at the foot of Table Mountain only to find European settlers occupying and farming the land. Their leader Doman lived in the Fort de Goede Hoop at the time.
One night Doman left the fort to join his clan where after he led several cattle-lifting excursions against the settlers. In 1659 the settlements farmers protested against the continual cattle theft and called an urgent council meeting with Jan van Riebeeck. The council, consisting of representatives of the Dutch East India Company and free burghers gathered to discuss the protest made by the free burgher farmers. The Company was not in favor for war and the free burghers made it clear that their only desire were to live in peace and trade with the natives, yet they could not endure any more harassment. The free burghers and the Company stated that they could not see any other way to attain peace and quietness in the area than to declare war on Doman's clan.
While the Dutch traded with the Khoikhoi, serious disputes broke out over land ownership and livestock. This resulted in attacks and counter-attacks by both sides which were known as the Khoikhoi-Dutch Wars that ended in the eventual defeat of the Khoikhoi. The First Khoikhoi-Dutch War took place from 1659 - 1660.
First Khoikhoi-Dutch War
The Khoikhoi–Dutch Wars were a series of conflicts that took place in the last half of the 17th century in what was known then as the Cape of Good Hope (today it refers to a smaller geographic spot), in the area of present-day Cape Town, South Africa, between Dutch colonizers who came from the Netherlands and the local African people, the indigenous Khoikhoi, who had lived in that part of the world for millennia.
The arrival of the Dutch East India Company began a complicated series of relations between the Khoisan and the Dutch. The chief Hessequa Khoisan opened up trade with the Dutch, leading to economic prosperity for the Khoisan. The extended trade offers opened up the Khoisan to infiltration by the Dutch.
The Dutch began disrupting lands used by Khoisan for seasonal farming, forcing adaptation of the Khoisan in the form of finding new resources or rationing existing resources. The Khoikhoi nomadic people were disgruntled by the disruption of their seasonal visit to the area for which purpose they grazed their cattle at the foot of Table Mountain only to find European settlers occupying and farming the land. Their leader Doman lived in the Fort de Goede Hoop at the time.
One night Doman left the fort to join his clan where after he led several cattle-lifting excursions against the settlers. In 1659 the settlements farmers protested against the continual cattle theft and called an urgent council meeting with Jan van Riebeeck. The council, consisting of representatives of the Dutch East India Company and free burghers gathered to discuss the protest made by the free burgher farmers. The Company was not in favor for war and the free burghers made it clear that their only desire were to live in peace and trade with the natives, yet they could not endure any more harassment. The free burghers and the Company stated that they could not see any other way to attain peace and quietness in the area than to declare war on Doman's clan.
While the Dutch traded with the Khoikhoi, serious disputes broke out over land ownership and livestock. This resulted in attacks and counter-attacks by both sides which were known as the Khoikhoi-Dutch Wars that ended in the eventual defeat of the Khoikhoi. The First Khoikhoi-Dutch War took place from 1659 - 1660.
The Khoikhoi of the Cape
Jan van Riebeeck negotiating with local tribes
1752
Dutch expedition to the Kat River area encountered only Khoikhoi living there.
The Kat River Valley is bounded by the Klein Winterberg mountain range to the west, the Katberg and Cathcart (Windvogelberg) Mountains to the north-east, the Hogsback range to the east, and Fort Beaufort to the south-west.
In 1752 a Dutch expedition to the Kat River area encountered only Khoikhoi living there. Similarly, Hendrik Jacobs, who settled in Kat River in his youth, claimed that there were only “Gonah Hottentots” in the area during the period Robert Ross computes as the 1780s / 90s.
According to C. J. Skead, the standard authority on Xhosa place-names, the Kat River has been called by that name since Jacob van Reenen’s expedition of 1790 to locate the wreck of the Grosvenor. Skead derives “Ngcwenxa,” the isiXhosa name for the river from the Khoikhoi word “Hunca,” meaning “cat”.
Khoikhoi occupation of the areaended with Chief Rharhabe’s invasion, which was not later than 1775.
Dutch expedition to the Kat River area encountered only Khoikhoi living there.
The Kat River Valley is bounded by the Klein Winterberg mountain range to the west, the Katberg and Cathcart (Windvogelberg) Mountains to the north-east, the Hogsback range to the east, and Fort Beaufort to the south-west.
In 1752 a Dutch expedition to the Kat River area encountered only Khoikhoi living there. Similarly, Hendrik Jacobs, who settled in Kat River in his youth, claimed that there were only “Gonah Hottentots” in the area during the period Robert Ross computes as the 1780s / 90s.
According to C. J. Skead, the standard authority on Xhosa place-names, the Kat River has been called by that name since Jacob van Reenen’s expedition of 1790 to locate the wreck of the Grosvenor. Skead derives “Ngcwenxa,” the isiXhosa name for the river from the Khoikhoi word “Hunca,” meaning “cat”.
Khoikhoi occupation of the areaended with Chief Rharhabe’s invasion, which was not later than 1775.
Kat River
Gonah Hottentot
1688
Huguenots 6 months at sea
On 31 December 1687 a group of Huguenots set sail from France as the first of the large scale emigration of Huguenots to the Cape of Good Hope, which took place during 1688 and 1689. In total some 180 Huguenots from France, and 18 Walloons from present-day Belgium, eventually settled at the Cape of Good Hope. A notable example of this is the emigration of Huguenots from La Motte-d'Aigues in Provence, France.
After this large scale emigration, individual Huguenot immigrant families arrived at the Cape of Good Hope as late as the first quarter of the 18th century, and the state-subsidised emigration of Huguenots was stopped in 1706.
This small body of immigrants had a marked influence on the character of the Dutch settlers. They were purposely spread out and given farms amongst the Dutch farmers. Owing to the policy instituted in 1701 of the Dutch East India Company which dictated that schools should teach exclusively in Dutch, that all official correspondence had to be done in Dutch, and strict laws of assembly, the Huguenots ceased by the middle of the 18th century to maintain a distinct identity, and the knowledge of French diminished and eventually disappeared as a home language. This assimilation into the colonial population was also due to the fact that many Huguenot descendants married individuals from the Dutch population.
Many of these settlers were allocated farms in an area later called Franschhoek, Dutch for "French corner", in the present-day Western Cape province of South Africa. The valley was originally known as Olifantshoek ("Elephant's Corner"), so named because of the vast herds of elephants that roamed the area. The name of the area soon changed to le Coin Français ("the French Corner"), and later to Franschhoek, with many of the settlers naming their new farms after the areas in France from which they came. La Motte, La Cotte, Cabriere, Provence, Chamonix, Dieu Donne and La Dauphine were among some of the first established farms-most of which still retain their original farm houses today.
Huguenots 6 months at sea
On 31 December 1687 a group of Huguenots set sail from France as the first of the large scale emigration of Huguenots to the Cape of Good Hope, which took place during 1688 and 1689. In total some 180 Huguenots from France, and 18 Walloons from present-day Belgium, eventually settled at the Cape of Good Hope. A notable example of this is the emigration of Huguenots from La Motte-d'Aigues in Provence, France.
After this large scale emigration, individual Huguenot immigrant families arrived at the Cape of Good Hope as late as the first quarter of the 18th century, and the state-subsidised emigration of Huguenots was stopped in 1706.
This small body of immigrants had a marked influence on the character of the Dutch settlers. They were purposely spread out and given farms amongst the Dutch farmers. Owing to the policy instituted in 1701 of the Dutch East India Company which dictated that schools should teach exclusively in Dutch, that all official correspondence had to be done in Dutch, and strict laws of assembly, the Huguenots ceased by the middle of the 18th century to maintain a distinct identity, and the knowledge of French diminished and eventually disappeared as a home language. This assimilation into the colonial population was also due to the fact that many Huguenot descendants married individuals from the Dutch population.
Many of these settlers were allocated farms in an area later called Franschhoek, Dutch for "French corner", in the present-day Western Cape province of South Africa. The valley was originally known as Olifantshoek ("Elephant's Corner"), so named because of the vast herds of elephants that roamed the area. The name of the area soon changed to le Coin Français ("the French Corner"), and later to Franschhoek, with many of the settlers naming their new farms after the areas in France from which they came. La Motte, La Cotte, Cabriere, Provence, Chamonix, Dieu Donne and La Dauphine were among some of the first established farms-most of which still retain their original farm houses today.
The first large group of French Huguenots arrive in the Cape
Huguenots building their homesteads
1756 - 1763
Global conflict called the Seven Years’ War British and Dutch
The Seven Years' War (1756–1763) was a global conflict that involved most of the European great powers, and was fought primarily in Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific. Other concurrent conflicts include the French and Indian War (1754–1763), the Carnatic Wars (1744–1763) and the Anglo-Spanish War (1762–1763). The opposing alliances were led by Great Britain and France respectively, both seeking to establish global pre-eminence at the expense of the other. Along with Spain, France fought Britain both in Europe and overseas with land-based armies and naval forces, while Britain's ally Prussia sought territorial expansion in Europe and consolidation of its power. Long-standing colonial rivalries pitted Britain against France and Spain in North America and the West Indies. They fought on a grand scale with consequential results. Prussia sought greater influence in the German states, while Austria wanted to regain Silesia, captured by Prussia in the previous war, and to contain Prussian influence.
In a realignment of traditional alliances, known as the Diplomatic Revolution of 1756, Prussia became part of a coalition led by Britain, which also included long-time Prussian competitor Hanover, at the time in personal union with Britain. At the same time, Austria ended centuries of conflict between the Bourbon and Habsburg families by allying with France, along with Saxony, Sweden, and Russia. Spain aligned formally with France in 1761, joining France in the Third Family Compact between the two Bourbon monarchies. Smaller German states either joined the Seven Years' War or supplied mercenaries to the parties involved in the conflict.
Anglo-French conflicts broke out in their North American colonies in 1754, when British and French colonial militias and their respective Native American allies engaged in small skirmishes, and later full-scale colonial warfare. The colonial conflicts would become a theatre of the Seven Years' War when war was officially declared two years later, and it effectively ended France's presence as a land power on that continent. It was "the most important event to occur in eighteenth-century North America"prior to the American Revolution. Spain entered the war on the French side in 1762, unsuccessfully attempting to invade Britain's ally Portugal in what became known as the Fantastic War. The alliance with France was a disaster for Spain, with the loss to Britain of two major ports, Havana in the West Indies and Manila in the Philippines, returned in the 1763 Treaty of Paris between France, Spain and Great Britain. In Europe, the large-scale conflict that drew in most of the European powers was centred on the desire of Austria (long the political centre of the Holy Roman Empire of the German nation) to recover Silesia from Prussia. The Treaty of Hubertusburg ended the war between Saxony, Austria and Prussia, in 1763. Britain began its rise as the world's predominant colonial and naval power. France's supremacy in Europe was halted until after the French Revolution and the emergence of Napoleon Bonaparte. Prussia confirmed its status as a great power, challenging Austria for dominance within the German states, thus altering the European balance of power.
Global conflict called the Seven Years’ War British and Dutch
The Seven Years' War (1756–1763) was a global conflict that involved most of the European great powers, and was fought primarily in Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific. Other concurrent conflicts include the French and Indian War (1754–1763), the Carnatic Wars (1744–1763) and the Anglo-Spanish War (1762–1763). The opposing alliances were led by Great Britain and France respectively, both seeking to establish global pre-eminence at the expense of the other. Along with Spain, France fought Britain both in Europe and overseas with land-based armies and naval forces, while Britain's ally Prussia sought territorial expansion in Europe and consolidation of its power. Long-standing colonial rivalries pitted Britain against France and Spain in North America and the West Indies. They fought on a grand scale with consequential results. Prussia sought greater influence in the German states, while Austria wanted to regain Silesia, captured by Prussia in the previous war, and to contain Prussian influence.
In a realignment of traditional alliances, known as the Diplomatic Revolution of 1756, Prussia became part of a coalition led by Britain, which also included long-time Prussian competitor Hanover, at the time in personal union with Britain. At the same time, Austria ended centuries of conflict between the Bourbon and Habsburg families by allying with France, along with Saxony, Sweden, and Russia. Spain aligned formally with France in 1761, joining France in the Third Family Compact between the two Bourbon monarchies. Smaller German states either joined the Seven Years' War or supplied mercenaries to the parties involved in the conflict.
Anglo-French conflicts broke out in their North American colonies in 1754, when British and French colonial militias and their respective Native American allies engaged in small skirmishes, and later full-scale colonial warfare. The colonial conflicts would become a theatre of the Seven Years' War when war was officially declared two years later, and it effectively ended France's presence as a land power on that continent. It was "the most important event to occur in eighteenth-century North America"prior to the American Revolution. Spain entered the war on the French side in 1762, unsuccessfully attempting to invade Britain's ally Portugal in what became known as the Fantastic War. The alliance with France was a disaster for Spain, with the loss to Britain of two major ports, Havana in the West Indies and Manila in the Philippines, returned in the 1763 Treaty of Paris between France, Spain and Great Britain. In Europe, the large-scale conflict that drew in most of the European powers was centred on the desire of Austria (long the political centre of the Holy Roman Empire of the German nation) to recover Silesia from Prussia. The Treaty of Hubertusburg ended the war between Saxony, Austria and Prussia, in 1763. Britain began its rise as the world's predominant colonial and naval power. France's supremacy in Europe was halted until after the French Revolution and the emergence of Napoleon Bonaparte. Prussia confirmed its status as a great power, challenging Austria for dominance within the German states, thus altering the European balance of power.
Seven Years' War Battle of Zorndorf
Royal Horse Guards the Blues Battle of Warburg
1780
Farmers moved eastwards and established on the Klaas Smits river
The Klaas Smits River (Afrikaans: Klaas Smitsrivier) is a river part of the Great Kei River system in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. It originates south of Molteno and flows through Sterkstroom, first southwards and then southeastwards before joining up with the Black Kei River. Presently the Klaas Smits River is part of the Mzimvubu to Keiskama Water Management Area.
The Komani River is a tributary of the Klaas Smits, joining its left bank 5 km south of Queenstown.
The basin of this river saw much commando activity during the Second Boer War.
Afrikaans-speaking farmers moved eastwards and established on the Klaas Smits river about 1780. The Black Kei river was recognized as the boundary between black and white until 1847, and a border post was established near the gate of the present Tsolwana nature reserve in 1836.
Maphasa, the chief of amaTshatshu, joined in the War of the Axe (1846-7) and the War of Mlanjeni (1850-3). This was used by the Colonial government under Sir Harry Smith and Sir George Cathcart as a justification for the annexation of Thembu territory, leading to the establishment of the towns of Whittlesea (1848) and Queenstown (1852).
Farmers moved eastwards and established on the Klaas Smits river
The Klaas Smits River (Afrikaans: Klaas Smitsrivier) is a river part of the Great Kei River system in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. It originates south of Molteno and flows through Sterkstroom, first southwards and then southeastwards before joining up with the Black Kei River. Presently the Klaas Smits River is part of the Mzimvubu to Keiskama Water Management Area.
The Komani River is a tributary of the Klaas Smits, joining its left bank 5 km south of Queenstown.
The basin of this river saw much commando activity during the Second Boer War.
Afrikaans-speaking farmers moved eastwards and established on the Klaas Smits river about 1780. The Black Kei river was recognized as the boundary between black and white until 1847, and a border post was established near the gate of the present Tsolwana nature reserve in 1836.
Maphasa, the chief of amaTshatshu, joined in the War of the Axe (1846-7) and the War of Mlanjeni (1850-3). This was used by the Colonial government under Sir Harry Smith and Sir George Cathcart as a justification for the annexation of Thembu territory, leading to the establishment of the towns of Whittlesea (1848) and Queenstown (1852).
Thomas Baines, Klaas Smits River - Wagon Broke Down crossing the drift
Kei River Bridge
1808
British ended the slave trade in the Cape
Threats to Dutch control of the Cape Colony had emerged in the 18th century, when the Dutch East India Company was weakened during the Fourth Anglo-Dutch War. During the 1780s, troops of the French Royal Army were stationed in the Cape to prevent invasion by Great Britain. The Cape was invaded by the British in 1795 during the War of the First Coalition, and occupied until 1803.
Britain later formally annexed the Cape and later passed the Slave Trade Act 1807. It was enforced from 1808, ending the external slave trade. Slaves were permitted to be traded only within the colony. At the same time, Parliament passed a series of acts known as the amelioration laws designed to provide better living conditions for slaves. These acts allowed slaves to marry, purchase their own freedom, live with their families, and receive a basic education. The acts also limited punishments and work hours, and encouraged missionaries to convert Africans to Christianity.
The first large wave of British settlers, the 1820 Settlers, were not permitted to own slaves.
British ended the slave trade in the Cape
Threats to Dutch control of the Cape Colony had emerged in the 18th century, when the Dutch East India Company was weakened during the Fourth Anglo-Dutch War. During the 1780s, troops of the French Royal Army were stationed in the Cape to prevent invasion by Great Britain. The Cape was invaded by the British in 1795 during the War of the First Coalition, and occupied until 1803.
Britain later formally annexed the Cape and later passed the Slave Trade Act 1807. It was enforced from 1808, ending the external slave trade. Slaves were permitted to be traded only within the colony. At the same time, Parliament passed a series of acts known as the amelioration laws designed to provide better living conditions for slaves. These acts allowed slaves to marry, purchase their own freedom, live with their families, and receive a basic education. The acts also limited punishments and work hours, and encouraged missionaries to convert Africans to Christianity.
The first large wave of British settlers, the 1820 Settlers, were not permitted to own slaves.
Flag of the Cape Colony 1876–1910
Society Effecting the Abolition of Slave Trade
1820
Settlers 2 months at sea
The 1820 Settlers were several groups of British colonists from England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales, settled by the government of the United Kingdom and the Cape Colony authorities in the Eastern Cape of South Africa in 1820. Of the 90,000 applicants, 19,000 were approved, but only about 4000 could be transported due to financial constraints. Many 1820 Settlers initially arrived in the Cape in about 60 different parties between April and June 1820. They were granted farms near the village of Bathurst, Eastern Cape, and supplied equipment and food against their deposits, but their lack of agricultural experience led many of them to abandon agriculture and withdraw to Bathurst and other settlements like Grahamstown, East London and Port Elizabeth, where they typically reverted to their trades.
A group of the 1820 Settlers continued on to Natal, then a part of Zululand, home of the Zulu people. At the time, King Shaka ruled the territory with highly trained warriors. Leaders of the Natal settlers requested permission from Shaka to stay on the land. When the king witnessed the settlers' technological advances, permission was granted in return for access to firearm technology. According to genealogist Shelagh O'Byrne Spencer, among 1820 Settlers who moved to Natal were "John Bailie, the founder of East London, and Charles Kestell, after whose son, the Rev. John Daniel Kestell of Anglo-Boer War fame, the Free State town of Kestell is named".
As always, there were exceptions. After 5 months at sea two ships arrived at the Cape of Good Hope from London via Cork, Ireland. Upon feasting their eyes on the promised land, about 200 settlers lay off shore at Simonstown ("Simons Bay") for a week, before being sailed back all the way to Saldanha. From here they were carted to Clanwilliam ("Jan Disselsvlei") and given tiny pieces of land. All but 5 families (Archer, Stone, et al.) were later rescued and moved to the "Eastern Cape". The five remaining families, culturally isolated from the other British Settlers, had to make do and were quickly absorbed by the Dutch/Afrikaans speaking communities. Understandably, some of these English descendants fought against the English in the Anglo Boer wars.
The 1820 Settlers National Monument, which honours the contribution to South African society made by the British 1820 Settlers, overlooks Makhanda in the Eastern Cape. It commemorates the Anglo-Africans, as well as the English language, as much as the settlers themselves. The building was designed by John Sturrock, Sturrock was inspired by the work of Louis Kahn.
Settlers 2 months at sea
The 1820 Settlers were several groups of British colonists from England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales, settled by the government of the United Kingdom and the Cape Colony authorities in the Eastern Cape of South Africa in 1820. Of the 90,000 applicants, 19,000 were approved, but only about 4000 could be transported due to financial constraints. Many 1820 Settlers initially arrived in the Cape in about 60 different parties between April and June 1820. They were granted farms near the village of Bathurst, Eastern Cape, and supplied equipment and food against their deposits, but their lack of agricultural experience led many of them to abandon agriculture and withdraw to Bathurst and other settlements like Grahamstown, East London and Port Elizabeth, where they typically reverted to their trades.
A group of the 1820 Settlers continued on to Natal, then a part of Zululand, home of the Zulu people. At the time, King Shaka ruled the territory with highly trained warriors. Leaders of the Natal settlers requested permission from Shaka to stay on the land. When the king witnessed the settlers' technological advances, permission was granted in return for access to firearm technology. According to genealogist Shelagh O'Byrne Spencer, among 1820 Settlers who moved to Natal were "John Bailie, the founder of East London, and Charles Kestell, after whose son, the Rev. John Daniel Kestell of Anglo-Boer War fame, the Free State town of Kestell is named".
As always, there were exceptions. After 5 months at sea two ships arrived at the Cape of Good Hope from London via Cork, Ireland. Upon feasting their eyes on the promised land, about 200 settlers lay off shore at Simonstown ("Simons Bay") for a week, before being sailed back all the way to Saldanha. From here they were carted to Clanwilliam ("Jan Disselsvlei") and given tiny pieces of land. All but 5 families (Archer, Stone, et al.) were later rescued and moved to the "Eastern Cape". The five remaining families, culturally isolated from the other British Settlers, had to make do and were quickly absorbed by the Dutch/Afrikaans speaking communities. Understandably, some of these English descendants fought against the English in the Anglo Boer wars.
The 1820 Settlers National Monument, which honours the contribution to South African society made by the British 1820 Settlers, overlooks Makhanda in the Eastern Cape. It commemorates the Anglo-Africans, as well as the English language, as much as the settlers themselves. The building was designed by John Sturrock, Sturrock was inspired by the work of Louis Kahn.
The 1820 Settlers National Monument
Settlers coming ashore Thomas Baines
1820-1828
Shaka’s wars
Shaka was the son of Senzangakona, chieftain of the Zulu, and Nandi, an orphaned princess of the neighbouring Langeni clan. Because his parents belonged to the same clan, their marriage violated Zulu custom, and the stigma of this extended to the child. The couple separated when Shaka was six, and Nandi took her son back to the Langeni, where he passed a fatherless boyhood among a people who despised his mother.
In 1802 the Langeni drove Nandi out, and she finally found shelter with the Dletsheni, a subclan of the powerful Mthethwa. When Shaka was 23, Dingiswayo, the Mthethwa paramount chieftain, called up Shaka’s Dletsheni age group for military service. For the next six years, he served with brilliance as a warrior of the Mthethwa Empire.
Shaka fought for extermination, incorporating the remnants of the clans he smashed into the Zulu. He first decimated the small clans in his vicinity, starting with the Langeni; he sought out the men who had made his boyhood a misery and impaled them on the sharpened stakes of their own kraal fences. In less than a year, the Zulu-and their army-had quadrupled in number. In 1817 Dingiswayo, still Shaka’s overlord, was murdered, and the last restraint on Zulu expansion was removed.
Although Shaka’s depredations were limited to the coastal area, they led indirectly to the Mfecane (“Crushing”) that devastated the inland plateau in the early 1820s. Marauding clans, fleeing the Zulu wrath and searching for land, started a deadly game of musical chairs that broke the clan structure of the interior and left two million dead in its wake. The Boer Great Trek of the 1830s passed through this area, succeeding only because virtually no one was left to oppose them.
The first Europeans arrived in Port Natal (present-day Durban) in 1824. A dozen settlers of the Farewell Trading Company established a post on the landlocked bay and soon made contact with Shaka, whose kraal Bulawayo lay 100 miles (160 km) to the north. Fascinated by their ways and their artifacts but convinced that his own civilization was much superior, he permitted them to stay. Two of the early settlers, Henry Francis Fynn and Nathaniel Isaacs, became fluent Zulu linguists, and most of what is known of early Nguni history stems from their writings.
In 1827 Nandi died, and with his mother’s death Shaka became openly psychotic. About 7,000 Zulus were killed in the initial paroxysm of his grief, and for a year no crops were planted, nor could milk—the basis of the Zulu diet staple—be used. All women found pregnant were slain with their husbands, as were thousands of milch cows, so that even the calves might know what it was to lose a mother.
Early in 1828 Shaka sent the impi south in a raid that carried the warriors clear to the borders of the Cape Colony. They had no sooner returned, expecting the usual season’s rest, than he sent them off to raid far in the north. It was too much for his associates, and two of his half brothers, Dingane and Mhlangana, together with an induna named Mbopa, murdered him in September of that year.
Shaka’s wars
Shaka was the son of Senzangakona, chieftain of the Zulu, and Nandi, an orphaned princess of the neighbouring Langeni clan. Because his parents belonged to the same clan, their marriage violated Zulu custom, and the stigma of this extended to the child. The couple separated when Shaka was six, and Nandi took her son back to the Langeni, where he passed a fatherless boyhood among a people who despised his mother.
In 1802 the Langeni drove Nandi out, and she finally found shelter with the Dletsheni, a subclan of the powerful Mthethwa. When Shaka was 23, Dingiswayo, the Mthethwa paramount chieftain, called up Shaka’s Dletsheni age group for military service. For the next six years, he served with brilliance as a warrior of the Mthethwa Empire.
Shaka fought for extermination, incorporating the remnants of the clans he smashed into the Zulu. He first decimated the small clans in his vicinity, starting with the Langeni; he sought out the men who had made his boyhood a misery and impaled them on the sharpened stakes of their own kraal fences. In less than a year, the Zulu-and their army-had quadrupled in number. In 1817 Dingiswayo, still Shaka’s overlord, was murdered, and the last restraint on Zulu expansion was removed.
Although Shaka’s depredations were limited to the coastal area, they led indirectly to the Mfecane (“Crushing”) that devastated the inland plateau in the early 1820s. Marauding clans, fleeing the Zulu wrath and searching for land, started a deadly game of musical chairs that broke the clan structure of the interior and left two million dead in its wake. The Boer Great Trek of the 1830s passed through this area, succeeding only because virtually no one was left to oppose them.
The first Europeans arrived in Port Natal (present-day Durban) in 1824. A dozen settlers of the Farewell Trading Company established a post on the landlocked bay and soon made contact with Shaka, whose kraal Bulawayo lay 100 miles (160 km) to the north. Fascinated by their ways and their artifacts but convinced that his own civilization was much superior, he permitted them to stay. Two of the early settlers, Henry Francis Fynn and Nathaniel Isaacs, became fluent Zulu linguists, and most of what is known of early Nguni history stems from their writings.
In 1827 Nandi died, and with his mother’s death Shaka became openly psychotic. About 7,000 Zulus were killed in the initial paroxysm of his grief, and for a year no crops were planted, nor could milk—the basis of the Zulu diet staple—be used. All women found pregnant were slain with their husbands, as were thousands of milch cows, so that even the calves might know what it was to lose a mother.
Early in 1828 Shaka sent the impi south in a raid that carried the warriors clear to the borders of the Cape Colony. They had no sooner returned, expecting the usual season’s rest, than he sent them off to raid far in the north. It was too much for his associates, and two of his half brothers, Dingane and Mhlangana, together with an induna named Mbopa, murdered him in September of that year.
Shaka Zulu - Creator and Destroyer
Shaka Zulu (1787-1828)
5 July 1822
Lord Charles Somerset, declared English an official language in 1822
British settlers first arrived in the South African region in 1795, when they established a military holding operation at the Cape Colony. The goal of this first endeavour was to gain control of a key Cape sea route, not to establish a permanent settler colony. Full control of the colony was wrested from the Batavian Republic following the Battle of Blaauwberg in 1806.
The first major influx of English speakers arrived in 1820. About 5,000 British settlers, mostly rural or working class, settled in the Eastern Cape. Though the British were a minority colonist group (the Dutch had been in the region since 1652 when traders from the Dutch East India Company developed an outpost), the Cape Colony governor, Lord Charles Somerset, declared English an official language in 1822. To spread the influence of English in the colony, officials began to recruit British schoolmasters and Scottish clergy to occupy positions in the education and church systems.
Another group of English speakers arrived from Britain in the 1840s and 1850s, along with the Natal settlers. These individuals were largely "standard speakers" like retired military personnel and aristocrats. A third wave of English settlers arrived between 1875 and 1904, and brought with them a diverse variety of English dialects. These last two waves did not have as large an influence on South African English (SAE), for "the seeds of development were already sown in 1820". However, the Natal wave brought nostalgia for British customs and helped to define the idea of a "standard" variety that resembled Southern British English.
Lord Charles Somerset, declared English an official language in 1822
British settlers first arrived in the South African region in 1795, when they established a military holding operation at the Cape Colony. The goal of this first endeavour was to gain control of a key Cape sea route, not to establish a permanent settler colony. Full control of the colony was wrested from the Batavian Republic following the Battle of Blaauwberg in 1806.
The first major influx of English speakers arrived in 1820. About 5,000 British settlers, mostly rural or working class, settled in the Eastern Cape. Though the British were a minority colonist group (the Dutch had been in the region since 1652 when traders from the Dutch East India Company developed an outpost), the Cape Colony governor, Lord Charles Somerset, declared English an official language in 1822. To spread the influence of English in the colony, officials began to recruit British schoolmasters and Scottish clergy to occupy positions in the education and church systems.
Another group of English speakers arrived from Britain in the 1840s and 1850s, along with the Natal settlers. These individuals were largely "standard speakers" like retired military personnel and aristocrats. A third wave of English settlers arrived between 1875 and 1904, and brought with them a diverse variety of English dialects. These last two waves did not have as large an influence on South African English (SAE), for "the seeds of development were already sown in 1820". However, the Natal wave brought nostalgia for British customs and helped to define the idea of a "standard" variety that resembled Southern British English.
Britain takes control of the Cape
Lord Charles Somerset
1836-1905
Thomas Bailey founder of Baileyton
Thomas Bailey (30 Jan 1836 - 29 May 1905) after whom the Hamlet was named. The genealogical record of the Bailey family meant that a clear distinction had to be made between the nine different spelling forms of the surname Bailey. Numerous of the current owners of farms in Bailey bloodline can be traced back to an original family that settled in the area.
Ann, wife of Thomas BAILEY, (born McEwan) aged 32 years, one month, and 24 days, died at Kleinfontein, District of Queenstown on the 27th May, 1872.
Thomas was born in Cradock and his father John whom had a sister settled in Queenstown. John was 7 years old when his father passes away. Thomas Bailey was around 13 years old when his mother died.
A descendant of Thomas Bailey would later marry a descendant of Sir Winston Churchill.
Thomas Bailey founder of Baileyton
Thomas Bailey (30 Jan 1836 - 29 May 1905) after whom the Hamlet was named. The genealogical record of the Bailey family meant that a clear distinction had to be made between the nine different spelling forms of the surname Bailey. Numerous of the current owners of farms in Bailey bloodline can be traced back to an original family that settled in the area.
Ann, wife of Thomas BAILEY, (born McEwan) aged 32 years, one month, and 24 days, died at Kleinfontein, District of Queenstown on the 27th May, 1872.
Thomas was born in Cradock and his father John whom had a sister settled in Queenstown. John was 7 years old when his father passes away. Thomas Bailey was around 13 years old when his mother died.
A descendant of Thomas Bailey would later marry a descendant of Sir Winston Churchill.
Bailey Steam Train
Winston Churchill
1850-1853
Kat River Rebellion
In October 1850 Sandile, the principal Ngqika chief, was deposed for refusing to attend a meeting of chiefs called by the Governor, subsequently, on 24 December the Ngqika attacked a colonial patrol at Boomah Pass and destroyed three military villages. The Ngqika received support from the Thembus and some Gcalekas. They were later joined by some rebellious 'black police' and some Khoikhoi from the Kat River settlement under Hermanus Matroos and Willem Uithaalder. The Khoi revolt undoubtedly helped to keep the momentum of the war, since the Khoikhoi were experienced in white fighting methods. Military camps such as Fort Beaufort (January 1852) were attacked and caused the Government constant anxiety as to the loyalty of its Khoi auxiliaries.
The Kat River revolt also meant that the burghers of the eastern districts did not respond to the call to commando duty, while only 150 burghers from the western areas had gone to the front by February 1851. Towards the end of February 1851, The Kat River rebellion was crushed. Meanwhile Comdt Gideon Joubert began the attack on the rebel Thembus, and a combined force of Thembus and Gcalekas was defeated on the Imvani River by Captain V Tylden in April 1851. Although the Government enjoyed the support of the Mfengus, most of the Ndlambe tribes and a large number of Khoikhoi, its operations were hampered by the paucity of regular troops. For the first time the Ngqika and their allies were using firearms.
In addition, fighting was also going on against the Basuto in the Orange River Sovereignty. All these factors contributed to delay the end of the war. The Waterkloof valley one of the battlefields during Eight frontier War. By early 1852, Sir George Cathcart arrived at the Cape to replace Sir Harry Smith. Under his command the war was vigorously pursued to its close. A combined force of regular troops, under Generals H Somerset and V Yorke, continued a previous operation started in December 1851 and defeated Sarhili. In September 1852 the Amatole region had been cleared of Ngqika and by November the last Khoi rebels had been defeated. In the new settlement, the rebellious tribes were moved out of the Amatole Mountains to locations in British Kaffraria and their lands given to white settlers.
Kat River Rebellion
In October 1850 Sandile, the principal Ngqika chief, was deposed for refusing to attend a meeting of chiefs called by the Governor, subsequently, on 24 December the Ngqika attacked a colonial patrol at Boomah Pass and destroyed three military villages. The Ngqika received support from the Thembus and some Gcalekas. They were later joined by some rebellious 'black police' and some Khoikhoi from the Kat River settlement under Hermanus Matroos and Willem Uithaalder. The Khoi revolt undoubtedly helped to keep the momentum of the war, since the Khoikhoi were experienced in white fighting methods. Military camps such as Fort Beaufort (January 1852) were attacked and caused the Government constant anxiety as to the loyalty of its Khoi auxiliaries.
The Kat River revolt also meant that the burghers of the eastern districts did not respond to the call to commando duty, while only 150 burghers from the western areas had gone to the front by February 1851. Towards the end of February 1851, The Kat River rebellion was crushed. Meanwhile Comdt Gideon Joubert began the attack on the rebel Thembus, and a combined force of Thembus and Gcalekas was defeated on the Imvani River by Captain V Tylden in April 1851. Although the Government enjoyed the support of the Mfengus, most of the Ndlambe tribes and a large number of Khoikhoi, its operations were hampered by the paucity of regular troops. For the first time the Ngqika and their allies were using firearms.
In addition, fighting was also going on against the Basuto in the Orange River Sovereignty. All these factors contributed to delay the end of the war. The Waterkloof valley one of the battlefields during Eight frontier War. By early 1852, Sir George Cathcart arrived at the Cape to replace Sir Harry Smith. Under his command the war was vigorously pursued to its close. A combined force of regular troops, under Generals H Somerset and V Yorke, continued a previous operation started in December 1851 and defeated Sarhili. In September 1852 the Amatole region had been cleared of Ngqika and by November the last Khoi rebels had been defeated. In the new settlement, the rebellious tribes were moved out of the Amatole Mountains to locations in British Kaffraria and their lands given to white settlers.
Gcaleka and Fengu dress and weapons 1878
Sandile, Gcaleka and Fengu warriors
1853
Klein Fontein no.66
The farm Klein Fontein no 66, Queenstown. Government Surveyor. A.D. 1853. Copied from diagram relating to D/G Q.Q.1-14.
The hamlet 96 morgen in size with 353 erwen developed on Klein fontein no 66 , consisting of no less than 31 portions. It has since largely been consolidated, with one or two owners. The different parts represented all the economic and other activities that made the Bayleton community a happy and social hamlet. The religious influence of the three church denominations serving the community’s spiritual needs, the agricultural, commercial, and industrial sectors, government and social components impacted the hamlet community.
Markers that influenced Bailey in the past would be: the development of Queenstown, the nine Frontier Wars, British Kaffraria, the building of the Great Northern and Burghersdorp roads, Kaffrarian Rifles, Anglo-Boer War, the diamond rush to Kimberley, the extension of South African railway lines, the increase in the export wool market, the discovery of coal in three neighbouring districts and the Great Trek.
Klein Fontein no.66
The farm Klein Fontein no 66, Queenstown. Government Surveyor. A.D. 1853. Copied from diagram relating to D/G Q.Q.1-14.
The hamlet 96 morgen in size with 353 erwen developed on Klein fontein no 66 , consisting of no less than 31 portions. It has since largely been consolidated, with one or two owners. The different parts represented all the economic and other activities that made the Bayleton community a happy and social hamlet. The religious influence of the three church denominations serving the community’s spiritual needs, the agricultural, commercial, and industrial sectors, government and social components impacted the hamlet community.
Markers that influenced Bailey in the past would be: the development of Queenstown, the nine Frontier Wars, British Kaffraria, the building of the Great Northern and Burghersdorp roads, Kaffrarian Rifles, Anglo-Boer War, the diamond rush to Kimberley, the extension of South African railway lines, the increase in the export wool market, the discovery of coal in three neighbouring districts and the Great Trek.
Coal deposits in three neighbouring districts
Export wool market
1672
The Dutch gained possession of the, St Helena Island
On 13th December 1672 four Dutch ships (Vryheyt, Zuydtpolsbroeck, Kattenburgh and Swaentje) and 634 men, led by Jacob de Gens, set off from the Cape, aiming to invade. They arrived off St Helena on the 29th, 351 years ago, and made several failed attempts to land troops in Chapel Valley. Later that day a landing party came ashore at Lemon Valley but was repelled by English Planters hurling rocks from above. Returning after dark, a light was seen near another landing place, Bennett Point, close to Swanley Valley, on the western side of the Island. A traitor named William Coxe, accompanied by his enslaved, had lit a fire and was waiting to guide the Dutch invasion force onto the island. Five hundred men came ashore and were led up the precipitous cliffs by Coxe and his enslaved, who was then murdered to keep the treacherous story secret.
The Dutch met no opposition on their cross-country trek eastwards (there were no roads in those days) until they reached an area just below High Peaks for Battle Ground, where they overpowered a small detachment of English troops stationed at the fort. The Dutch continued unchallenged to Ladder Hill where they now looked down on James Fort, knowing that if they took this fort, they took the Island.
A detachment of Dutch troops made repeated advances towards James Fort but were driven back each time. However the small group in the fort were trapped; the Dutch were above them and also attacking them from the sea. Governor Anthony Beale realised the Dutch had the strategic advantage, being in possession of Ladder Hill Fort, and that he could not defend his weak position indefinitely. The governor spiked his guns, spoiled the gun powder and retreated with his entourage and their possessions to the ship Humphrey & Elizabeth which was anchored in James Bay. They set sail for Brazil.
The Dutch gained possession of the, St Helena Island
On 13th December 1672 four Dutch ships (Vryheyt, Zuydtpolsbroeck, Kattenburgh and Swaentje) and 634 men, led by Jacob de Gens, set off from the Cape, aiming to invade. They arrived off St Helena on the 29th, 351 years ago, and made several failed attempts to land troops in Chapel Valley. Later that day a landing party came ashore at Lemon Valley but was repelled by English Planters hurling rocks from above. Returning after dark, a light was seen near another landing place, Bennett Point, close to Swanley Valley, on the western side of the Island. A traitor named William Coxe, accompanied by his enslaved, had lit a fire and was waiting to guide the Dutch invasion force onto the island. Five hundred men came ashore and were led up the precipitous cliffs by Coxe and his enslaved, who was then murdered to keep the treacherous story secret.
The Dutch met no opposition on their cross-country trek eastwards (there were no roads in those days) until they reached an area just below High Peaks for Battle Ground, where they overpowered a small detachment of English troops stationed at the fort. The Dutch continued unchallenged to Ladder Hill where they now looked down on James Fort, knowing that if they took this fort, they took the Island.
A detachment of Dutch troops made repeated advances towards James Fort but were driven back each time. However the small group in the fort were trapped; the Dutch were above them and also attacking them from the sea. Governor Anthony Beale realised the Dutch had the strategic advantage, being in possession of Ladder Hill Fort, and that he could not defend his weak position indefinitely. The governor spiked his guns, spoiled the gun powder and retreated with his entourage and their possessions to the ship Humphrey & Elizabeth which was anchored in James Bay. They set sail for Brazil.
Map of the happenings on 13th December 1672
Lemon Valley postage stamp
1858
Germans in Kaffraria
The British German Legion was originally formed during the Crimean War to help alleviate a manpower shortage for the British Army. The Enlistment of Foreigners Act 1854 allowed the government to recruit foreign mercenary troops to make up the low number of British men being recruited for the war, to be called the British Foreign Legion. A greater than expected number of over 14,000 foreign nationals joined, which resulted in their formation into separate foreign legion units based upon their nationality (German, Italian and Swiss).
The Crimean War ended before any of these volunteers saw action, and at the end of the war the legions were disbanded. For the men of the British German Legion, most could not return home having sworn allegiance to a foreign power, and the British government encouraged the men to emigrate to the colonies; over 2,300 from the British German Legion volunteered to go to southern Africa (Cape Colony).
Those volunteers were placed under the command of Baron Richard von Stutterheim, the commanding officer of the British German Legion. They were considered to be 'military settlers', as opposed to civilian settlers, to resist the attacks of an enemy or to aid the civil power. They were transported to the Cape Colony as a military unit (together with women and children) aboard six sailing ships, with the last ship arriving in southern Africa by early February 1857.
By 1858 the men of the Legion were successfully serving in protecting the Cape Colony's Border Region of 'British Kaffraria', enabling most of the British troops formerly stationed there to be transferred to India to serve in the 'Indian Mutiny'. As the Mutiny continued, a regiment of settlers of the Cape belonging to the late British German Legion was formed for General Service in India. In September and October 1858 approximately 1,100 men of the Legion embarked for India. The vast majority of these men did not return to Africa, but went on to serve in the British Army as regular soldiers. Over the next few years the remaining men of the Legion were gradually discharged from service or transferred to other military units. In February 1861, the last men were discharged and the Legion was formally disbanded.
Germans in Kaffraria
The British German Legion was originally formed during the Crimean War to help alleviate a manpower shortage for the British Army. The Enlistment of Foreigners Act 1854 allowed the government to recruit foreign mercenary troops to make up the low number of British men being recruited for the war, to be called the British Foreign Legion. A greater than expected number of over 14,000 foreign nationals joined, which resulted in their formation into separate foreign legion units based upon their nationality (German, Italian and Swiss).
The Crimean War ended before any of these volunteers saw action, and at the end of the war the legions were disbanded. For the men of the British German Legion, most could not return home having sworn allegiance to a foreign power, and the British government encouraged the men to emigrate to the colonies; over 2,300 from the British German Legion volunteered to go to southern Africa (Cape Colony).
Those volunteers were placed under the command of Baron Richard von Stutterheim, the commanding officer of the British German Legion. They were considered to be 'military settlers', as opposed to civilian settlers, to resist the attacks of an enemy or to aid the civil power. They were transported to the Cape Colony as a military unit (together with women and children) aboard six sailing ships, with the last ship arriving in southern Africa by early February 1857.
By 1858 the men of the Legion were successfully serving in protecting the Cape Colony's Border Region of 'British Kaffraria', enabling most of the British troops formerly stationed there to be transferred to India to serve in the 'Indian Mutiny'. As the Mutiny continued, a regiment of settlers of the Cape belonging to the late British German Legion was formed for General Service in India. In September and October 1858 approximately 1,100 men of the Legion embarked for India. The vast majority of these men did not return to Africa, but went on to serve in the British Army as regular soldiers. Over the next few years the remaining men of the Legion were gradually discharged from service or transferred to other military units. In February 1861, the last men were discharged and the Legion was formally disbanded.
German Relics in the Eastern Cape
Baron Richard von Stutterheim
1858
Cypher Gat
The British German Legion was originally formed during the Crimean War to help alleviate a manpower shortage for the British Army. The Enlistment of Foreigners Act 1854 allowed the government to recruit foreign mercenary troops to make up the low number of British men being recruited for the war, to be called the British Foreign Legion. A greater than expected number of over 14,000 foreign nationals joined, which resulted in their formation into separate foreign legion units based upon their nationality (German, Italian and Swiss).
The Crimean War ended before any of these volunteers saw action, and at the end of the war the legions were disbanded. For the men of the British German Legion, most could not return home having sworn allegiance to a foreign power, and the British government encouraged the men to emigrate to the colonies; over 2,300 from the British German Legion volunteered to go to southern Africa (Cape Colony).
Those volunteers were placed under the command of Baron Richard von Stutterheim, the commanding officer of the British German Legion. They were considered to be 'military settlers', as opposed to civilian settlers, to resist the attacks of an enemy or to aid the civil power. They were transported to the Cape Colony as a military unit (together with women and children) aboard six sailing ships, with the last ship arriving in southern Africa by early February 1857.
By 1858 the men of the Legion were successfully serving in protecting the Cape Colony's Border Region of 'British Kaffraria', enabling most of the British troops formerly stationed there to be transferred to India to serve in the 'Indian Mutiny'. As the Mutiny continued, a regiment of settlers of the Cape belonging to the late British German Legion was formed for General Service in India. In September and October 1858 approximately 1,100 men of the Legion embarked for India. The vast majority of these men did not return to Africa, but went on to serve in the British Army as regular soldiers. Over the next few years the remaining men of the Legion were gradually discharged from service or transferred to other military units. In February 1861, the last men were discharged and the Legion was formally disbanded.
Cypher Gat
The British German Legion was originally formed during the Crimean War to help alleviate a manpower shortage for the British Army. The Enlistment of Foreigners Act 1854 allowed the government to recruit foreign mercenary troops to make up the low number of British men being recruited for the war, to be called the British Foreign Legion. A greater than expected number of over 14,000 foreign nationals joined, which resulted in their formation into separate foreign legion units based upon their nationality (German, Italian and Swiss).
The Crimean War ended before any of these volunteers saw action, and at the end of the war the legions were disbanded. For the men of the British German Legion, most could not return home having sworn allegiance to a foreign power, and the British government encouraged the men to emigrate to the colonies; over 2,300 from the British German Legion volunteered to go to southern Africa (Cape Colony).
Those volunteers were placed under the command of Baron Richard von Stutterheim, the commanding officer of the British German Legion. They were considered to be 'military settlers', as opposed to civilian settlers, to resist the attacks of an enemy or to aid the civil power. They were transported to the Cape Colony as a military unit (together with women and children) aboard six sailing ships, with the last ship arriving in southern Africa by early February 1857.
By 1858 the men of the Legion were successfully serving in protecting the Cape Colony's Border Region of 'British Kaffraria', enabling most of the British troops formerly stationed there to be transferred to India to serve in the 'Indian Mutiny'. As the Mutiny continued, a regiment of settlers of the Cape belonging to the late British German Legion was formed for General Service in India. In September and October 1858 approximately 1,100 men of the Legion embarked for India. The vast majority of these men did not return to Africa, but went on to serve in the British Army as regular soldiers. Over the next few years the remaining men of the Legion were gradually discharged from service or transferred to other military units. In February 1861, the last men were discharged and the Legion was formally disbanded.
German Relics in the Eastern Cape
Baron Richard von Stutterheim
1879
Anglo-Zulu War
The Anglo-Zulu War was a conflict between the British Empire and the Zulu Kingdom from January 11, 1879, to July 4, 1879, in South Africa. The background of the battle began with the British having interest in Zululand. They specifically wanted the Zulu population to provide labor in the diamond fields of South Africa. They also wanted to create a South African federation in the region that included Zululand, and they wanted to settle Boer land claims in the region that included territory held by the Zulus.
Cetshwayo, the Zulu Kingdom king Cetshwayo refused to submit to British control and instead organized an army of nearly 60,000 men. In December 1878, Sir Bartle Frere, the British High Commissioner of South Africa, issued an ultimatum to Cetshwayo demanding the Zulus dismantle their military system within 30 days and pay reparations for alleged insults.
When the ultimatum was refused, in January 1879, the British troops under the leadership of Lord Chelmsford marched on Zululand. On January 12, 1879, an early skirmish took place at Sihayo’s Kraal with British forces led by Lord Chelmsford and the Zulus led by Mkumbikazulu kaSihayo. KaSihayo was killed in the battle, resulting in a British victory.
On January 22, the British and Zulu met at what would be known as the Battle of Isandlwana. The British Army, comprising 1,800 troops, while the Zulu Army, some 20,000 strong, was led by Ntshingwayo Khoza. Despite the British having superior military resources, they face a humiliating defeat at the hands of the Zulus that some military authorities likened to the defeat of General George Armstrong Custer at the Battle of the Little Big Horn River in Montana Territory, USA, in 1876.
Later in the day, Cetshwayo’s brother, Dabulamanzi kaMpande led the Zulu troops at Rorke’s Drift, Natal Province, against British forces led by John Chard and Gonville Bromhead. The conflict, later called the Battle of Rorke’s Drift, saw 140 British Army regulars defeat 4,000 Zulu warriors.
The next major conflict of the war, the Battle of Intombe, occurred on March 12, 1879; Zulu Prince Mbilini waMswati and British commander David Moriarty led their respective forces in the battle. British commander Moriarty was killed in the battle which ultimately became a Zulu victory.
Other conflicts during the war included the Battle of Hlobane, the Battle of Kambula, the Battle of Gingindlovu, the Siege of Eshowe, the Zungeni Mountain skirmish, and the Battle of Ulundi. The Battle of Ulundi was the last major battle of the Anglo-Zulu War, taking place on July 4, 1879. That battle resulted in a British victory where Chelmsford defeated Cetshwayo and his Army, thus ending the Anglo-Zulu War.
After the Battle of Ulundi, the Zulu army dispersed, and Cetshwayo became a fugitive. Cetshwayo would be captured on August 28, 1879, and sent to Cape Town, South Africa. Zululand meanwhile would be incorporated into the British Empire.
Anglo-Zulu War
The Anglo-Zulu War was a conflict between the British Empire and the Zulu Kingdom from January 11, 1879, to July 4, 1879, in South Africa. The background of the battle began with the British having interest in Zululand. They specifically wanted the Zulu population to provide labor in the diamond fields of South Africa. They also wanted to create a South African federation in the region that included Zululand, and they wanted to settle Boer land claims in the region that included territory held by the Zulus.
Cetshwayo, the Zulu Kingdom king Cetshwayo refused to submit to British control and instead organized an army of nearly 60,000 men. In December 1878, Sir Bartle Frere, the British High Commissioner of South Africa, issued an ultimatum to Cetshwayo demanding the Zulus dismantle their military system within 30 days and pay reparations for alleged insults.
When the ultimatum was refused, in January 1879, the British troops under the leadership of Lord Chelmsford marched on Zululand. On January 12, 1879, an early skirmish took place at Sihayo’s Kraal with British forces led by Lord Chelmsford and the Zulus led by Mkumbikazulu kaSihayo. KaSihayo was killed in the battle, resulting in a British victory.
On January 22, the British and Zulu met at what would be known as the Battle of Isandlwana. The British Army, comprising 1,800 troops, while the Zulu Army, some 20,000 strong, was led by Ntshingwayo Khoza. Despite the British having superior military resources, they face a humiliating defeat at the hands of the Zulus that some military authorities likened to the defeat of General George Armstrong Custer at the Battle of the Little Big Horn River in Montana Territory, USA, in 1876.
Later in the day, Cetshwayo’s brother, Dabulamanzi kaMpande led the Zulu troops at Rorke’s Drift, Natal Province, against British forces led by John Chard and Gonville Bromhead. The conflict, later called the Battle of Rorke’s Drift, saw 140 British Army regulars defeat 4,000 Zulu warriors.
The next major conflict of the war, the Battle of Intombe, occurred on March 12, 1879; Zulu Prince Mbilini waMswati and British commander David Moriarty led their respective forces in the battle. British commander Moriarty was killed in the battle which ultimately became a Zulu victory.
Other conflicts during the war included the Battle of Hlobane, the Battle of Kambula, the Battle of Gingindlovu, the Siege of Eshowe, the Zungeni Mountain skirmish, and the Battle of Ulundi. The Battle of Ulundi was the last major battle of the Anglo-Zulu War, taking place on July 4, 1879. That battle resulted in a British victory where Chelmsford defeated Cetshwayo and his Army, thus ending the Anglo-Zulu War.
After the Battle of Ulundi, the Zulu army dispersed, and Cetshwayo became a fugitive. Cetshwayo would be captured on August 28, 1879, and sent to Cape Town, South Africa. Zululand meanwhile would be incorporated into the British Empire.
The Defence of Rorke's Drift, 1879
King Cetshwayo
1879
The Zululand capital of Ulundi is captured by British troops
Having learnt from the massacre at Isandlawana, Chelmsford took extra precaution when facing the Zulu army in open warfare. Battle formations began at 6 a.m. for the British army. A guard of mounted troops crossed a ford and onto the Mahlabatini plains just outside the Zulu capital town, Ulundi.
By 8 a.m. further British forces arrived creating a large hollow square formation. The perimeter of the square facing outwards consisted of 1,000 regular cavalry, 9,000 regular infantry and a further 7,000 men with 24 guns, including the first Gatling gun battery to take the field for the British army. Within the square were engineers, ammunition and hospital carts in reserve. The British army effectively created a mini impenetrable fortress on the field.
This would prove to be far superiorto the Zulu army of 20,000. The British saw them as ‘savages’ armed with spears and a few old rifles, and predictable in their tactics, which usually meant hiding from the enemy and then attack at close range. With such primitive weaponry and tactics,the Zulu’s stood little chance against the more prepared British army.
At around 8:45, the British cavalry rode out of the square to encourage enemy attacks. The cavalry fired at Zulu warriors in the surrounding area that were hidden in the long grass. The Zulu’s charged directly at the British. However, concentrated infantry, and fire from the Gatling guns and powerful artillery meant the Zulu’s were unable to get closer than 30 feet from British ranks. It quickly became clear theZulucharges were futile and the majority fled the battle to higher ground. The battle concluded with British cavalry hunting down fleeing Zulu’s until none were left alive on the Mahlabatini plane.
The royal capital, Ulundi, was soon after set on fire and Cetshwayo was captured days later. After battles such asIsandlwana andRorke’s Drift, Ulundi would become the last major battle of the Zulu wars.
The Zululand capital of Ulundi is captured by British troops
Having learnt from the massacre at Isandlawana, Chelmsford took extra precaution when facing the Zulu army in open warfare. Battle formations began at 6 a.m. for the British army. A guard of mounted troops crossed a ford and onto the Mahlabatini plains just outside the Zulu capital town, Ulundi.
By 8 a.m. further British forces arrived creating a large hollow square formation. The perimeter of the square facing outwards consisted of 1,000 regular cavalry, 9,000 regular infantry and a further 7,000 men with 24 guns, including the first Gatling gun battery to take the field for the British army. Within the square were engineers, ammunition and hospital carts in reserve. The British army effectively created a mini impenetrable fortress on the field.
This would prove to be far superiorto the Zulu army of 20,000. The British saw them as ‘savages’ armed with spears and a few old rifles, and predictable in their tactics, which usually meant hiding from the enemy and then attack at close range. With such primitive weaponry and tactics,the Zulu’s stood little chance against the more prepared British army.
At around 8:45, the British cavalry rode out of the square to encourage enemy attacks. The cavalry fired at Zulu warriors in the surrounding area that were hidden in the long grass. The Zulu’s charged directly at the British. However, concentrated infantry, and fire from the Gatling guns and powerful artillery meant the Zulu’s were unable to get closer than 30 feet from British ranks. It quickly became clear theZulucharges were futile and the majority fled the battle to higher ground. The battle concluded with British cavalry hunting down fleeing Zulu’s until none were left alive on the Mahlabatini plane.
The royal capital, Ulundi, was soon after set on fire and Cetshwayo was captured days later. After battles such asIsandlwana andRorke’s Drift, Ulundi would become the last major battle of the Zulu wars.
The burning of Ulundi
Ulundi charge
1883
Baileyton Town map
Having learnt from the massacre at Isandlawana, Chelmsford took extra precaution when facing the Zulu army in open warfare. Battle formations began at 6 a.m. for the British army. A guard of mounted troops crossed a ford and onto the Mahlabatini plains just outside the Zulu capital town, Ulundi.
By 8 a.m. further British forces arrived creating a large hollow square formation. The perimeter of the square facing outwards consisted of 1,000 regular cavalry, 9,000 regular infantry and a further 7,000 men with 24 guns, including the first Gatling gun battery to take the field for the British army. Within the square were engineers, ammunition and hospital carts in reserve. The British army effectively created a mini impenetrable fortress on the field.
This would prove to be far superiorto the Zulu army of 20,000. The British saw them as ‘savages’ armed with spears and a few old rifles, and predictable in their tactics, which usually meant hiding from the enemy and then attack at close range. With such primitive weaponry and tactics,the Zulu’s stood little chance against the more prepared British army.
At around 8:45, the British cavalry rode out of the square to encourage enemy attacks. The cavalry fired at Zulu warriors in the surrounding area that were hidden in the long grass. The Zulu’s charged directly at the British. However, concentrated infantry, and fire from the Gatling guns and powerful artillery meant the Zulu’s were unable to get closer than 30 feet from British ranks. It quickly became clear theZulucharges were futile and the majority fled the battle to higher ground. The battle concluded with British cavalry hunting down fleeing Zulu’s until none were left alive on the Mahlabatini plane.
The royal capital, Ulundi, was soon after set on fire and Cetshwayo was captured days later. After battles such asIsandlwana andRorke’s Drift, Ulundi would become the last major battle of the Zulu wars.
Baileyton Town map
Having learnt from the massacre at Isandlawana, Chelmsford took extra precaution when facing the Zulu army in open warfare. Battle formations began at 6 a.m. for the British army. A guard of mounted troops crossed a ford and onto the Mahlabatini plains just outside the Zulu capital town, Ulundi.
By 8 a.m. further British forces arrived creating a large hollow square formation. The perimeter of the square facing outwards consisted of 1,000 regular cavalry, 9,000 regular infantry and a further 7,000 men with 24 guns, including the first Gatling gun battery to take the field for the British army. Within the square were engineers, ammunition and hospital carts in reserve. The British army effectively created a mini impenetrable fortress on the field.
This would prove to be far superiorto the Zulu army of 20,000. The British saw them as ‘savages’ armed with spears and a few old rifles, and predictable in their tactics, which usually meant hiding from the enemy and then attack at close range. With such primitive weaponry and tactics,the Zulu’s stood little chance against the more prepared British army.
At around 8:45, the British cavalry rode out of the square to encourage enemy attacks. The cavalry fired at Zulu warriors in the surrounding area that were hidden in the long grass. The Zulu’s charged directly at the British. However, concentrated infantry, and fire from the Gatling guns and powerful artillery meant the Zulu’s were unable to get closer than 30 feet from British ranks. It quickly became clear theZulucharges were futile and the majority fled the battle to higher ground. The battle concluded with British cavalry hunting down fleeing Zulu’s until none were left alive on the Mahlabatini plane.
The royal capital, Ulundi, was soon after set on fire and Cetshwayo was captured days later. After battles such asIsandlwana andRorke’s Drift, Ulundi would become the last major battle of the Zulu wars.
The burning of Ulundi
Ulundi charge
1894
The Glen Grey Act
The Glen Grey Act is an 1894 Act of the Parliament of the Cape Colony. Instigated by the government of Prime Minister Cecil John Rhodes, it established a system of individual (rather than communal) land tenure and created a labour tax to force Xhosa men into employment on commercial farms or in industry. The act was so named because, although it was later extended to a larger area, it initially applied only in the Glen Grey district, a former name for the area around Lady Frere, east of Queenstown, in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa.
The Glen Grey district became part of the Transkei within which it was named Cacadu district (not to be confused with the former Cacadu District Municipality, now the Sarah Baartman District Municipality, further west) and is now the magisterial district of Lady Frere. It is part of the Western Thembuland traditional kingdom.
The Glen Grey Act
The Glen Grey Act is an 1894 Act of the Parliament of the Cape Colony. Instigated by the government of Prime Minister Cecil John Rhodes, it established a system of individual (rather than communal) land tenure and created a labour tax to force Xhosa men into employment on commercial farms or in industry. The act was so named because, although it was later extended to a larger area, it initially applied only in the Glen Grey district, a former name for the area around Lady Frere, east of Queenstown, in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa.
The Glen Grey district became part of the Transkei within which it was named Cacadu district (not to be confused with the former Cacadu District Municipality, now the Sarah Baartman District Municipality, further west) and is now the magisterial district of Lady Frere. It is part of the Western Thembuland traditional kingdom.
The Glen Grey Act
Prime Minister Cecil John Rhodes
1899
Queenstown Volunteer Rifles mobilised
In the reports by General Sir Forestier Walker, dated 17th and 26th October 1899, the Queenstown Rifle Volunteers, strength 245, were stated to be part of the garrison of Queenstown, and they were then mobilised and under arms. After General Gatacre arrived the corps, slightly increased in strength, were under his command and did useful service, freeing the regular troops for action at the front.
By-and-by the authorities came to think more highly of the various Colony Volunteer Battalions, and when Brabant was clearing the Dordrecht - Jamestown district in February and March 1900, the Queenstown Volunteers formed part of his force. They were not with Colonel Dalgety in Wepener in April, but under General Brabant took part in the operations for the relief of the brave garrison: thereafter they formed part of the Colonial Division in the advance northwards. The corps seems to have always done well.
Queenstown Volunteer Rifles mobilised
In the reports by General Sir Forestier Walker, dated 17th and 26th October 1899, the Queenstown Rifle Volunteers, strength 245, were stated to be part of the garrison of Queenstown, and they were then mobilised and under arms. After General Gatacre arrived the corps, slightly increased in strength, were under his command and did useful service, freeing the regular troops for action at the front.
By-and-by the authorities came to think more highly of the various Colony Volunteer Battalions, and when Brabant was clearing the Dordrecht - Jamestown district in February and March 1900, the Queenstown Volunteers formed part of his force. They were not with Colonel Dalgety in Wepener in April, but under General Brabant took part in the operations for the relief of the brave garrison: thereafter they formed part of the Colonial Division in the advance northwards. The corps seems to have always done well.
Queenstown Rifle Volunteers
Queenstown Rifle Volunteers cap badge
1899 - 1902
Anglo-Boer War
The South African War, sometimes called the Boer War or Anglo-Boer War, was the first major conflict of a century that was to be marked by wars on an international scale. It demonstrated the inadequacy of 19th century military methods and raised issues of whether conscription should be brought in and the use of concentration camps.
The South African War was fought between Britain and the self-governing Afrikaner (Boer) colonies of the South African Republic (the Transvaal) and the Orange Free State. (At the outbreak of war, Britain ruled the South African colonies of the Cape and Natal).
The war began on October 11 1899, following a Boer ultimatum that the British should cease building up their forces in the region. The Boers had refused to grant political rights to non-Boer settlers, known as Uitlanders, most of whom were British, or to grant civil rights to Africans. Perhaps more important was the underlying question of control over the gold mines of the Transvaal at a time when the international financial system, and the stability of the British pound, was based on the gold standard. The war was also about Britain's control of South Africa and therefore its 'great power' status.
Although the war was fought between Briton and Boer, it was not simply a 'white man's war'. Large numbers of Africans and other non-Europeans were involved whether combatants or in support roles (including Mahatma Gandhi, then living in South Africa, who served as a volunteer stretcher-bearer in 1900), and the lives of many more were affected by the conflict. On the British side, troops came not just from Britain but also from other parts of the empire, especially Canada and Australia.
Initially the Boers took the initiative, invading the British colonies of Natal and the Cape, where they were joined by Afrikaner sympathisers. British troops were defeated in battle and the key towns of Ladysmith, Mafeking and Kimberley besieged. However, by late February 1900, Ladysmith and Kimberley had been relieved as massive British reinforcements began to turn the tide. In May, Mafeking was also relieved and Johannesburg taken, followed by Pretoria in early June.
Both the Orange Free State and the Transvaal were formally annexed to the British crown and at the beginning of October, Colonial Secretary Joseph Chamberlain, in a speech at Coventry, announced 'the war is over'. This was far from true, as the Boers turned to vigorous guerilla warfare. Hard-liners, such as Sir Alfred Milner, High Commissioner for South Africa, wanted the Boers crushed - 'to knock the bottom out of the "great Afrikaner nation" for ever and ever. Amen'.
By February 1901, the British Commander-in-Chief in South Africa, General Kitchener, was more willing to compromise for peace and offered terms to the Boer generals. He suggested that the republics would become crown colonies, though with the ultimate aim of self-government within the empire; prisoners of war would be released; an amnesty would be granted for those who had fought, except the Afrikaner 'rebels' living in Natal and the Cape; a £1 million compensation fund would be established; and 'coloured persons' would receive the same legal rights as they had in the Cape Colony, although if they were ever granted the vote this would 'be so limited as to secure the just predominance of the white race'. Peace talks were held at Middleburg but the denial of an extension of the amnesty to the 'rebels' was unacceptable to the Boer side.
Anglo-Boer War
The South African War, sometimes called the Boer War or Anglo-Boer War, was the first major conflict of a century that was to be marked by wars on an international scale. It demonstrated the inadequacy of 19th century military methods and raised issues of whether conscription should be brought in and the use of concentration camps.
The South African War was fought between Britain and the self-governing Afrikaner (Boer) colonies of the South African Republic (the Transvaal) and the Orange Free State. (At the outbreak of war, Britain ruled the South African colonies of the Cape and Natal).
The war began on October 11 1899, following a Boer ultimatum that the British should cease building up their forces in the region. The Boers had refused to grant political rights to non-Boer settlers, known as Uitlanders, most of whom were British, or to grant civil rights to Africans. Perhaps more important was the underlying question of control over the gold mines of the Transvaal at a time when the international financial system, and the stability of the British pound, was based on the gold standard. The war was also about Britain's control of South Africa and therefore its 'great power' status.
Although the war was fought between Briton and Boer, it was not simply a 'white man's war'. Large numbers of Africans and other non-Europeans were involved whether combatants or in support roles (including Mahatma Gandhi, then living in South Africa, who served as a volunteer stretcher-bearer in 1900), and the lives of many more were affected by the conflict. On the British side, troops came not just from Britain but also from other parts of the empire, especially Canada and Australia.
Initially the Boers took the initiative, invading the British colonies of Natal and the Cape, where they were joined by Afrikaner sympathisers. British troops were defeated in battle and the key towns of Ladysmith, Mafeking and Kimberley besieged. However, by late February 1900, Ladysmith and Kimberley had been relieved as massive British reinforcements began to turn the tide. In May, Mafeking was also relieved and Johannesburg taken, followed by Pretoria in early June.
Both the Orange Free State and the Transvaal were formally annexed to the British crown and at the beginning of October, Colonial Secretary Joseph Chamberlain, in a speech at Coventry, announced 'the war is over'. This was far from true, as the Boers turned to vigorous guerilla warfare. Hard-liners, such as Sir Alfred Milner, High Commissioner for South Africa, wanted the Boers crushed - 'to knock the bottom out of the "great Afrikaner nation" for ever and ever. Amen'.
By February 1901, the British Commander-in-Chief in South Africa, General Kitchener, was more willing to compromise for peace and offered terms to the Boer generals. He suggested that the republics would become crown colonies, though with the ultimate aim of self-government within the empire; prisoners of war would be released; an amnesty would be granted for those who had fought, except the Afrikaner 'rebels' living in Natal and the Cape; a £1 million compensation fund would be established; and 'coloured persons' would receive the same legal rights as they had in the Cape Colony, although if they were ever granted the vote this would 'be so limited as to secure the just predominance of the white race'. Peace talks were held at Middleburg but the denial of an extension of the amnesty to the 'rebels' was unacceptable to the Boer side.
British troops
The Boers
