CO48/67
National Archives, Kew,
Transcribed by volunteers from the ZA-IB and ZA-EC Rootsweb mailing
lists from digital photographs taken by Sue Mackay at the National Archives.
The original correspondence is filed in order of receipt. Here it has been
placed in alphabetical order according to the surname of the writer, with letters
by the same writer in chronological order, for ease of reading. Original
spelling has been maintained.
Letters were either addressed to Lord BATHURST,
Secretary of State for the Colonies, (starting My Lord), or to his deputy Robert
WILMOT-HORTON (starting Sir). Reference numbers, where given, refer to printed
page numbers stamped on the letters and will enable visitors to the National
Archives to locate the letter more easily. If a page number is not given then
the date of the letter will give a good idea of its whereabouts in the file.
ALL the 1819 correspondence was transcribed (see
CO48/41 through CO48/46) whether or not the writers emigrated
to the
BAILIE, Anne
(mother of John BAILIE)
11
May 6th
1824
The Memorial of Mr.John
BAILIE of the Hope near
Sheweth
That
you Memorialist is one of the first settlers who, confiding in the encouraging
hopes held out to him, went out to Algoa Bay, having given up a good situation
in the year 1819: and proceeded thither accompanied by his wife and family
which consists of five children.
That
your Memorialist has used every means in his power to cultivate and improve the
ground of his location without success, from the greatest scarcity of water
nothing will thrive even in a garden, unless near a river, and that his farm is
situated ten miles from any river, every attempt at agriculture has therefore
proved totally abortive.
The
intention of making this an agricultural district having completely failed, it
can only be a grazing one, and it remains yet to be seen whether it can be,
from its rivers, a commercial one. Your Memorialist is anxious to use his
humble endeavours to that end, and is therefore desirous of obtaining an Erf of
Land at the
Anne BAILIE
BOLD, John
4
No.19
July 6th
1824
My Lord,
I
humbly beg you will permit your humble servant to lay before you the following
statement of fact, and when you see the sequal I hope
you will not deem it insulting. I am my Lord one of those unfortunate persons
who left his native soil to seek as he fondly flattered himself a more genial
one and in hopes that he might bring up the younger part of his family with
credit by embracing the offer of our kind Government in the Colony of the
Your most humble most devoted servant
Who shall for ever pray
John BOLD from Rich’d HAYHURST Party
BOWKER,
Miles (Filed under H for HALEY)
June 9th
1824
My Lord,
I do
myself the honor of enclosing a copy of a letter I a few days ago received from
Mr. Mile BOWKER from the new settlement to the eastward of the
Amidst
the afflicting intelligence communicated to the public through the medium of
the public papers of the distress experienced by the settlers in that part of
the world, the account from Mr. BOWKER may in my poor opinion be interesting
even to your Lordship as coming from a practical, well informed, respectable
& industrious individual: at all events it cannot be wrong to communicate
its contents to your Lordship, who will pardon the liberty and appreciate the
intention.
I have the honor to be with the highest respect &
consideration
Your Lordship’s most humble serv’t
R. STANDISH HALEY
[enclosed letter, addressed
to Lieut. Richard STANDISH HALEY RN,
Olive Town
near
the mouth of the Cowie
Feb’y
24th 1824
My Dear Sir,
You
will long ago have heard of the difficulties the settlers have undergone since
their arrival here by losing three, and nearly a fourth harvest, but Government
having kindly helped them with [ugly rice?] during a good part of that time and
rations for the two first years keeping great part of the deposit to pay for
them has greatly mitigated these evils and things are now [wearing?] a better
aspect, as we have found a species of wheat, coarse indeed and rush straw, that
in a great measure withstands the rust, our great enemy in agriculture, &
being convinced that growing corn is not to be our staple pursuit, we attend
now to Horticulture & planting rather than agriculture, still depending
upon herds & flocks as our best pursuits; this last has been much checked
by our treacherous and near neighbors the Caffres who
are only a few miles from us and have been constantly stealing for these last
few years both from the Dutch and English to a very great extent, but Major
SOMERSET having lately taken the worst of them by surprise and ?? them severely
we hope they will be quiet in future or more severe measures must be resorted
to and they must be driven to a distance as it is only to order it and it may
be instantly accomplished, as tho’ [a stout case?] of
people, yet having nothing to cope with fire arms, they are soon discomfitted or destroyed. For my own part tho’ [many?] of the men that I took out with me as servants
did me no good in fulfilling my agreement with Lord BATHURST in securing me one
thousand acres of location, yet thro’ the help of my sons & their most
excellent mother we have been able to get forward [obscured] better than any
other settlers, tho’ several of them came out without
means which was far from our case& we have now only to regret the distance
we are at from our dear friends & relatives as in all other respects our
prospects far exceed any thing we could hope for in England. Upon finding our
location unequal to means Government have kindly given us another place, making
it near 5,000 acres with one and a half miles of sea coast. One of the finest
spots in this country, lying four miles from the mouth of the Great Fish River
and five from the mouth of the Cowie, now become our
sea port, whilst many or nearly all are complaining tho’
not for want of land for Government has in that respect been sufficiently
liberal to such as could do it justice, we are getting on almost as well as we
could wish. Our fruit trees, though only three years from the stone or cutting,
are many of them bearing fruit – we have planted above 15,000 vines, many of
which are now bearing, and we have twenty different sorts of fruit trees &
most of them will be fruitful to all appearance in another year, and we are
preparing again for a similar plantation; our prospects of improvement will be
also much in feeding as in cattle, sheep & pork we can have an excellent
market for it [salted?] at the Cowie, where our
cheese, which we make very good, as well as fat & hides, have a good
market. Cloathing is still very dear tho’ that is not likely long to be the case as the exchange
has greatly fallen and our goods will be in future without land carriage. Land
is now very much occupied in Albany tho’ larger than
Yorkshire yet good places may be bought for from £150 to £200 for 1,000 acres
but it is increasing in value as many people are now satisfied with the means
of living here, the climate being for health and comfort almost without its
parallel & its production of the most valuable sorts may be made profitable
such as tobacco, coffee, cotton and drugs of very many sorts, oils &c
&c. It is a family’s own fault rich or poor if they do not thrive, the
Dutch here are all rich and they have not the industry of the English tho’ they are careful and provident; many of them have here
from 1,000 to 10,000 sheep and five or six hundred head of cattle. More – our
population of all colours and many nations, Heathens, Mohamatons
and every sort and denomination of Christians – this multitude is ill
amalgamated and we have many tricks & thievings amongst
them. We had no less than 64 cases or trials come before the Court of Session
which is held monthly, of which I am now the Senior Heemraad
Magistrate, tho’ Landdrost
Mr. RIVERS being our Chairman & proper the Court consists of six other Heemraad of a which my friends Major PIGOT
& Capt. CAMPBELL were some time ago Members but are now out there being
party’s here as well as in England, but we [steer?] in the mean. We have many
half pay officers both of the army and of the navy and they do well as they
endeavour. I have written you much of this long detail for your own information
& of Mr. PITT your neighboring Magistrate of
Organ House and any other you may please to communicate it to.
I am
to have a school on my place to which Government give to a master 200 dollars
pr annum & chapels and schools are now everywhere erecting [obscured] by
the Frome, Warminster and Somerset parties who have given me great trouble to
keep in peace but they are mostly thriving on about 230 acres for each family
and they will get more land as they deserve it or can do it justice. We have
plenty of fish and game & almost every description of wild beast from the
elephant & hippopotamus to the mouse on my premises. My boys have become
very dextrous in killing all sorts of monsters who neglected to keep their
distance & tho’ often heard thro’ the night are
seldom seen. Our worst enemy is the large wolf dog which hunts in packs and
will fell down an ox before our eyes in the day time. In other respects we are
in a land of myrtle and evergreens – a land of milk & honey which is found
wild in the trees and taken without killing the bees with little trouble. We
have in very little been disappointed in this country as excepting the
antiseptic disposition of every new soil to foreign vegetation & the rust
before our arrival little known, we found it equal to the general description
given, and if the rust had not been so destructive I believe in point of
[obscured] this would have been for its time the first settlement put in action
& I still think it will soon [answer?] all its misfortunes and satisfy all
my Lord BATHURST’s very best hopes.
We
expect to see the Arethusa
at our port soon – she is trading on this coast. We expect most of the coasters
will soon be here for goods for the merchants or stores for the frontier army.
Most faithfully & affectionately yours
Miles BOWKER
[signed]
BREEZE,
Charles
9
Graham’s
Town
District of
Albany
March 19th
1824
The Memorial of Charles BREEZE most humbly sheweth
That
your Memorialist impressed with gratitude for your former kindness and for
which he cannot sufficiently express his obligation begs leave to lay before
you a brief statement of his situation, under a deep impression that your
goodness, of which he has so repeatedly experienced, will incline you on the
present occasion to relieve him from some of those difficulties under which he
is at present labouring.
That
your Memorialist was located at the distance of eleven miles from Graham’s Town
and about two from the Estate of Major PIGOT and in
addition to the inconveniences arising from the disposition of the party to
which he belongs he (Memorialist) has suffered very seriously in the loss of
his cattle by the depredations of those sable enemies, the Caffres, and
although you may have probably heard (for we ourselves are astonished at the
excessive licentiousness of the press) that “the settlers are fully remunerated
for the losses they have thereby sustained” he assures you in the most solemn
and deliberate manner that such is unfortunately not the case, and
himself and a multitude of British settlers are still suffering under
the sad and lamentable effects thereof, in the non increase of their cattle
stock, which is of great loss, and the want of milk which in consequence has
abounded among them and Memorialist felt it most severely when in addition to
this unredressed affliction the frowns
of divine providence swept away the prospects of successive harvests and
himself and his wife were left in their solitary habitation during the whole of
three months with nothing save a small portion of rice.
That
your Memorialist is perfectly satisfied with the climate of this colony,
together with its general appearance, and is ready to pronounce the highest eloquim on the salutary effects of its atmosphere to
European constitutions, but one hundred acres of land here is not sufficient
for a grazing farm, if a family is to be supported thereby, and therefore he
humbly prays that you will be pleased in your accustomed goodness and clemency
to interpose in his behalf for an additional grant and place him in a farm
equal in extent to his Dutch neighbours, as near to Graham’s Town or the mouth
of the Kowie as possible, or an erf in Graham’s Town, and your Memorialist as
in duty bound will ever pray.
Chas. BREEZE
PS If time and a multiplicity of engagements should
have erased the humble name of Memorialist from your memory he begs to state
that he has voted for you twice but that if you will please to enquire of
William KINNERSLEY Esquire he flatters himself to be
soon restored to your recollection.
BULLOCK,
Solomon (brother of William BULLOCK)
18
August 20
1824
Honoured Sir,
As
under is the copy of a letter you was so kind as to forward to my mother in
October last who is now dead and buried for which letter I return much sincere
thanks
Copy
Colonial
Office
October 1823
Mrs. M. BULLOCK is hereby informed that in answer to
her letter of the 2nd instant that any letter she may think it necessary
to address to her son will be forwarded to the Cape of Good Hope if sent by her
in the first place to The Secretary of State’s Office, Colonial Department,
London under a cover directed to R. WILMOT Esq and she is also informed that it
would be adviseable that the direction upon the cover
of her letter should state the name of the person who was the Head of the Party
with which her son went to the Cape of Good Hope
Some
property being left by my late mother to my brother William BULLOCK and as I
did forward to you a letter as directed under cover to you I have thus far
ventured to enquire if any tidings are heard of him at your office.
With all due respect I remain
Your very humble servant
Solomon BULLOCK
20
November 13
1824
Honoured Sir,
In
the matter of my brother William BULLOCK who went as a settler to the Cape of
Good Hope, the particulars of which was forwarded through the medium of your
office in October 1823 to R. WILMOT HORTON Esq and repeated about two months
ago, allow me to ask the question if there as been any return to the Colonial
Office of the settlers at the cape of Good Hope since 1818 or any account for
them since 1823 or if you have or have not received any communication either
addressed to Mrs. BULLOCK Senior Dead or to me Solomon BULLOCK from the Cape of
Good from R. WILMOT HORTON Esq, property being in question and divided in
several interests. I humbly beg every information you
can give but please forward an answer.
I remain your very humble and obliged servant
Solomon BULLOCK
CURRIE,
Walter
33
10th
August 1824
My Lord,
I
have the honor to enclose for your Lordship’s perusal a memorial I have this
day addressed to the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, praying that I may
be allowed to receive my half pay through the Commissariat Department in this
Colony.
The
present mode of getting my half pay subjects me to a loss of
18 to 20 p.ct. Your Lordship is well aware of
the difficulties the settlers here have had to contend with. You will also see
how ill I am able to afford such a heavy deduction from an income of only one
guinea a week with a wife and three children to maintain: and as the evil may
be remedied without one farthing expence to Government I therefore entreat your
Lordship will be pleased to recommend the measure to the Admiralty.
I have the honor to be my Lord
Your Lordship’s most obed’t serv’t
W. CURRIE
ELLIS, H. re
D.P. FRANCIS
Custom House
Nov 10 1824
Dear HORTON,
I
have lately seen a Mr. FRANCIS a settler late returned from the
That
as few of those originally located have established claims for titles to their
lands, a new distribution more adapted to the colonial agriculture should be
made, and about 3000 acres should at once be granted to such individuals as
shall prove they have ten individuals English
colonists in their employment. By this means a population will be kept in
that very important frontier and the original plan of Gov. will in a [neat?]
degree be carried into effect, notwithstanding all the visitations of the farms
&c I feel assured that a [obscured] good has been done in the colony by the
measure of 1820.
[? Yrs?]
H. ELLIS
EVANS,
Charles (son of Charles EVANS)
48
175
Shoreditch
Nov. 2nd
1824
My Lord,
Permit
me to solicit the favour of your Lordship’s affording me instruction how I
could obtain intelligence of my father Chas. EVANS, who having deserted his
wife and family went in the year 1820 as a settler to
I
have great reason to believe he is dead & a family estate having descended
to him, I now crave your Lordship’s assistance how to ascertain that fact.
I have the honour to be
Your Lordship’s most obed’t humble serv’t
Chas. EVANS
*[Transcriber’s Note: This memorial clearly says Samuel
FIELD and the enclosed letter from Col. BIRD clearly refers to him as Timothy
FIELD. Both Nash and Hockly list the settler who
sailed on the
81
The humble memorial of Samuel FIELD, Pensioner of His
Majesty’s Royal Hospital of Chelsea, late of Algoa Bay in His Majesty’s Colony
of the Cape of Good Hope and now of No.12 Red Lion Court, Spital
Fields, London
Humbly sheweth
That your Memorialist having served 21½ years as a Serjeant in the East Norfolk Militia was discharged in the
year 1816 and afterwards placed on the Pension List of the Royal Hospital
Chelsea as an out pensioner at the rate of one shilling per day.
That
your Memorialist left England in the month of July 1821 in the Salisbury, Captain KING, as a free
passenger and at his own expence, for the purpose and with the intention of
becoming a settler in the Colony of the Cape of Good Hope, to which place the
vessel was bound agreeable to instructions received from His Majesty’s Office
of the Colonial Department and by which instructions your Memorialist
understood that all persons emigrating to the said Colony were to have grants
of land given to them according to the means the said individuals possessed of
cultivating the same.
That
your Memorialist on his arrival in
That
your Memorialist also made application to the proper authorities in the Colony
to receive the amount of pension due to him, but in consequence of not having
certain certificates in his possession (and which your Memorialist knew not it
was necessary to procure previous to leaving England) he was informed it could
not be paid to him.
That
your Memorialist having expended a considerable sum of money in the purchase of
land, building a house and procuring live stock, together with the necessary
implements of agriculture, found himself reduced to the painful alternative of
undertaking a long and expensive voyage to procure the said certificates or of
resigning that pension which had been conferred on him as a reward for upwards
of 21 years service. Your Memorialist having arrived in England and
accomplished this object at a very considerable expense and great difficulty,
is desirous of returning to the property he has left, but is at present without
the means of so doing. He therefore humbly prays your Lordship to take his case
into consideration and provide himself and family with some means of returning
to Algoa Bay with such things as he can procure, that he may find necessary,
and that may be conducive to the improvement of the Colony; and also that your
Lordship will be pleased to grant him a certain portion of land in the Albany
District, to such extent as to your Lordship may seem good.
Your
Memorialist also humbly begs leave to submit to your Lordship’s consideration
that the Officers, Merchants and Tradesmen resident in the said Colony are
greatly inconvenienced by the present inefficient mode of travelling, there
being no public conveyance other than by waggons and oxen in any part of the
interior of the Colony. Your Memorialist therefore humbly prays that he might
be allowed to take out free of expense a carriage which may run as a Public
Stage Coach between Port Elizabeth and Bathurst Town, including the towns of Bethelsdorf, Uteneg, Graham’s
Town &c including an extent of upwards of 100 miles.
Your
Memorialist humbly begs leave to submit the enclosed documents to your
Lordship’s consideration in support of his requests and earnestly hopes that
your Lordship will adopt some measures to restore him to his property and
possessions and your Memorialist as in duty bound will ever pray.
[Enclosed]
Colonial
Office
10th
December 1821
Reply to memorial of Timothy FIELD praying for a grant
of land in the Albany District according to the means he possesses of cultivating
the same.
The Memorialist having arrived here in the
By His Excellency’s Command
FOULGER, John
56
Feb’y
12 1824
My Lord,
It is
with much diffidence I venture on the liberty of drawing your Lordship’s
attention for a few moments to the situation of the settlers in
I am
aware that your Lordship’s time must be fully occupied but I am sure that your
[obscured] heart will feel for the miseries of the unfortunate.
Perhaps
your Lordship knows that the crops have failed ever since the Emigrants were
located in
The
class of persons suffering is not the labouring poor, but that class which was
more respectable in this happy country & were able to take with them some
property, but the crops failing, their money expended, without decent clothing
& almost without food, they are reduced to a wretched state.
As a
merchant trading to the Cape I flatter myself that I possess correct
information, and my brother in law having taken on himself the situation of
gratuitous Secretary to the Society formed in Cape Town for the Relief of the
Suffering Settlers [Transcriber’s Note: This was H.E.
RUTHERFOORD] my information is derived from close
investigation on his part – this Society has done what it could but the mass of
misery is greater than it has means to remove.
It is
the wish of several persons, well acquainted with their distresses, to call a
public meeting in the City to open a subscription on their behalf and it would
afford them sincere gratification if your Lordship would condescend to take the
Chair on that occasion, and I beg further to solicit that your Lordship would
allow myself & one or two gentlemen
who have been at the Cape (not as settlers) the honour of an audience for a few
minutes, when we should be better able to explain the situation of those on
whose behalf I have ventured to obtrude on your Lordship’s notice.
I have the honour to be
Your Lordship’s most humble obed’t serv’t
John FOULGER
[Filed with this letter was a printed copy of the 1823
Report of the Society for the Relief of Distressed Settlers, which has been
transcribed and posted separately at
http://www.genealogyworld.net/settlers/correspondence/1823%20Distressed%20Settlers%20Report.htm]
74
25 Feb’y 1824
Sir,
I
feel confident from the politeness evidenced towards the deputation on behalf
of the distressed settlers of the
I beg
to inform you that since the deputation had the honour of an interview with
yourself & Lord BATHURST that a private meeting has been held in the City,
a Committee chosen, & is strong of resolutions this day passed; which
resolutions it is the wish of the Committee to advertise.
The
object of my communication at this time is this. My Lord BATHURST most politely
and condescendingly said when the deputation had the privilege of an interview
with him that we had his permission to make any use of his name calculated to
promote the object we have in view; but the Committee do not feel justified in
availing themselves of his Lordship’s permission without submitting for his
approbation what they have prepared, and I have to beg you would be pleased to
allow the same deputation an early opportunity of exhibiting to yourself and
his Lordship the resolutions. I need not say with what satisfaction the
Committee received his Lordship’s communication.
May I
be excused if I urge an early audience, as we only want his Lordship’s
approbation to commence advertising.
I have the honour to be Sir
Your most humble serv’t
John FOULGER
HARRIES, R.
re Thomas PHILIPPS (see
correspondence of Thomas PHILIPPS below)
134
29th
Sept 1824
Sir,
The
latter end of last month I received a letter from my relation Thomas PHILIPPS settler in Albany Cape of Good Hope under date of
the 10th May last informing me that he has taken the liberty of
addressing you on the subject of a proposal to import into that Colony a
certain number of Irish labourers for the transport of whom I am rightly
informed an annual sum has been granted by Parliament.
If it
should be the pleasure of my Lord BATHURST to entertain this proposal of Mr. PHILIPPS’s I hope it will not be considered as trespassing
too much on your valuable time to allow me the favor, which I now solicit, of a
conference with you on the subject.
I have the honor to be Sir
Your very obed’t serv’t
R. HARRIES
[Transcriber’s Note: An article on Thomas PHILIPPS in the National Library of Wales Journal 1977 XX/1
and reproduced at http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/wal/ThomasPhilipps.html
says:
“On 30 July
1801 he was married at St. Mary's Islington to Charlotte Harriet ARBOUIN, of Highbury Place,
Middlesex: his address was then 'City Chambers', that of his brother John. His
bride was the fourth daughter of Matthew ARBOUIN,
merchant of
HEATH (uncle of John Henry HEATH) – see also 1823 Distressed Settlers
Report
122
10 King’s Bench Walk
17th Jan’y 1824
Sir,
I am induced to trouble you with the
present application in consequence of having read the following extract from
the Report of a Committee of Gentlemen at cape Town respecting the destitute
situation of the settlers who went out to Algoa Bay under the protection of
Government; and as I am apprehensive that the individual alluded to under the
name of H_____ is a nephew of mine, and the report has created the most painful
emotions in the breasts of all his relatives, I trust I shall stand excused for
the liberty I have taken in addressing myself to you on the subject, to request
you would inform me whether any information has been received by Government in
corroboration of the melancholy details which are stated in the Report to which
I have alluded and more particularly whether the name of the individual is
mentioned at length, and if so whether it corresponds with the signature here
subscribed. I trust I shall not be transgressing the bounds of propriety if I
also venture to inquire if any measures have been or are intended to be taken
by Government for the relief of the distressed sufferers who have embarked in
so unfortunate a speculation, either by removal to some other settlement or otherwise.
I must again apologise for the
liberty I have thus presumed to take and resting in the hope that I shall be
favoured with an early reply I have the honor to be Sir
Your most
obed’t serv’t
[illegible initials] HEATH
Copy
extract alluded to:
“BAILIE’s Party – Mr. ADAMS,
who is head of one division of this party, informed me that there were only
thirteen or fourteen families now remaining on the location, out of the whole
of this large settlement. He added that there was much distress among those who
remained: and instanced one person of the name of H____, who had formerly been
in good circumstances, but who, from the failure of every other resource, had
that day been forced to go to Graham’s Town, to sell some of the small
remaining part of his clothes, to keep himself and his family from starving,
for absolute want.”
The letter containing the above particulars it appears
by the Report is from a Mr. F. and is dated the 1st April last.
JONES, James
156
March 25th
1824
Sir,
I
have the honor to acknowledge receipt of your note of yesterday and in reply
beg leave to observe that I requested the favor of an interview, as I could
wish by further explanation to do away with any unfavorable
impression (should such exist) in your mind from the attack made upon me in so
extraordinary a manner by Mr. BIDDULPH and further,
since it is nearly two years since I had the honor of waiting upon you in
Downing Street, to solicit your support that some favor may be shown to me, to
compensate for the losses I sustained in giving up my staff appointment, and
for the money I was obliged to expend when I accepted the command of the troops
and the civil magistracy of Albany, Cape of Good Hope.
I have the honor to be Sir
Your most obedient humble servant
James JONES
[Filed with copy of letter addressed to Major JONES,
34 Duke Street,
Colonial
Office
6th
May 1822
Sir,
I am
directed by Earl BATHURST to acknowledge receipt of your letter to his Lordship
of the 16th instant representing the circumstances under which you
were removed from the office of Landdrost of the
District of Albany at the Cape of Good Hope & stating in effect that the
appointment made by an officer administering for the time being the affairs of
the Colonial Government were considered in the Colony of so permanent a
character that you were induced, upon being nominated by Sir R. DONKIN to the
office in question, to incur a heavy charge in the purchase of effects which
you conceived necessary to maintain an establishment suitable to the situation.
Whatever impressions may be entertained by the colonists to the permanency of
an appointment made by an officer in the administration of affairs during the
Governor’s absence, it is a matter of regret to Earl BATHURST that you should
have allowed yourself to be influenced by such considerations without
reflecting that so far from an officer in the exercise of a temporary &
delegated authority, having the power to confer permanent appointments, the
Governor himself awaits the signification of the King’s Pleasure before an
appointment to any of the superior offices in the Colony is considered as
definitely fixed & it appears by the tenour of
Sir Rufane DONKIN’s correspondence that he had great
doubts of his nomination being confirmed. Had such an obvious course presented
itself to your view you would not have made on this occasion any extensive
disbursements under an idea that your appointment by Sir Rufane DONKIN would
necessarily have been permanent & the instructions which were conveyed to
him on this subject by Earl BATHURST would have shown that it was on public
grounds only that his Lordship found himself precluded from recommending to His
Majesty to confirm you in an office which appeared to his Lordship to require
longer experience in the affairs of the Colony.
It
remains only that I should express his Lordship’s concern that you should have
suffered pecuniary losses under circumstances in any way connected with the
Public Service & to acquaint you that it is not possible for him to give
directions that you should be reimbursed the sums you have expended, yet he
will not forget the recommendation he has received in your behalf should an
opportunity arise of giving you employment in the Public Service.
I am &c
(Signed) R. WILMOT
JUDGE,
Edward
162
29 November
1824
Sir,
I
hope I do not presume too far in addressing you on the subject of the classical
school about to be established by Government at the
For
these reasons, Sir, I hope I shall not be considered as taking too great a
liberty in petitioning either that £200 may be granted to me for the purpose of
procuring books, stationery &c for the use of the school or that they may
be sent upon the credit of the Government; &, for my other expences, that
one quarter’s salary £150 may be advanced to me before I leave England.
I have the honor to be Sir
Your most
obedient & grateful humble servant
Edward JUDGE
PHILIPPS, Thomas (see
correspondence of R. HARRIES above)
Lampeter
Near
10th
May 1824
Sir,
My
relation Mr. HARRIES of
As we
fully trust therefore that that we shall be allowed to have a portion of the
Irish labourers, for the transport of whom an annual [amount] is voted by
Parliament; we have agreed together on certain terms & on certain wages, as
it is extremely desirable that those persons should know before they embark
what advantages they are to see from emigration and thereby save themselves
disappointment from erroneous expectations. We have also agreed on deputing a
Person from this Colony, or in
I have the honor to remain Sir
Your most humble
and obedient servant
Thomas PHILIPPS
235
Lampeter
Near
27th
June 1824
Sir,
I had
the honor of addressing you lately on the subject of the great want of
labourers in this part of the Colony, and as our plans are now more matured I
have again written to my relation Mr. HARRIES, which letter I have taken the
liberty to enclose under the same cover as this. It may be necessary to mention
that the number of the labourers with their families which I stated in my last
as required are not wanted solely by the English settlers in Albany, but by the
old residents likewise and unless a supply is poured in equal to the demand we
shall not only be obliged to pay high wages but shall be in danger of losing
them altogether, as the Boers seem gradually to be convinced of the superiority
of European labor and in some cases I really think they would dispose of their
slaves altogether, which would be a great desideratum for us & might be the
means of expelling slavery, at least from this District, and therefore it
becomes a two fold object with us to assist them with free labor. I do not know
of any country where slavery is less required or where they are brought from a
warmer to a colder country whereas the European finds himself in a congenial
climate, in fact he can work more days in the year here than in England, he is
not overpowered by the heat of summer nor pinched by the severity of the
winter.
The
seed season this year, altho late from want of rain, is favourable, and altogether
I consider appearances to be propitious. Corn is however scarce all over the
Colony. Mr. HAYWARD, who has been appointed Commissioner for [adjusting?] our
claims is arrived on the Frontier. Mr. BIGGE has done
me the [honor] of making me the medium of explaining to the settlers the object
of [obscured] appointment and the very ample powers he is intrusted
with, and [I have] the pleasure to say that the consolatory intelligence has
been gratefully received & not less so has the intelligence from England of
the public subscription which has been opened and in which are seen written the
names of Lords BATHURST and yourself with such attention [obscured] for our
interest & future welfare, our sufferings for the last 4 years will soon be
forgotten. As an agent to the Committee of the Fund which has long been
established in
The
Caffres continue to molest us occasionally but not in any degree equal to what
has been suffered from them. The measures that I am confident the Committee of
Inquiry will recommend will soon put settlers on a different footing with them.
I have the honor to remain Sir
Your most
obedient & most humble servant
Thomas PHILIPPS
PLASKET, Sir Richard
249
Colonial
Office
8th
December 1824
Sir,
With
reference to Earl BATHURST’s letter to His Excellency the Governor under date
20th July 1823 and the inclosed instructions to the Treasury
detailing the conditions under which Mr. INGRAM and his party were to be
assisted by Government in coming out to this colony, I have to request that you
will be good enough to forward to me for His Excellency’s information and
guidance a legalised copy of the Bond entered into with the Treasury by Mr.
INGRAM as alluded to in Earl BATHURST’s instructions before mentioned, as that
document has not as yet been transmitted to this Government.
I have the honor to be Sir
Your most obedient servant
Richard PLASKET
Sec’y to Govt.
241
Copy
Graham’s
Town
February 25th
1825
Sir,
I am
directed by His Excellency the Governor to transmit to you the inclosed
depositions (taken on oath before His Excellency the Governor while at Kaffers Drift and returned to & signed by the Parties
at this place) of Sergeant Cupido COBUS
and Corporal Younker BOX of the Cape Corps of Infantry relative to the seizure
of a Hottentot in the service of Mr. MAHONEY, a quantity of cattle & a
horse with saddle bags full of beads &c in the Neutral Territory.
By
these depositions you will perceive that the son of Mr. MAHONEY was identified
as one of the persons engaged in illicit traffick
with the Kaffers & that the elder Mr. MAHONEY was
also in the neutral territory under the plea of reporting to the Military the
loss of some cattle stolen from him by the Kaffers.
I
also enclose the voluntary deposition of the Hottentot prisoner Peter KETTLEDORSE.
His
Excellency desires that the Board of Landdrost & Heemraden may be called together without delay to
investigate into these proceedings. The Hottentot prisoner & witnesses are
all on the spot together with the articles seized & will be produced before
the Court of Heemraden on application to the
Commandant of the Frontier.
Should
the Court of Landdrost & Heemraden,
in the investigation of this case, find that it is one which cannot be decided
upon by them & will require to be referred to the Court of Justice, His
Excellency desires that the whole of the persons who may have been concerned in
this illicit traffick, together with the evidence
& other necessary proof, be forwarded to cape Town without delay, as His
Excellency conceives that it is very important for the public tranquillity of
the Frontier that the case should be decided upon as early as possible.
I have the honor to be Sir
Your obedient servant
Richard PLASKET
Sec’y to Govt.
Depositions taken before His Excellency the Governor
Statement of Sergeant Cubida
COBUS No.3 Company of the
That on the
19th January he went to Trompetters Drift
and while patroling there he met with Mr. MAHONY who told him that the Kaffers
had taken from him his cattle – MAHONY then said that
the cattle had gone over the same drift that the former cattle went over. The
Sergeant then said no. I will go over here I shot a Kaffir yesterday and I want
to see where the body is. He said I will go with all my heart. He then left the
corporal and three men who afterwards joined him at the under drift – with the
horse now burdened proceeded, the saddle bags and forty five head of cattle all
of which (besides the Hottentot prisoner and MAHONEY’s
son, who galopped off) the Sergeant brought to Kaffer Drift fort.
The
Corporal further stated that the previous evening the Hottentot prisoner was in
company with MAHONY but MAHONY
would not let the Hottentot speak to them or come to the fire to light his
pipe. To his surprise the next morning he found the Hottentot with the cattle
and he made him prisoner. MAHONY’s son saw the Patrole first, he then gave notice of it to the other
people when the whole began to drive the cattle into the kloof. MAHONY’s son gave the Hottentot the white horse and jumped
on the Hottentot’s horse and gallopped off.
Evidence
further states that he will make oath that the Hottentot he took with the
cattle is the same Hottentot he saw the previous evening with MAHONY.
The
saddle bag being opened in the presence of His Excellency the Governor and the
Commandant it was found to contain:
3 bags of beads, one blue, one black and one red
1 bag of Kaffer corn
4 empty bags and some ??
Sworn before me eighteenth day of February 1825
(Signed) Lord Charles Henry
Kaffer
Drift Post
Statement of Peter KETTLEDORSE,
Hottentot prisoner detained by the Patrole
Peter
KETTLEDORSE states that on Friday 14 Jan’y he with his young master Daniel MAHONY
went from the location into Kafferland by the drift
before
They
also purchased a horse from the Kaffers. The cows
were purchased for 23 strings of beads and the oxen for 30 strings. [Manis?], Cobus
The
day that the Patrole captured the first drove of
cattle from MAHONY, Mr. BROWN of the Clay Pits came
out of Kafferland with 60 head of cattle and eleven Kaffers. These Kaffers then
received beads for their trouble and returned home. Evidence states that he was
three times in Kafferland with MAHONY
Senior and twice with MAHONY Junior, but previously
they had always remained at the drift at the Keiskamma
without crossing, MAHONY being afraid to trust the Kaffers.
The
first cattle MAHONY Senior purchased were 34 head,
the second 72 head, the third time 16 head. The first
time with MAHONY Junior he came out with 10 head, 6
[rams?], 8 [sea cow teeth?]. The second time 46 head and one
horse.
Evidence
is not aware of what MAHONY’s intentions are about
the cattle but he parted with 18 to an old soldier called DAVID, late African
Corps, 4 oxen and a cow to old JOHNSON, five he killed and four calves, one was
drowned in a water hole and one the wolf killed.
John
PRINCE a Hottentot is aware of all these transactions. He ran away from MAHONY and is now with Mr. HUNT.
Some
months ago MAHONY lodged five Kaffers
who had 60 assegays. They were hid away one night and
a day. The patroles came by but MAHONY
kept the Kaffers concealed and gave them provisions. He
also sent one of his English servants to get them clay. Evidence’s wife was
present and also John PRINCE’s wife. MAHONY gave them ginger beer with sugar in it and pointed
out a place for them where they were to deposit the elephant’s teeth &c
[illegible signature]
PRATER, Charles
230
23 April
1824
Sir,
Having
occasion to obtain a Certificate of Marriage that was solemnised at the Cape of
Good Hope, and being informed that an Act of parliament was passed for a
Registry of the same being required to be transmitted to this country to the
Colonial Department, I take the liberty of making application for the same, in
the event that my information is correct annexed are the particulars of the
marriage as having been sent to me.
I have the honor to be Sir
Your most obedient humble serv’t
Chas. PRATER
William Gregory PRATER
married to Susannah NEWTON on 11th June 1807 by the Rev. BROWN at
the
ROBERTS,
Thomas Cramer re Thomas BUTLER
259
6
St.James’
Dec 10 1824
My Lord,
I beg
to address yr Lordship for the purpose of procuring information concerning an
individual by the name of Thomas BUTLER, a native of
I have the honour to remain
Yr Lordship’s obed’t humble servant
Thos. Cramer ROBERTS
[Transcriber’s Note: Thomas Cramer ROBERTS was a
TAIT, Peter
321
Nov 17th
1824
Sir,
I
have taken the liberty of calling at the Colonial Office on my return from the
I
located in the District of George twenty six settlers from Scotland and had
that dreadful calamity the rust in wheat not infected that colony for three
successive years I should have succeeded equal to my expectations; however,
that famine has not made me alter my opinion respecting the capabilities of the
colony in point of agriculture &c and I am a professional farmer in
[Berwick?]
Sir,
my object in waiting at the Colonial Office is to express my [obscured] to Earl
BATHURST and should any in[formation] be wanted respecting the colony of Cape
of Good Hope I shall be most [obscured] to give His Lordship the same so far as
I am enabled so to do.
I have the honor to remain Sir
Your most obedient humble servant
Peter TAIT
325
27 Dec 1824
Sir,
I
shall feel much obliged by your doing me the favor of laying the statement
enclosed herewith before the Earl BATHURST at your earliest convenience
I have the honor to be Sir
Your most obedient humble servant
Peter TAIT
{Transcriber’s Note: The enclosed statement below is
not in Peter TAIT’s own hand]
My Lord,
In
obedience to your Lordship’s wish expressed in the answer you did me the honor
to return to my letter, I proceed to state such observations as occur to me
respecting the agricultural state of the District in which I was located at the
Cape of Good Hope, and as I have had opportunities at different times of
visiting many other parts of the colony to add, with your Lordship’s
permission, such observations as occurred to me on those occasions.
In
the first place I have to inform your Lordship that I was located in the
District of George, the Town bearing that name being situate about half way
between Cape Town and Graham’s Town and on the east side of a flat but fertile
country, extending about 24 miles in length and about 8 miles in breadth,
called Outeniqualand, being the place of my immediate
location.
The
District of Outeniqualand was originally retained by
the Dutch Government with [obscured] of being concocted into a Corn District
and it was afterwards, by a Proclamation of Sir John CRADDOCK, granted out at
[obscured] quit rents. This district can be converted to tillage at much less
expense than most other districts of the Cape, and with proper attention and
management is in an agricultural point of view capable of great improvement,
besides possessing many local advantages such as having a superabundance of
timber, the Knysna contiguous to the forest and Mossel Bay, where a Government
store is erected capable of containing a great quantity of grain.
The
Dutch Government, whilst the colony was under their protection, issued a notice
to the Boers that they would take all the grain (wheat) that could be delivered
at
In
1819 notice was issued by the Burgher’s Senate to receive grain at Mossel Bay;
but such notice being so near the approach of harvest, the Boers were not
prepared to meet it, therefore a [small] quantity only was delivered. This
notice was repeated the following year and as a consequence a very considerable
[extra] quantity was sown; but during the [three] succeeding years that
unfortunate calamity the rust swept all before it, not only in the district in
question but in all the other districts of the colony, so much so as to create
almost a famine – and I may be allowed to remark that His Excellency Lord C.H. SOMERSET was upon those distressing occasions &
upon all others most kind & benevolent towards the inhabitants, and exerted
his utmost & most anxious endeavours not only for their benefit but for the
welfare and prosperity of the colony in general. The Corn Mills in the Colony
(those in the vicinity of Cape Town excepted) are on the most miserable and
inefficient scale, very few being capable of grinding more than one English
quarter of wheat in the space of 13 hours. Now, as the District of George is
well supplied with water for all purposes, I may be allowed to state it as my
opinion that great benefit would result to the Colony at large were Flour Mills
on a proper and efficient scale erected at convenient and proper places for the
purpose of converting wheat into flour, instead of storing the former, as is
the present custom, for in the first place by these means provisions would be
made against any subsequent calamity arising from the rust – in the next place
it would prevent the necessity of the Burgher’s Senate interfering with the Corn
Trade, and by barrelling the flour it would keep a considerable time and be a
great saving against the destruction of the wheat caused by the insect called
the weevil - and with a market also established at George Town the Boers in the
interior would be induced to bring their goods thither & return with
timber, with which they can only be supplied from [this] district.
The
Colony at present is at a great annual expence in the import of rice, and
therefore were barley [mills] erected (there not being one in the colony) a
great saving on that head [would in my opinion be the consequence.
It
has been asserted by a late writer upon the
The
colony to the eastward of Swellendam is at present laying in a dormant and
unproductive state from the want of a market at george Town – another
advantage, therefore, would arise from the establishment of a market there,
which is that the whole of that part of the colony would be brought into a
state of productiveness & would even with its present population be capable
of raising corn for exportation upon an average to the amount of forty thousand
pounds sterling annually, and the Bays at the mouth of the Breed River and
Mossel bay would afford every facility for exporting the same.
The
Cape sheep are a breed of very unprofitable animals and ought in my opinion to
be gradually extirpated and the Merino and South Down breeds substituted in
their place – of the former there are [now] about 8,000 in the Colony and they
thrive as well and attain a greater weight than the
In
consequence of the dreadful distress occasioned by the three years failure of
the crops, sheep can rarely be purchased for slaughtering above two years old,
whereas about six years since they could be purchased for the same purpose four
years old & upwards. Now were the number of Merino
& South Down sheep increased so as to avoid the necessity of killing them
under 4 years old, the quantity of wool would of course be also increased to
the amount or value of nearly seventy eight thousand seven hundred & fifty
pounds sterling yearly.
In
the Cape [Calendar?] of 1824 an account is given by Mr. VAN BREDA
of the management of his flock and he then states that by [putting] Merino rams
to a herd of
The
Boers state one objection to the growth of wool in the
The
breed of Black Cattle in the colony is by no means deficient for agricultural
purposes, tho’ the cows I admit are very deficient
for the purposes of the dairy. I am of opinion that beef never can be cured to
any extent as the artificial grasses will not thrive in the colony in
consequence of the severe droughts with which it is frequently visited,
therefore the cattle are not sufficiently fed to admit of the beef being
salted, so as to prevent it from becoming dry & hard.
The
The
roads in the Colony require attention. The road which is now nearly finished at
the French hoek will be a great facility, by avoiding
the mountain of that name, and making an easy conveyance over that part of the
country. It would in my opinion be a great improvement to the Colony were the
roads properly surveyed from Cape Town to the districts on the frontiers, more
particularly to Graham’s Town, with a view of forming roads to lead from the
public line of road to the Bays and interior districts. The expence would be
trifling and the roads would neither require forming materials, the line or
direction being all that would be necessary, except where passes and mountains
occur. From the extraordinary height the rivers attain in cases of flood,
bridges are by no means adviseable. Ferry boats are
in my opinion much more preferable. At present it is a very great burden, and
frequently a matter of complaint on the part of the Boers who are situated near
the public roads, by being obliged to accommodate the nervous travellers
passing from
The
Cape wine is of low estimate in England – the Constantia vine having such a
superiority over the other vines in that Colony led my curiosity to minutely
examine both CLOETE’s & COLYNE’s
vineyards, and I found both to be of the same soil, namely a decomposed
granite, the adjoining soil being a rich red loam. The wine from Drakenstein and the
The
general system of the vine growers at the
I may
remark of the Colony generally that it has the superiority over many others
from its climate, and none can raise grain with so little labour and expence,
but the want of labourers for reaping and machines for threshing the corn are
much felt, as are also, as I have before remarked, the want of markets and the
consequent fluctuation of prices occasioned by the interference of the
Burgher’s Senate. It is also necessary to observe that farming at the Cape, in
all its branches, is very different from that in England; and that the most
experienced English farmer, both in practice and theory, would require to be
two years resident in the Colony before he could be aware of the real nature of
the soil and climate, the dangers his stock is liable to, and other
difficulties which experience alone could teach him.
It
may be said that the Colony in an agricultural point of view is at present in a
torpid state and will not be easily roused or brought into action without the
aid of the British Government, and owing to the unfavourable (but in my opinion
unfounded) reports circulated by the disappointed and inexperienced settlers,
but few British farmers would be induced to embark their capital in the Colony,
and the failure of three years crops, coupled with other circumstances, has
impressed upon the minds of the ignorant and illiterate Boers that their
forefathers’ system of management is the only one to be pursued & that they
should by no means deviate from it in future.
I may
be allowed to add that after the first two years failure of crops by the rust I
was induced to try, at considerable expence to myself, no less than six
different experiments with the seed wheat sown for the third year’s crop, in
the hope of preventing a third years failure from the same calamity, but I am
sorry to say to no purpose.
From
experience and local knowledge I am of the opinion that were the capabilities
of the Colony fairly and judiciously brought into action it would not only in a
few years be in a situation to support itself with little or no expence to the
British Government, but would become of importance as a British Settlement in
may other productions such as (such as sea silk &c &c) which never have
been nor never will be [introduced] unless by the British Government.
My
Lord I trust I may be pardoned in the liberty of stating to your Lordship
anything in reference to [myself] individually but in consequence of three
successive years of rust not only my means became exhausted but my future
prospects there completely ruined and those unfortunate but unavoidable causes
alone induced me to return to England after a residence of nearly seven years
in the Colony.
Thus
circumstanced, my Lord, might I be allowed humbly to solicit your Lordship’s
favour and interference in my behalf by conferring upon me any situation or
appointment at the
I have the honor to be most respectfully, my Lord,
Your Lordship’s obed’t humble servant
Peter TAIT