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From: "Philip Strachan" <>
Subject: Re: South Africa's people: the British
Date: Fri, 11 Jan 2002 22:53:32 +0800
References: <20020111132624.EKCB9253.tomts20-srv.bellnexxia.net@[64.230.85.106]>


Hi Anne,

Your reply was very informative.

Regards
Gillian
----- Original Message -----
From: Lehmkuhl <>
To: <>
Sent: Friday, January 11, 2002 9:26 PM
Subject: South Africa's people: the British


> Here is an article from my newsletter, Generations - a South African
> genealogy newsletter.
> Anne Lehmkuhl
> Professional genealogist specializing in South African genealogical
research
> Web site: http://www.rupert.net/~lkool/
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------
--
> -----------------------------------
>
> South Africa's people: the British
> A brief look at their history
>
> The first British occupation of the Cape began on 16 September 1795 and
> ended in March 1803. The second British occupation started in January 1806
> and South Africa remained a British colony until 31 May 1910 when it
became
> the Union of South Africa. British immigrants started arriving in 1795.
>
> Many of the early British went to South Africa for work purposes, after
> which they returned to Britain or continued on to their next posting in
> another colony. They included civil servants, missionaries, soldiers and
> traders. With the second occupation, the number of people who remained in
> the Cape Colony started increasing. Tracing early settlers is no easy
task,
> as ship passenger lists were not always complete and one has to research
> many resources looking for a mention. The early settlers were usually
> individual immigrants as immigration schemes only came much later. Not all
> the British left in 1803, some stayed including the following families:
> Duckitt, Murray, Tennant, Caldwell, Rex, Anderson, Callander and Reade.
> Many Britons who saw service in India with the British East India Company,
> retired to the Cape Colony and were known as the "British Indians", "Cape
> India families" or "Hindoos". There were quite a few who settled in
> Stellenbosch, including William Caldwell who ran 2 inns there from 1803 to
> 1812.
>
> Benjamin Moodie, 9th laird of Melsetter in Orkney, brought out 200
Scottish
> artisans in the first planned British immigration scheme in 1817. The
first
> party arrived with Moodie at the Cape on 04 June 1817 aboard the
Brilliant:
> . On 23 August 1817, another party of 50 arrived aboard the Garland:. The
> next party of 90 arrived on 24 September 1817 on board the Clyde:. Moodie
> had contracted the settlers to work for him for the first 18 months upon
> arrival, or else to pay him their passages and they would be free to work
> for themselves or anyone else. Most of the settlers soon found out that
> they could get better jobs on their own.
>
> The next immigration scheme was the 1820 Settlers, which brought out
> approx. 4500 settlers. They arrived on board 21 ships, the first being the
> Chapman:, arrived in Algoa Bay on 09 April 1820. Among the settlers were
> artisans, tradesmen, ministers of religion, merchants, teachers,
> bookbinders, blacksmiths, discharged sailors and soldiers, professional
men
> and farmers. They were settled in British Kaffraria, where their first
> homes were the tents given to them by the government. They pitched their
> tents once they had chosen their piece of land. Their first task was to
> build a more permanent abode for their families, after which they started
> to till the lands. The government wanted them as farmers, but many
settlers
> did not have farming experience. Soon the drift towards towns started and
> this is where these settlers started making their mark on South African
> society. They started a free press, schools, churches, and businesses.
> Those who had stayed on the farms eventually began to prosper.
>
> Dr George Thom was the first of several Scotsmen to leave the London
> Missionary Society for the Dutch Reformed Church at the Cape. He left
> London in early 1822 with Rev. Andrew Murray and 6 teachers. They arrived
> at the Cape on 02 July 1822 on board the Arethusa:.
>
> Joseph Byrne organized some 4500 British settlers in 1849 to settle in
> Natal, known as the Byrne Settlers. Groups of Cornish miners came to work
> on the copper mines in Namaqualand from 1850. On 05 September 1850, the
> Zenobia: arrived in Table Bay with approx. 230 new settlers who were
mostly
> artisans. Between 18571862, approx. 5800 immigrants arrived under the Cape
> of Good Hope Immigration Board, which had an agent based in London. This
> scheme offered free passage to suitable applicants. In 1860, discharged
> British soldiers were offered land to come and settle at the Cape and many
> took up this offer. A lot of British settlers worked on building the
> railways after 1872. The discovery of diamonds and gold also brought more
> British to South Africa. The Cape government started an immigration scheme
> in 1873 by which settled residents could sponsor new settlers by
> undertaking to give them employment.
>
> Irish immigrants also made their home in South Africa. The first Irish
were
> soldiers sent out during the first and second British occupations. There
> were 3 Irish Cape Governors: George, 1st Earl Macartney; Du Pre Alexander,
> Earl of Caledon and Sir John Francis Cradock. Henry Nourse, a shipowner at
> the Cape, brought out a small party of Irish settlers in 1818. In 1823,
> John Ingram brought out 146 Irish from Cork. Single Irish women were sent
> to the Cape on a few occasions. Twenty arrived in November 1849 and 46
> arrived in March 1851. The majority arrived in November 1857 aboard the
> Lady Kennaway:. A large contingent of Irish troops fought in the
Anglo-Boer
> War and a few of them stayed in South Africa after the war. Others
returned
> home but later came out to settle in South Africa with their families.
> Between 1902 and 1905, there were approx. 5000 Irish immigrants.
>
> The British contributed in many ways, founding the first university,
> building roads, developing the harbours, developing the first banks,
> creating the postal, telegraph and railway services. However, it has only
> been in the last few years that more genealogical research has been done
on
> families originating from the UK. Although it is becoming easier to trace
> their roots in South Africa, one does meet brick walls quite often,
> especially when trying to trace back to the UK.
> Sources:
> British residents at the Cape 17951819, Peter Philip, 1981
> They were South Africans, John Bond, 1958
> In search of South Africa, H.V. Morton, 1948
>
> Copyright 1998 Anne Lehmkuhl
> ----------------------------------------------
>
>
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