Hunting in the Sneeuberg, 1856
In mid-July 1856, Robert Bain of Quagga’s Valley (one of William Southey’s farms), and George Murray of Naudesberg (in the Sneeuberg north of Graaff-Reinet), with his youngest brother Walter, rode over the mountains to the extensive flats around Cephanjes Poort, Kolhoek and Zaayfontein, to hunt mainly wildebeest and springbok. According to The Graaff-Reinet Herald of July…
Read MoreCricket in Graaff-Reinet, 1854
The Graaff-Reinet Herald of Wenesday, July 19, 1854, stated: “What with Dissolving Views, the Races and now two Cricket Clubs, we are going ahead surprisingly well. To be sure there is very little business doing right now and this melancholy fact doubtless accounts for a loss of gaiety. But, be that as it may, we…
Read MoreThe beauty of Graaff-Reinet
Bishop Griffiths found Graaff-Reinet a beautiful town with neat houses, all white-washed and thatched. “They are seldom more than one storey. The streets are planted at each side with lemon and orange trees. Water for irrigation purposes is conveyed to these by cart. The whole town is surrounded by mountains. It is quite an oasis…
Read MoreKaroo Captivates The Bishop
When Robert Grey, Bishop of Cape Town, set off for the northernmost reaches of the Colony, he was captivated by the Karoo. “There was no time for reading in the wagon,” writes Thelma Gutsche in The Bishop’s Lady. “The arid desert-like Karoo with its abrupt rocky kopjes, occasional mirages and stunted bushes sparsely mixed with…
Read MoreWings Over The Karoo
After WWI, small air transport businesses were established in several South African centres. Among these companies were South African Aerial Transport Company and South African Aerial Navigation Company, which operated on the Witwatersrand, Natal, and in the Eastern and Western Cape. Aerial Stunts, an air taxi company, offered joy rides over Durban. Aviation Limited which…
Read MoreLocal conflict in Graaff-Reinet, 1786
When Graaff-Reinet was established in the horseshoe bend of the Sundays River on July 19, 1786, that part of the Karoo was far from peaceful. Things were so bad that the first magistrate, Mauritz Otto Woeke, took to drink. His successor Magistrate Maynier was inefficient and caused great discontent throughout the district. A medical man,…
Read MoreTitus Oates, Antarctica explorer, remembered In Aberdeen
The centenary of the death of Captain Lawrence “Titus” Oates was recently commemorated in the little Karoo village of Aberdeen. On March 16, 1912, Oates, a member of Captain Robert Falcon Scott’s ill-fated expedition to the South Pole, stepped out tent during a blizzard saying: “I’ll am going out. I will be some time.” He…
Read MoreRailways In The Karoo: John Paterson and William Brounger
It was the son of a Scottish stone carter who devised a way to link Graaff-Reinet to the coast by rail. But John Paterson initially came to South Africa to teach English. He was recruited by James Rose Innes, and he arrived in this country filled with enthusiasm. By 1841 he had established The Government…
Read MoreDefending Graaff-Reinet in 1801
Graaff-Reinet’s Resident Commissioner, Honoratus Christiaan David Maynier, was extremely unpopular. Dissatisfaction with his services reached a peak during 1801 when he was accused of harbouring “a force” of between 200 and 400 vagrants at the Drostdy. To the horror of some locals, he also made loopholes in the walls of the church claiming this necessary…
Read MoreGraaff-Reinet Rifle Corps
Graaff Reinet had a rifle corps, established when a Burgher Law was passed because of rumours of another war were rife. John H Roselt placed an advertisement in the Graaff-Reinet Herald early in February 1856, stating that a meeting would be held in the Court Room at 19h30 on February 21 for the purpose of…
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