Albany, South Africa

Last updated
Albany on the Eastern Frontier, ca 1835 Eastern Frontier, Cape of Good Hope, ca 1835.png
Albany on the Eastern Frontier, ca 1835

Albany, South Africa (also known as Cape Borders, Cape Frontier, Settler Country, and Western Region) was a district in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. Grahamstown was traditionally the administrative capital, cultural centre and largest town of the Albany district.

Contents

The area was previously known as the 'Zuurveld' by migrating Boer farmers in the late 18th century, and it lay near the boundary between the Cape Colony and the traditional Xhosa lands to the east. The 1820 Settlers were instrumental in settling and farming the district and giving it some of its distinctive local culture. The ANC government merged the Albany area with the large Xhosa township of Alice as the municipal area of 'Cacadu' .

History

1820 settlers landing in Algoa Bay Thomas Baines - The British Settlers of 1820 Landing in Algoa Bay - 1853.png
1820 settlers landing in Algoa Bay

General Jacob Glen Cuyler, the Landdrost of the Uitenhage district, named the area between the Sundays and Fish rivers "Albany" after Albany in his native New York. Albany became the destination for the 1820 Settlers by the Cape Colony's new British masters. It accepted one of the largest waves of British immigrant settlers to South Africa, and the development of Albany was a milestone in the formation of the British diaspora. Grahamstown, Bathurst, and Port Alfred became important villages in Albany following the arrival of the 1820 Settlers.

Geographical features

The district forms part of the rural hinterland beyond Port Elizabeth.

The Albany area is of extreme ecological importance because of its unique indigenous vegetation, composed of deep, lush "Albany thickets". Albany Thicket is an ecoregion and biodiversity hotspot of dense woodland, containing many endemic species. Ecologically it forms part of the greater Cape Floristic Region.

The coastal belt is a temperate, winter rainfall area, with rains of 500 to 700 mm per annum and above. Further to the interior, the terrain is mostly dry Karoo and grasslands composed of large commercial farms and vast expanses. Despite the arid interior, the Sundays and Fish rivers support extensive irrigated farming. They are fed by water from the Orange River under the Fish River Transfer Scheme.

Rhodes University campus Herbert Baker clocktower, Rhodes University, 2004.jpg
Rhodes University campus

Culture

Grahamstown is still a major cultural centre, being home to both Rhodes University as well as the National Arts Festival. The university is the authority on South African English. The city, formed by John Graham, was traditionally the capital of the Albany District Council. [1]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cape Colony</span> British colony from 1806 to 1910

The Cape Colony, also known as the Cape of Good Hope, was a British colony in present-day South Africa named after the Cape of Good Hope. It existed from 1795 to 1802, and again from 1806 to 1910, when it united with three other colonies to form the Union of South Africa, then became the Cape Province, which existed even after 1961, when South Africa had become a republic, albeit, temporarily outside the Commonwealth of Nations (1961-94).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of the Cape Colony from 1806 to 1870</span> History of the first European colony in South Africa (1806–1870)

The history of the Cape Colony from 1806 to 1870 spans the period of the history of the Cape Colony during the Cape Frontier Wars, which lasted from 1779 to 1879. The wars were fought between the European colonists and the native Xhosa who, defending their land, fought against European rule.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eastern Cape</span> Province in South Africa

The Eastern Cape is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, but its two largest cities are East London and Gqeberha.

The following lists events that happened during 1812 in South Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Makhanda, South Africa</span> Town in Eastern Cape, South Africa

Makhanda, also known as Grahamstown, is a town of about 140,000 people in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is situated about 110 kilometres (70 mi) northeast of Gqeberha and 130 kilometres (80 mi) southwest of East London. It is the largest town in the Makana Local Municipality, and the seat of the municipal council. It also hosts Rhodes University, the Eastern Cape Division of the High Court, the South African Library for the Blind (SALB), a diocese of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa, and 6 South African Infantry Battalion. Furthermore, located approximately 3 km south-east of the town lies the world renowned Waterloo Farm, the only estuarine fossil site in the world from 360 million years ago with exceptional soft-tissue preservation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1820 Settlers</span> British colonists in South Africa

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sarah Baartman District Municipality</span> District municipality in Eastern Cape, South Africa

The Sarah Baartman District Municipality, formerly the Cacadu District Municipality, is situated in the western part of the Eastern Cape province of South Africa, covering an area of 58,242 square kilometres. The area of the district municipality includes seven local municipalities. The seat is the city of Gqeberha, although Gqeberha is not itself in the district. As of 2011, the languages most spoken among the 388,201 inhabitants were isiXhosa and Afrikaans. The district code is DC10.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bathurst, South Africa</span> Village in Eastern Cape, South Africa

Bathurst is about 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) inland from Port Alfred, on the R67 road, in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa, and is named after Henry Bathurst, 3rd Earl Bathurst, Secretary of State for the Colonies by Sir Rufane Donkin. Its chief claim to fame is that it was the early administrative centre established by the British Government for the 1820 British Settlers who were sent to the district as a buffer between the Cape Colony and the Xhosa pastoralists who were migrating southwards and westwards along the coast. Bathurst is now part of the Ndlambe Local Municipality in the Sarah Baartman District Municipality of the Eastern Cape.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">British Kaffraria</span>

British Kaffraria was a British colony/subordinate administrative entity in present-day South Africa, consisting of the districts now known as Qonce and East London. It was also called Queen Adelaide's Province and, unofficially, British Kaffiria and Kaffirland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amathole Mountains</span> Mountain range in South Africa

Amatola, Amatole or Amathole are a range of densely forested mountains, situated in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. The word Amathole means ‘calves’ in Xhosa, and Amathole District Municipality, which lies to the south, is named after these mountains.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andries Stockenström</span>

Sir Andries Stockenström, 1st Baronet, was lieutenant governor of British Kaffraria from 13 September 1836 to 9 August 1838.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bantu peoples of South Africa</span> Ethnic descriptor in South Africa

South African Bantu-speaking peoples represent the overwhelming majority ethno-racial group of South Africans. Occasionally grouped as Bantu, the term itself is derived from the English word "people", common to many of the Bantu languages. The Oxford Dictionary of South African English describes "Bantu", when used in a contemporary usage or racial context as "obsolescent and offensive", because of its strong association with the "white minority rule" with their apartheid system. However, Bantu is used without pejorative connotations in other parts of Africa and is still used in South Africa as the group term for the language family.

Colonel John Graham was a British soldier and administrator best known for founding the settlement of Grahamstown in the Cape Colony in 1812. Grahamstown went on to become a military, administrative, judicial and educational centre for its surrounding region.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Xhosa Wars</span> (1779-1879) Wars between the Xhosa Kingdom and the British Empire as well as Dutch settlers

The Xhosa Wars were a series of nine wars between the Xhosa Kingdom and the British Empire as well as Trekboers in what is now the Eastern Cape in South Africa. These events were the longest-running military action in the history of European colonialism in Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Southey (colonial administrator)</span> British colonial administrator (1808–1901)

Sir Richard Southey was a British colonial administrator, cabinet minister and landowner in South Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ngqika</span> Sub-group of the Xhosa people of South Africa

The Ngqika people are a Xhosa monarchy who lived west of the Great Kei River in what is today the Eastern Cape of South Africa. They were first ruled by Rarabe kaPhalo who died with his son Mlawu, who was destined for chieftaincy. The clan would be named after Ngqika ka Mlawu, the son of the then late Mlawu. It would be years before the child would rule his people who fought in the Xhosa Wars, which were sparked by the encroachment of European settlers on Xhosa lands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Makhanda (prophet)</span> Xhosa indigenous doctor

Makhanda, also spelled Makana and also known as Nxele, was a Xhosa indigenous doctor. He served as a top advisor to Chief Ndlambe. During the Xhosa Wars, on the 22nd of April, 1819, he initiated an abortive assault on the town of Grahamstown, in what was then the Cape Colony.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dutch Cape Colony</span> Former Dutch colony in Southern Africa

The Cape Colony was a Dutch United East India Company (VOC) colony in Southern Africa, centered on the Cape of Good Hope, from where it derived its name. The original colony and its successive states that the colony was incorporated into occupied much of modern South Africa. Between 1652 and 1691, it was a Commandment, and between 1691 and 1795, a Governorate of the United East India Company (VOC). Jan van Riebeeck established the colony as a re-supply and layover port for vessels of the VOC trading with Asia. The Cape came under VOC rule from 1652 to 1795 and from 1803 to 1806 was ruled by the Batavian Republic. Much to the dismay of the shareholders of the VOC, who focused primarily on making profits from the Asian trade, the colony rapidly expanded into a settler colony in the years after its founding.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Godlonton</span>

Robert Godlonton (1794–1884) was an influential politician of the Cape Colony. He was an 1820 Settler, who developed the press of the Eastern Cape and led the Eastern Cape separatist movement as a representative in the Cape's Legislative Council.

Captain Duncan Campbell, 39, was an 1820 British Settler from Hampshire to South Africa having sailed on the Weymouth as a leader of a party numbering 28. His sister, Susan, who was 20 years old, accompanied him.

References

  1. "Armoria civica - Albany DC". Archived from the original on 2009-10-26.

33°18′S26°32′E / 33.300°S 26.533°E / -33.300; 26.533