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Nic(h)olaas Waterboer (c. 1819 - 17 September 1896) was a leader ("Kaptijn") of the Griqua people.
He was the last fully independent Griqua Kaptijn of Griqualand West, and after it became a British colony, his rule and that of his successors was largely nominal.
He was the eldest son of Andries Waterboer who had founded the Waterboer dynasty, and his wife Gertruida Pienaar.
After his father's death in 1852, Nicolaas was proclaimed the Kaptijn (Captain) of Griqualand West at the Kaptijn's Residence in Griekwastad ("Griquatown").
He ruled during the tumultuous era that followed the discovery of diamonds on his land in the 1860s. As enormous numbers of "diggers" arrived and the population of the diamond fields exploded, tensions grew between the different groups - including the Griquas, the indigenous Tswana people, the Boers and the white English diggers. Disagreements ensued on exactly what the borders of the semi-nomadic Griquas' land was, and a range of regional states, including the Transvaal Republic and the Orange Free State vied for ownership of the land. The Cape Colony meanwhile, the largest and most powerful state in the region, was uniquely uninterested in any form of union with the territory, in spite of strong pressure from the British to enact a form of union.
Against the backdrop of the land tensions, the diggers, led by the eccentric Stafford Parker, proclaimed the independent "Diggers/Klipdrift Republic" in 1870, but it was swiftly annexed to the British Empire as the separate colony of Griqualand West. After briefly moving to Griqualand East, Waterboer moved back to his official residence in Griekwastad in 1874 to reassume his traditional rulership. [1]
With his agent, David Arnot, Waterboer launched a lawsuit over his land rights, which led to him losing significant portions of his territory, but which in the end he won. Waterboer was a famously eloquent orator, and enormously persuasive in his speech. He was fluent in English and Dutch, as well as the native languages of his people - Afrikaans and Griqua.
He briefly led a revolt against the British Empire in 1878, which led to his arrest and brief exile to Hopetown. He returned in 1880 though.
He died in Griekwastad on 17 September 1896. [2]
The Orange Free State was an independent Boer sovereign republic under British suzerainty in Southern Africa during the second half of the 19th century, which ceased to exist after it was defeated and surrendered to the British Empire at the end of the Second Boer War in 1902. It is one of the three historical precursors to the present-day Free State province.
Kimberley is the capital and largest city of the Northern Cape province of South Africa. It is located approximately 110 km east of the confluence of the Vaal and Orange Rivers. The city has considerable historical significance due to its diamond mining past and the siege during the Second Anglo-Boer war. British businessmen Cecil Rhodes and Barney Barnato made their fortunes in Kimberley, and Rhodes established the De Beers diamond company in the early days of the mining town.
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Griqualand West is an area of central South Africa with an area of 40,000 km2 that now forms part of the Northern Cape Province. It was inhabited by the Griqua people – a semi-nomadic, Afrikaans-speaking nation of mixed-race origin, who established several states outside the expanding frontier of the Cape Colony. It was also ancestral home to the Tswana and Khoisan peoples.
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Campbell is a small town situated on the edge of the Ghaap Plateau in the Northern Cape province of South Africa. It is located 48 km east of Griquatown on the N8 road. It was originally known as Knovel Valley and then Groote Fontein, but was renamed in honour of the Reverend John Campbell who visited the Cape Colony in 1813.
Griekwastad is a country town in South Africa. It is sometimes still called Griquatown, a name which is now considered historical. The town is on the N8 road in the Northern Cape Province of South Africa 168 kilometres (104 mi) by road west from the city of Kimberley. It was the first town to be established in the country north of the Orange River.
The following lists events that happened during 1896 in South Africa.
Andries Waterboer was a leader ("kaptijn") of the Griqua people.
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Sir Richard Southey was a British colonial administrator, cabinet minister and landowner in South Africa.
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Justice Andries Stockenström, second son of Sir Andries Stockenström, was an influential judge in the Cape Colony. He was appointed Attorney-General of the Cape in 1877, but died soon after his appointment at the age of 36.
The Griqualand West Annexation Act, was the act, passed in the Cape Colony Parliament on 27 July 1877, authorising the union of the Cape Colony with Griqualand West.
Stafford Parker was a British artist, miner and the only President of the small and short-lived "Diggers Republic" on the diamond fields of southern Africa.
Lieutenant-General Charles Craufurd Hay (1809–1873) was a British Army officer who became General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Cape of Good Hope.
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