An approach to the urban history of early Victorian Grahamstown, 1832-53, with particular reference to the interiors and material culture of domestic dwellings
- Authors: Scott, Patricia Elena
- Date: 1988
- Subjects: Interior decoration -- Grahamstown -- History , Housing -- South Africa -- Grahamstown -- History , Grahamstown (South Africa) -- History
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2555 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002408 , Interior decoration -- Grahamstown -- History , Housing -- South Africa -- Grahamstown -- History , Grahamstown (South Africa) -- History
- Description: This study is a venture in urban history in that although housing has been the subject of a number of recent studies, little attempt has been made within the British urban history framework to give serious study to what lies behind the architectural facade, the material domestic culture of an urban community. An important objective of this study is to examine the material culture of domestic dwellings in early Victorian Grahamstown, also referring to other parts of the Cape Colony. Where possible these facts are related to the occupants of the dwellings. No community, urban or rural, can be divorced from the influences which lie beyond its immediate locality in region or metropol. As a preliminary to this study the urban background of industrial Britain is examined, as are English and Dutch cultural influences on the interiors of Cape homes in general. The occupational stratification and spatial structure of early Victorian Grahamstown are then explored, leading into· a discussion of the material domestic culture of the interiors of Grahamstown dwellings. In the final analysis, this study is an attempt to uncover the character of early Victorian Grahamstown and its possible implications for English cultural influences at the Cape. In so doing, not only what constitutes the domestic material culture of Grahamstown is established, but beyond that, a comparison made with domestic material cultural developments in another colonial, though not frontier, settlement with roots in Georgian and Victorian England, namely Australia.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1988
- Authors: Scott, Patricia Elena
- Date: 1988
- Subjects: Interior decoration -- Grahamstown -- History , Housing -- South Africa -- Grahamstown -- History , Grahamstown (South Africa) -- History
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2555 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002408 , Interior decoration -- Grahamstown -- History , Housing -- South Africa -- Grahamstown -- History , Grahamstown (South Africa) -- History
- Description: This study is a venture in urban history in that although housing has been the subject of a number of recent studies, little attempt has been made within the British urban history framework to give serious study to what lies behind the architectural facade, the material domestic culture of an urban community. An important objective of this study is to examine the material culture of domestic dwellings in early Victorian Grahamstown, also referring to other parts of the Cape Colony. Where possible these facts are related to the occupants of the dwellings. No community, urban or rural, can be divorced from the influences which lie beyond its immediate locality in region or metropol. As a preliminary to this study the urban background of industrial Britain is examined, as are English and Dutch cultural influences on the interiors of Cape homes in general. The occupational stratification and spatial structure of early Victorian Grahamstown are then explored, leading into· a discussion of the material domestic culture of the interiors of Grahamstown dwellings. In the final analysis, this study is an attempt to uncover the character of early Victorian Grahamstown and its possible implications for English cultural influences at the Cape. In so doing, not only what constitutes the domestic material culture of Grahamstown is established, but beyond that, a comparison made with domestic material cultural developments in another colonial, though not frontier, settlement with roots in Georgian and Victorian England, namely Australia.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1988
Lovedale 1930-1955 : the study of a missionary institution in its social, educational and political context
- White, Timothy Raymond Howard
- Authors: White, Timothy Raymond Howard
- Date: 1988
- Subjects: Lovedale Institution , History , South Africa , Education , African people
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2527 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1001856
- Description: Lovedale was founded by the Glasgow Missionary Society as an eduational centre for Africans. Education was to be adapted to the lives of the Africans which would be a departure from the English classical tradition. This meant that emphasis was placed on vocational training and that academic education focussed on the study of English rather than the Classics. But the importance of mother-tongue education was also stressed. The missionaries placed emphasis on village education, whereby the African would be taught skills and crafts that would be useful to him in life. Education, they argued, should also aim at character-training and at spreading the Christian message. They also wanted to see co-operation between the Church and the State in the education of the African. Vocational education was designed to create African artisans who would be able to compete with Whites; but it also aimed at emphasizing the importance of industry in building up character. The Lovedale Press illustrates vocational training in progress, dealing with the difficulties that arose when African printers came into competition with Whites. But the missionaries also used the Press to propagate the Christian message and to promote African literature. An ideological rift began to open up between the missions and the new Black political beliefs of the Second World War. This led to the Lovedale Riot which is considered in the broader framework of sociopolitical unrest within the country. After the 1948 Election an ideological rift also developed between the missions and the State. This study concludes by examining the introduction of the Bantu Education Act and the Lovedale response to this. It was felt that although Bantu Education threatened to undermine their educational endeavour, they should nevertheless cooperate with the system in order to save what they had built up.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1988
- Authors: White, Timothy Raymond Howard
- Date: 1988
- Subjects: Lovedale Institution , History , South Africa , Education , African people
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2527 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1001856
- Description: Lovedale was founded by the Glasgow Missionary Society as an eduational centre for Africans. Education was to be adapted to the lives of the Africans which would be a departure from the English classical tradition. This meant that emphasis was placed on vocational training and that academic education focussed on the study of English rather than the Classics. But the importance of mother-tongue education was also stressed. The missionaries placed emphasis on village education, whereby the African would be taught skills and crafts that would be useful to him in life. Education, they argued, should also aim at character-training and at spreading the Christian message. They also wanted to see co-operation between the Church and the State in the education of the African. Vocational education was designed to create African artisans who would be able to compete with Whites; but it also aimed at emphasizing the importance of industry in building up character. The Lovedale Press illustrates vocational training in progress, dealing with the difficulties that arose when African printers came into competition with Whites. But the missionaries also used the Press to propagate the Christian message and to promote African literature. An ideological rift began to open up between the missions and the new Black political beliefs of the Second World War. This led to the Lovedale Riot which is considered in the broader framework of sociopolitical unrest within the country. After the 1948 Election an ideological rift also developed between the missions and the State. This study concludes by examining the introduction of the Bantu Education Act and the Lovedale response to this. It was felt that although Bantu Education threatened to undermine their educational endeavour, they should nevertheless cooperate with the system in order to save what they had built up.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1988
The Albania settlement of Griqualand West, 1866-1878
- Authors: Kurtz, June Margaret
- Date: 1988
- Subjects: Land settlement -- South Africa -- Cape of Good Hope , Albania (South Africa) , Griqualand West (South Africa) -- History
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2582 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1004665 , Land settlement -- South Africa -- Cape of Good Hope , Albania (South Africa) , Griqualand West (South Africa) -- History
- Description: The history of the Albania Settlement of Griqualand West is examined from its beginnings in 1866 to its demise in 1878. Albania was very much a product of its time. Nineteenth century British colonial policy was basically expansionist, despite minor fluctuations caused by the various influences affecting it, such as the Free Trade and Mercantilist doctrines, social factors within Britain and events within the colonies themselves. From 1815 colonial settlements were fairly common in British territory, especially after Wakefield had provided a convincing theoretical framework for them. Within South Africa itself there are differing interpretations of what motivated British policy and of the role of the missionaries, while the changing political and economic landscape markedly affected Britain's decisions. British Government settlement schemes were undertaken mainly for social or military reasons, but there were also many settlements founded by land speculators. The economically depressed 1860s hit the Eastern Cape hard and this, combined with the transition to sheep farming, which created considerable land hunger, made the Albania scheme attractive to Eastern Cape farmers. The Griqua people led by Andries Waterboer had made a great effort to establish hegemony north of the Orange River, over the Sotho-Tswana and other Griqua chiefs. By 1866 the attempt had failed and Free State farmers were encroaching onto Nicholas Waterboer's lands. When Waterboer's agent, David Arnot, proposed the establishment of a settlement of Albany men to act as a "Wall of Flesh", Waterboer accepted the idea. Arnot's motivation was also land speculation in an area where diamonds were likely to push up land values. From its inception the settlement was dogged by quarrels, mainly over land, amongst the parties involved - the Griqua, brutally removed to make way for the settlers; the settlers, dissatisfied with the land tenure system and their administration; Arnot; the British and the encroaching Boer farmers . After the 1871 annexation of Griqualand West, into which Albania was absorbed, it took seven years, two Land Commissions, a Land Court and a special Land Claims Commissioner to sort out the tangled claims and bring order to the area and Albania's history to a close.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1988
- Authors: Kurtz, June Margaret
- Date: 1988
- Subjects: Land settlement -- South Africa -- Cape of Good Hope , Albania (South Africa) , Griqualand West (South Africa) -- History
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2582 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1004665 , Land settlement -- South Africa -- Cape of Good Hope , Albania (South Africa) , Griqualand West (South Africa) -- History
- Description: The history of the Albania Settlement of Griqualand West is examined from its beginnings in 1866 to its demise in 1878. Albania was very much a product of its time. Nineteenth century British colonial policy was basically expansionist, despite minor fluctuations caused by the various influences affecting it, such as the Free Trade and Mercantilist doctrines, social factors within Britain and events within the colonies themselves. From 1815 colonial settlements were fairly common in British territory, especially after Wakefield had provided a convincing theoretical framework for them. Within South Africa itself there are differing interpretations of what motivated British policy and of the role of the missionaries, while the changing political and economic landscape markedly affected Britain's decisions. British Government settlement schemes were undertaken mainly for social or military reasons, but there were also many settlements founded by land speculators. The economically depressed 1860s hit the Eastern Cape hard and this, combined with the transition to sheep farming, which created considerable land hunger, made the Albania scheme attractive to Eastern Cape farmers. The Griqua people led by Andries Waterboer had made a great effort to establish hegemony north of the Orange River, over the Sotho-Tswana and other Griqua chiefs. By 1866 the attempt had failed and Free State farmers were encroaching onto Nicholas Waterboer's lands. When Waterboer's agent, David Arnot, proposed the establishment of a settlement of Albany men to act as a "Wall of Flesh", Waterboer accepted the idea. Arnot's motivation was also land speculation in an area where diamonds were likely to push up land values. From its inception the settlement was dogged by quarrels, mainly over land, amongst the parties involved - the Griqua, brutally removed to make way for the settlers; the settlers, dissatisfied with the land tenure system and their administration; Arnot; the British and the encroaching Boer farmers . After the 1871 annexation of Griqualand West, into which Albania was absorbed, it took seven years, two Land Commissions, a Land Court and a special Land Claims Commissioner to sort out the tangled claims and bring order to the area and Albania's history to a close.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1988
The political department and the retraction of paramountcy in India 1935-1947
- Authors: Moëd, Madeleine
- Date: 1988
- Subjects: India , India -- Politics and government -- 1919-1947
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2526 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1001855
- Description: The Political Department and the Indian Political Service stand accused of sins of omission and commission. The evidence suggests that they were badly hampered by ill-conceived training prodecures, a lack of manpower and above all the incoherent policy of the British government towards the Indian states. The failure of the 1935 Federation Act which formally established the Political Department was not due to princely intransigence inspired by political officers. Between 1935 and 1947 the Political Department embarked on a vigorous programme of combining the resources of the smaller states to strengthen them as viable partners in a new India. Their lack of success in effecting the federation of the states with India in 1947 was not a result of the disinclination of political officers to implement reform as much as their inability to do so. Many princes were also unwilling to sacrifice a measure of sovereignty for efficient government and paramountcy precluded forcing internal reform on the princes. Paramountcy was never clearly defined and thus its retraction in 1947 took place amidst confusion and misunderstanding on all sides. The Indian Political Service was always treated as secondary to the Indian Civil Service and the states to British India. Britain's emphasis on constitutional change in British India, reflected in the Cripps Mission of 1942, the Cabinet Mission of 1946 and the rush towards independence in 1947 resulted in her inattention to the Political Department and the princes which culminated in the abandonment of both in 1947.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1988
- Authors: Moëd, Madeleine
- Date: 1988
- Subjects: India , India -- Politics and government -- 1919-1947
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2526 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1001855
- Description: The Political Department and the Indian Political Service stand accused of sins of omission and commission. The evidence suggests that they were badly hampered by ill-conceived training prodecures, a lack of manpower and above all the incoherent policy of the British government towards the Indian states. The failure of the 1935 Federation Act which formally established the Political Department was not due to princely intransigence inspired by political officers. Between 1935 and 1947 the Political Department embarked on a vigorous programme of combining the resources of the smaller states to strengthen them as viable partners in a new India. Their lack of success in effecting the federation of the states with India in 1947 was not a result of the disinclination of political officers to implement reform as much as their inability to do so. Many princes were also unwilling to sacrifice a measure of sovereignty for efficient government and paramountcy precluded forcing internal reform on the princes. Paramountcy was never clearly defined and thus its retraction in 1947 took place amidst confusion and misunderstanding on all sides. The Indian Political Service was always treated as secondary to the Indian Civil Service and the states to British India. Britain's emphasis on constitutional change in British India, reflected in the Cripps Mission of 1942, the Cabinet Mission of 1946 and the rush towards independence in 1947 resulted in her inattention to the Political Department and the princes which culminated in the abandonment of both in 1947.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1988
The Port Elizabeth disturbances of October, 1920
- Authors: Baines, Gary F, 1955-
- Date: 1988
- Subjects: Black people -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth -- Social conditions , Police shootings -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth , Labor movement -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth -- History
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2529 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1001858
- Description: Chapter one suggests thet trade and merchant capital, which were crucial to Port Elizabeth's economic development during the nineteenth century, was subsumed by the rise of manufactures and industrial capital after the First World War. Industrial expansion was cut short by the post-war recession, which caused un- and underemployment. The black worker, who experienced a severe loss in real earnings on account of the increased cost of living, became involved in a struggle with employers for wage increases. Chapter two shows how the policy of segregation was applied in Port Elizabeth, which meant that the workers were subjected to an increasing degree of control and regulation of their daily lives. The conditions of reproduction in the black townships fostered inter-racial and cross-class mobilisation which culminated in the formation of a general labour union, the Port Elizabeth Industrial and Commercial Workers' Union (PEICWU). Chapter three will suggest links between the tradition in Port Elizabeth of worker resistance and the unionisation of black workers in the post-war period. Thus, the first three chapters attempt to provide a historical perspective for analysing the underlying causes of the 1920 Port Elizabeth disturbances. The immediate cause of the disturbances was the arrest of the Union leader, Masabalala, after he called for a general strike. Chapter four will show how the intervention of the local authorities provoked a spontaneous act of defiance on the part of Union members. A demonstration outside the Baakens Street Police Station to demand the release of Masabalala, precipitated the tragic shootings of 23 October 1920. The repressive violence which left 22 dead (with two further deaths resulting indirectly from the incident) was unprecedented in South African history. The resolution of the crisis brought the workers no nearer to obtaining a reasonable settlement of the wage issue. If anything, the resolve of employers to deny wage demands was hardened by the actions of the local authorities, who attributed the disturbances to ' agitation '. Such thinly-disguised justifications of the shootings by the dominant classes, however, provoked recriminations from other quarters. Chapter five examines the legal and political ramifications of the Port Elizabeth shootings. The circumstances of the shootings prompted the Smuts Government to appoint a Commission of Enquiry in the face of public pressure. The Commission found that the Police and vigilantes were largely to blame for the high death toll. But the Government's 'whitewash' of the findings could not absolve the Police from culpability entirely, nor could it sidestep its own responsibility and liability to victims of the shootings. Finally, in Chapter six, an attempt will be made to assess the long term impact of the shootings on the PElCU and the black labour movement in Port Elizabeth generally. The outcome of the episode was a victory for employers, which dealt a body blow to worker organisation which only became resurgent in the 1950s.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1988
- Authors: Baines, Gary F, 1955-
- Date: 1988
- Subjects: Black people -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth -- Social conditions , Police shootings -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth , Labor movement -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth -- History
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2529 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1001858
- Description: Chapter one suggests thet trade and merchant capital, which were crucial to Port Elizabeth's economic development during the nineteenth century, was subsumed by the rise of manufactures and industrial capital after the First World War. Industrial expansion was cut short by the post-war recession, which caused un- and underemployment. The black worker, who experienced a severe loss in real earnings on account of the increased cost of living, became involved in a struggle with employers for wage increases. Chapter two shows how the policy of segregation was applied in Port Elizabeth, which meant that the workers were subjected to an increasing degree of control and regulation of their daily lives. The conditions of reproduction in the black townships fostered inter-racial and cross-class mobilisation which culminated in the formation of a general labour union, the Port Elizabeth Industrial and Commercial Workers' Union (PEICWU). Chapter three will suggest links between the tradition in Port Elizabeth of worker resistance and the unionisation of black workers in the post-war period. Thus, the first three chapters attempt to provide a historical perspective for analysing the underlying causes of the 1920 Port Elizabeth disturbances. The immediate cause of the disturbances was the arrest of the Union leader, Masabalala, after he called for a general strike. Chapter four will show how the intervention of the local authorities provoked a spontaneous act of defiance on the part of Union members. A demonstration outside the Baakens Street Police Station to demand the release of Masabalala, precipitated the tragic shootings of 23 October 1920. The repressive violence which left 22 dead (with two further deaths resulting indirectly from the incident) was unprecedented in South African history. The resolution of the crisis brought the workers no nearer to obtaining a reasonable settlement of the wage issue. If anything, the resolve of employers to deny wage demands was hardened by the actions of the local authorities, who attributed the disturbances to ' agitation '. Such thinly-disguised justifications of the shootings by the dominant classes, however, provoked recriminations from other quarters. Chapter five examines the legal and political ramifications of the Port Elizabeth shootings. The circumstances of the shootings prompted the Smuts Government to appoint a Commission of Enquiry in the face of public pressure. The Commission found that the Police and vigilantes were largely to blame for the high death toll. But the Government's 'whitewash' of the findings could not absolve the Police from culpability entirely, nor could it sidestep its own responsibility and liability to victims of the shootings. Finally, in Chapter six, an attempt will be made to assess the long term impact of the shootings on the PElCU and the black labour movement in Port Elizabeth generally. The outcome of the episode was a victory for employers, which dealt a body blow to worker organisation which only became resurgent in the 1950s.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1988
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