List of Titles

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A study in local history: Grahamstown, 1883-1904

Authors: Sellick, Rose-Mary
Date: 1983
Subjects: Grahamstown (South Africa) -- History
Language: English
Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
Identifier: vital:2556 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002409 , Grahamstown (South Africa) -- History
Description: [From the Preface]: A Study in Local History: Grahamstown 1883-1904 aims to draw into a coherent picture the threads of political attitudes, approaches to racial issues and changes confronting the late Victorians in Grahamstown, particularly in the areas of sanitation, public health and shifting commercial frontiers. The relation of local development to national affairs has been investigated, although attempts to define exactly how the former influenced the latter, and vice versa, would involve one in the proverbial chicken-and-egg syndrome. Let it suffice to say that an understanding of events in the microcosm, or locality, lends clarity to the cross-current of affairs at the national level. It begins at the point where Grahamstown's commercial importance in the Eastern Cape declines after a flourish of hopes in the prospects of the Port Alfred harbour as a means of bringing trade back to Grahamstown. The study concludes when the foundation of Rhodes University College in 1904, provides a new centre of development for the city.
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An approach to the urban history of early Victorian Grahamstown, 1832-53, with particular reference to the interiors and material culture of domestic dwellings

- Scott, Patricia Elena

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.
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A period of transition: a history of Grahamstown, 1902-1918

- Southey, Nicholas

Authors: Southey, Nicholas
Date: 1984
Subjects: Grahamstown (South Africa) -- History
Language: English
Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
Identifier: vital:2558 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002411 , Grahamstown (South Africa) -- History
Description: A Period of Transition : A History of Grahamstown 1902-1918 attempts to show that the trends begun in the nineteenth century were confirmed by developments in the first two decades of the twentieth century. In this period, Grahamstown was forced to abandon ideas of economic recovery and political importance, as it adapted to its role in the post-Union dispensation. The city has been firmly grounded in the wider environment, though comparison with towns of similar position and outlook has been impossible because of a lack of source material.4 It is clearly evident that Grahamstown was under pressure from the macrocosm; nonetheless, local initiatives and developments also lent clarity to broader trends. This is particularly clear in the emerging pattern of racial segregation in the City, to cope with the economic and social problems posed by a burgeoning black population. The limited financial resources of a corporation the size of Grahamstown restricted its effectiveness to improve schemes of public works and public health, and further underlined the dependence of the city on the government for assistance. Grahamstown's transition was predominantly one of acceptance of a changed political, social and economic environment.
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A history of Grahamstown, 1918-1945

- Torlesse, Ann Catherine Marjorie

Authors: Torlesse, Ann Catherine Marjorie
Date: 1993
Subjects: Grahamstown (South Africa) -- History , Grahamstown (South Africa) -- Economic conditions
Language: English
Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
Identifier: vital:2565 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002418 , Grahamstown (South Africa) -- History , Grahamstown (South Africa) -- Economic conditions
Description: This study in local history describes socio-economic developments in Grahamstown between 1918 - 1945, and analyses the extent to which these developments mirrored trends in the macrocosm. During these years the city failed to become ndustrialised, but enhanced her reputation as an eminent educational centre. Despite being financially handicapped, the City Council undertook large public works schemes for the provision of essential services, such as electricity and an adequate supply of water. In addition a water-borne sewerage scheme was introduced, and roads were repaired and tarred. The influx of a large number of poor rural Blacks into the urban area placed a considerable strain on the city's health services, and housing projects had to be implemented. Local political affiliations and race relations are examined against the background of national developments, especially the growing entrenchment by the State of the policy of segregation. Attention is also devoted to the impact upon the community of international political crises. The cultural and sporting pursuits, as well as the entertainments enjoyed by Grahamstonians, are investigated; and a picture of the local "mentalite" is presented.
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The diary of Robert John Mullins (1833-1913)

- Nicholls, B M, Charton, N C J, Knowling, Mary

Authors: Nicholls, B M , Charton, N C J , Knowling, Mary
Date: 1998
Subjects: Mullins, Robert John, 1833-1913 , Church of the Province of Southern Africa -- Clergy , Missions -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Cattle Killing, 1856-1857 , St Mark's mission , St Luke's mission , Missionaries -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Education -- South Africa -- Cape of Good Hope , Bolotwa mission , St Peter's mission -- History , Grahamstown (South Africa) -- History , Kaffir Institute -- Grahamstown
Language: English
Type: Book
Identifier: vital:527 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1004350 , Mullins, Robert John, 1833-1913 , Church of the Province of Southern Africa -- Clergy , Missions -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Cattle Killing, 1856-1857 , St Mark's mission , St Luke's mission , Missionaries -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Education -- South Africa -- Cape of Good Hope , Bolotwa mission , St Peter's mission -- History , Grahamstown (South Africa) -- History , Kaffir Institute -- Grahamstown
Description: Summary of Content: This volume offers its readers extracts from the diary and the correspondence of Robert John Mullins, Anglican missionary, priest and in due time principal of what was called the Kafir Institution in Grahamstown and as such a pioneer in the field of western education to black South Africans. After his marriage to Jennie Roe he was assisted in all that he undertook by a loyal and devoted wife. The editors have made use of the earlier diaries and manuscripts because of the light they shed on the conditions in the eastern Cape frontier in the crucial years before and after the cattle-killing. While Mullins' own observations are those of a young missionary his remarks and the record of his experiences are themselves to be viewed in the light of the recent scholarship in regard to the cattle-killing which reveals the multisidedness of an appalling social tragedy. What Mullins wrote records, for better or for worse, episodes which show how South Africans of different origins have in the past regarded one another. Mullins was a committed Christian eager to offer to all whom he could reach the salvation of Christ in which he so fervently believed.He was often intolerant of Xhosa customs he could not understand as well as often perplexed and discouraged. But the overwhelming impact of this record is what it took to be a missionary: courage, commitment, humour, resilience, a capacity to endure physical hardship and enjoy physical activity. All these were qualities which Robert John Mullins possessed in abundance. As his diary shows they were the qualities the frontier demanded. Working over a long period of time Nancy Charton and Brenda Nicholls (who became a coeditor in 1991) have transcribed the diary entries and the correspondence working with the help of the sites of some of the missionary activity. The help of members of the Mullins family (notably Judy Sturrock and her husband) is gratefully acknowledged. Earlier generous contributions made it possible to obtain a typescript from which the editors could work. Every effort has been made to identify the individuals (Xhosa, Tembu and white) and events (both in South Africa and abroad) which are alluded to in the diary. This was a time consuming task and the editors are grateful to all who helped them with it. The book consists of an introduction and eleven chapters. The introduction describes the material and the methods of the editors, discusses the religious and social conditions of the time, addresses the problems of interpartition presented by the cattle-killings, turns attention to the dilemmas of missionaries and then focusses the attention of readers on the diarist Robert John Mullins (with Jennie as later stand-in) as well as the value of the diary. There is much to interest the educationist, the theologian, the economist, and the historian. Chapter 1 deals with Mullins' voyage to the Cape in 1854 and the extracts record the experiences of an exuberant as well as a dedicated lad of sixteen. Chapter 2 deals with the arrival at the Cape in 1854. Chapter 3 gives us a picture of Mullins' experience of Graham's Town in 1854. Chapter 4 deals with Mullins' experience at St Luke's Mission. Chapter 5 covers the period of 1856-57 when Mullins was at Balotwa and the cattle-killing frenzy developed. Chapter 6 describes the hunger and turmoil which followed in the wake of the cattle-killing. Chapter 7 describes the founding of a new station, St Peter's Gwytyu. Chapter 8 is concerned with life at St Peter's in the early months of 1858. Chapter 9 covers the last months at St Peter's and his journey to the Bashee. Chapters 10 and 11 cover the early years in the married life of Robert John Mullins and his wife Jennie. The Mullins' delight in family life is strongly evident in their joy in each other's company and their anxious joy over their first-born baby. Chapter 11 gives the reader the texts of letters written by Robert John and his wife Jennie in the years which marked the end of Mullins' career as a frontier missionary, and the opening to him of the opportunity to become Principal of the Kafir Institution. A map carefully prepared by Mr Oakley West of the Geography Department, with the assistance of Deby Brody, enables the reader to trace the frontier journeys of Robert John Mullins and his wife Jennie who were among the pioneers of frontier societies who did their best to make available to others what they believed to be the eternal benefits of the Christian faith, and the accompanying mores of the 'western' culture of their day.
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African middle class elite

- Nyquist, Thomas E

Authors: Nyquist, Thomas E
Date: 1983
Subjects: Blacks -- South Africa -- Grahamstown , Grahamstown (South Africa) -- History , Grahamstown (South Africa) -- Social conditions , Social classes -- South Africa -- Grahamstown , Blacks -- South Africa -- Social conditions , Blacks -- South Africa -- Grahamstown -- Social conditions , Grahamstown African Rugby Union , Middle class -- South Africa
Language: English
Type: Book , Text
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/2780 , vital:20325 , ISBN 0868100412
Description: In this time of crucial change for all of Southern Africa - as the former colonies of Portugal struggle to become viable states, as Rhodesia totters on the brink of political change, and as South Africa girds itself for an uncertain future - the question is: “What of the potential African leaders in South Africa?” We hear of the Bantustans and their thrust forward, but what of those Africans of ability living in the urban areas whose counterparts have provided much of the leadership in other African countries? Who are they? What are their circumstances? What are they thinking? And what are they doing? The goal of this study is to suggest tentative answers through the careful and detailed study of a specific community and its potential leaders, the upper stratum. Such answers can only be approximate, of course. Community circumstances differ. Moreover, the explosive events in Soweto and elsewhere in South Africa during 1976 have altered reality, and our study was carried out during 1966-7 and 1975. The locus of research has been Grahamstown and, most particularly, the African community attached to it (see Maps 1 and 2). Situated in the eastern region of the Cape Province, Grahamstown is a city of regional importance, best known as the centre of the first large English settlement1. Arguments about its suitability for research of this nature are detailed in Appendix A, but from the researcher’s perspective its African population of 35 000+ gives it more than local significance while still being small enough to allow a thorough study. In addition, the community’s depth of contact with Europeans going back to the 1830’s, and the general importance of Grahamstown as an educational centre, imply a more sophisticated population than its size might otherwise indicate. Further, the community's nearness to the African Bantustan of the Ciskei, one of nine such “homelands” for Africans, and to the African university at Fort Hare, add to its significance. The primary group under study has been the upper stratum of the African community, as defined by the Africans themselves. From the research has evolved a series of propositions. They relate, first, to the composition of the African upper stratum and the role of its members in their own community, and, second, to the way in which their marginal position within South Africa contributes to particular attitudes and social behaviour often detrimental to the achievement of a better community. (For a discussion of the research techniques used, see Appendix B.) , Digitised by Rhodes University Library on behalf of the Institute of Social and Economic Research (ISER)
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Grahamstown and its environs

- Daniel, J B M (John Benjamin McIntyre)

Authors: Daniel, J B M (John Benjamin McIntyre)
Date: 2000
Subjects: Grahamstown (South Africa) -- Miscellanea , Grahamstown (South Africa) -- Description and travel , Grahamstown (South Africa) -- History
Language: English
Type: Book , Text
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/2601 , vital:20308 , ISBN 094998051X
Description: The aim of this brochure is to provide a reasonably comprehensive guide to Grahamstown and its environs. The area has much to offer the person who is prepared to explore and to observe the many facets offered by the human and physical landscapes. It is hoped that the sections on the development of the town and selected historical aspects, the geology, the vegetation, the mammals and the birds will provide sufficient information for the region to be seen and appreciated as a whole, while still leaving room for new discoveries. The interrelationships between geology, altitude, vegetation and the use of the land form a valuable starting point in the study of the countryside. In the towns the buildings and the street grids often help to unravel complex aspects of growth and development. These are some of the features which can be observed on the recommended excursion routes. If the brochure contributes to a greater understanding, and therefore appreciation, of Grahamstown and its environs its purpose will have been fulfilled. , Digitised by Rhodes University Library on behalf of the Institute of Social and Economic Research (ISER)
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Report on slum clearance and the ability of Europeans to pay an economic rent in a small South African city

- Irving, James

Authors: Irving, James
Date: 1959
Subjects: Slums -- South Africa -- Grahamstown , Whites -- South Africa -- Economic conditions , Grahamstown (South Africa) -- History , Grahamstown (South Africa) -- Economic conditions , Grahamstown (South Africa) -- Social conditions
Language: English
Type: Book , Text
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/2565 , vital:20304
Description: In this paper an analysis is developed of the characteristics of a group of Europeans who have been declared to be living in houses unfit for habitation in terms of the criteria laid down in the Slums Act No. 53 of 1934. It is assumed, for purposes of analysis, that the group will be transferred to municipal housing and that, like the Coloured and Africans in the City of Grahamstown, economic rent scales will be applied. This paper is, therefore, concerned with the present condition of the tenants in the slum but is predictive in terms of what will most probably happen if they are transferred to better municipally owned housing under economic rentals. The specific reasons why economic rent, without subsidisation, is likely to be applied to this group need not concern us in this paper. Even if an economic rent is not applied the discussion is held to be of value so far as sets up standards and techniques by which levels of subsidisation, if applied, might be measured. Further, the data is held to be factually interesting so far as it relates to the poverty of Europeans on which, little has been written for some years. , Digitised by Rhodes University Library on behalf of the Institute of Social and Economic Research (ISER)
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Grahamstown: a socio-ecological study of a small South African Town

- Watts, Hilstan Lett

Authors: Watts, Hilstan Lett
Date: 1958
Subjects: Grahamstown (South Africa) -- Buildings , Grahamstown (South Africa) -- History , Grahamstown (South Africa) -- Social conditions , Grahamstown (South Africa) -- Economic conditions
Language: English
Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
Identifier: vital:3386 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1013424
Description: Little is known at present about the development, structure, and functions of small towns in the Union of South Africa, and there is a need to fill this gap in our knowledge. A study has been made of Grahamstown, a small South African town. This study is monographic and intensive in character, and heuristic in aim. Ad hoc hypotheses have been formulated on the basis of the findings of the study, and these must be tested by subsequent studies of other small towns. Grahamstown, the subject of the study, was chosen largely for reasons of convenience, and also because of its interesting development. It is suggested that in many ways the town is possibly a typical small town, but at this stage we cannot know if this is so. Only the white population of the town was investigated, as it was necessary to limit research to manageable proportions, and in addition several studies have already been made of the non-white populations of the town. The analysis has been described as socio-ecological, as basically the methodological approach used is an attempt to wed the methods of the urban demographer and the social ecologist. Time and space are used as the two co-ordinates for the analysis, so that both a social historical and an ecological-demographic analysis of the town have been made. The historical analysis of the development and functions of Grahamstown relies heavily on material collected from the early newspapers of the town. Grahamstown, once the most important town in the Eastern Cape Province, known as the ''Emporium" and ''Metropolis" of the Eastern Cape, and the most progressive town in the Colony, is to-day a small static town with, on the whole, relatively restricted influence. This fundamental change in the historical development of the town, hitherto unexplained, is the result of the changes in the socioecological make-up of the region around the town. Founded in 1812 as a strategic outpost on the frontier of the Colony, Grahamstown dominated a wide region; as the gateway to and the supply centre for, the frontier, the town flourished and reigned supreme. From the mid 19th Century onwards the region began to change to a developed one, with the frontier more and more inland. Grahamstown, no longer a strategic outpost in a frontier region, lost its dominant ecological position to Port Elizabeth, the natural supply base for, and gateway to, the new settled region. As one town among many in the new settled region, Grahamstown gradually lost many of its former functions, and began to stagnate. The town is to-day mainly known for its important educational function. This function, a relic from the days of the town's zenith, has saved the town from complete stagnation. The town is what it is to-day largely because of the socio-ecological regional influences which have operated on it since its foundation. To-day Grahamstown is located within the Port Elizabeth metropolitan district. The town is the centre of a wide variety of regional services of an ad hoc type, and the modal region served seems to be that settled by the 1820 Settlers - basically the town is mainly a supply centre for its surrounding rural areas. The demographic structure of the town reveals a static population. Growth of the white population has been practically static since about 1880, and the age structure is that of a stationary population. Particularly noticeable is the under-representation of the young working group in the population, and it is suggested that due to the lack of economic opportunities in the town, the young workers of the town, especially the unmarried males, migrate to larger urban areas to seek employment, and advancement. The sex-ratio of the population shows an excess of females, and this may be due to migration out of an excess of young males, and possibly migration in of older spinsters. Retired persons definitely migrate to the town to settle. The town, a predominantly English speaking one, has practically no industries, and so the population contains a majority of workers engaged in professional, administrative, and commercial activities. This stresses the service and supply functions of the town. The ecological analysis delineated various natural areas and zones in the town. The pattern approximates to patterns revealed by studies of American towns. Although the areas involved were relatively small, ecological differentiation was marked. The spatial distribution of demographic and other social phenomena was studied in detail. The results of the study have allowed several ad hoc hypotheses concerning the development, functions, and structures of small towns in South Africa to be formulated. These may be tested by subsequent studies, and so ultimately knowledge and theories about our small towns may be built up.
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Two decades in the life of a city : Grahamstown 1862-1882

- Gibbens, Melanie

Authors: Gibbens, Melanie
Date: 1982
Subjects: Frontier War, 1877-1879 , Xhosa (African people) -- History , Schools -- Grahamstown (South Africa) , Grahamstown (South Africa) -- Fingo Village -- History , Hottentot Location -- Grahamstown , Grahamstown -- African population , Diamond Fields , Grahamstown -- Buildings -- City Hall , Grahamstown -- Colored population , Grahamstown (South Africa) -- History , Grahamstown (South Africa) -- Economic conditions , Grahamstown (South Africa) -- Social conditions , Cape of Good Hope (South Africa) -- History -- 1872-1898 , Cape of Good Hope (South Africa) -- Politics and government , Cape of Good Hope (South Africa) -- Economic conditions , Eastern Cape (South Africa) -- History , Grahamstown -- Streets -- Paradise Row , Eastern Cape (South Africa) -- Separation movement , Fingo Village (Grahamstown, South Africa) -- History , South Africa -- History -- Frontier Wars, 1811-1878 , Glanville family , Wood family , Buildings -- South Africa -- Grahamstown , Blacks -- South Africa -- Grahamstown
Language: English
Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
Identifier: vital:2542 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002394
Description: [Preface]:In 1862 Grahamstown acquired the dignity, pride and responsibility of full municipal status by its own Act of Incorporation. Ibis Act marked the consolidation of Grahamstown's era of local government by its vigorous and far-sighted Municipal Board of Commissioners, which was established in 1837 and has been examined in depth in K.S. Hunt's thesis on Grahamstown municipal government up to 1862. Clearly, the year 1862 is the logical beginning for a further study of Grahamstown's changing position in the Eastern Cape and its development in the practice of local government during the crucial decades of the 1860's and 1870's. But the choice of 1882 to mark the end of this thesis is in some ways arbitrary. 1882 does not appear to be a turning point, a year of major significance in either the history of Grahamstown or of the Colony as a whole. Besides the convenient time-span of twenty years, there are various factors which, taken together, explain why 1882 is a useful date of demarcation from which to take stock and review Grahamstown's economic, political, social and municipal position after two vital decades in its history. In the civic sphere,the opening of Grahamstown's Town Hall made tangible,in solid Victorian design,a long held ambition of the City Councillors. Buildings, in Victorian attitudes, throughout the British Empire, were regarded as very important civic symbols. One can learn much of Grahamstown Victorian attitudes from the lengthy process of attaining a Town Hall. A much more elaborate ceremony surrounded the opening of the Jubilee Tower, an occasion for assessing the influence of Grahamstown's Settler heritage on the development of the town. Municipal problems concerning finance, water and "native" locations remained thorny questions as they had throughout the period 1862-32. Generally 1882 was a year of transition for Grahamstown and the Colony as a whole. Economically it appeared to start prosperously but 1882 actually marked the beginning of a severe depression which lasted until 1386. It is important to consider how Grahamstown’s economic development relates to the overall economic picture of the Cape Colony at this juncture. Though ostrich feather prices remained high in 1882, the ensuing depression was caused partly by the rapid overexpansion of the industry but most important of all, by a reaction to an inflated era of confidence during the diamond boom years of the 1870's and their consequent easy Bank credit plus intense speculation. Politically 1882 also appeared a year of transition. How to maintain the uneasy peace after the Basuto war remained a constant challenge to Scanlen's ministry. The beginnings of active party conflict in the workings of responsible government were evident only in embryo. The rapid growth of the Afrikaner Bond was to change this. Specifically in relation to the practice of local government in the Cape Colony, the General Municipal Act No. 45 was passed during the Parliamentary session of 1882, enabling any town to seek incorporation. The query is raised as to how far the modus vivendi of the Grahamstown municipality helped frame the clauses of this general Municipal enabling Act. For these various reasons, as well as the additional one that twenty years was found to offer a manageable research unit, 1882 has been decided on as the limit of this thesis. This thesis aims, through a careful examination of Grahamstown's economic, political but particularly civic development, to determine and trace the nature of the Grahamstown community's response to the challenge of the gradual isolation of the 1860's and 1870's. Grahamstown's civic history provides fascinating insights into the structure of the entire community and its attitudes and values. Study has been made of the following major primary sources for the history of Grahamstown 1862-1882: the Grahamstown Municipality records, complete except for incoming letters and housed in the Cape Archives, und the Grahamstown newspapers for the period. The most prolific as well us the most valuable newspaper source of the period is The Grahamstown Journal, a newspaper with a tradition firmly bound up with the formulation of frontier as well as Grahamstown thought, kingpin of the network built up by the successors of Robert Godlonton, the "architect of frontier opinion". It has to be treated with caution as a source because of this very bias. The Council Minutes themselves, meticulously recorded in the Town Clerk's copperplate Victorian script, are scrupulously objective, recording blandly proposers, seconders and fates of motions. What might appear the bare bones of a detailed study of the municipal records yet reflects the economic climate of the town, political opinions, class and race attitudes, civic pride, concepts of public health and charity. The newspapers are a vital addition to the Municipal records themselves. The weekly meetings received faithful, accurate and very copious coverage from press-representatives present at every ordinary meeting. Indeed these reports give a vivid immediacy to the meetings and reveal opinions, pressure groups and lines of conflict within the Council, on issues important and trivial. These, at times lively and enlivening, sometimes stormy meetings, are reported with an authenticity which makes one suspect that often words of speeches were given verbatim - personalities of the Councillors certainly emerge distinctly. Full newspaper coverage is also given to the meetings of the Albany Divisional Council. The annual reports of the Civil Commissioners and Resident Magistrates, which appear in the Parliamentary Blue Books of the period, provide some valuable economic comment on the vicissitudes of life in the eastern frontier districts from 1862-1882. Such information builds useful background for a study of Grahamstown's economic and social development. Efforts have been made to locate probable sources of family papers of one of the most influential Grahamstown families of the period, the Wood family, but to no avail. If any exist they would without doubt have given interesting insight into the business connections of leading Grahamstown men and possibly given an indication of how far civic and political connections linked with religious and family influences in Victorian Grahamstown. Jim's Journal, manuscript in Cory Library, is a record of letters sent home to England by James Butler, while on a visit to the Cape,1876-79 for his health. He provides illuminating glimpses into the day to day life of Grahamstown from a Quaker viewpoint. Taken together, these sources provide considerable insights into the life and times of Grahamstown in the second half of the nineteenth Century. A municipal study examines an area in its totality: it encompasses a study of minutiae within the context of general trends. This fact alone suggests that there are many sources on the history of Grahamstown which have not yet been discovered, but this assessment is submitted on the basis of a thorough study of those which are currently available.
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The drift from the farms to town : a case study of migration from white-owned farms in the Eastern Cape to Grahamstown

- Manona, Cecil Wele

Authors: Manona, Cecil Wele
Date: 1989
Subjects: Rural-urban migration -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Agricultural laborers -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape -- Economic conditions , Agricultural laborers -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape -- Social conditions , Government, Resistance to -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Grahamstown (South Africa) -- History
Language: English
Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
Identifier: vital:2088 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002651
Description: The study deals with the migration of large numbers of black workers from white-owned farms in the Albany and Bathurst districts to Grahamstown. In South Africa the migration of farm residents to the towns has not yet received much attention from researchers. Instead, most migrant studies have concentrated on the migration from the 'homeland' areas and for this reason little is known about the people who have been associated with the farms in some cases for five generations. From the 1940s these farms were rapidly losing labour largely on account of the introduction of mechanization and land rationalization. At that time many farm dwellers were migrating to Grahamstown and, to same extent, Port Elizabeth. The past few decades witnessed a massive further migration from these farms and this, together with natural increase, contributed to the 53,9% increase in Graharnstown's black population in the 1970-80 decade. The study has these aims: 1. To consider the factors that have promoted the move away from the farms , especially as from the end of the Second World War. 2. To account for the overwhelming attraction of Grahamstown as a destination among those who must, or decide to, migrate. 3. To assess the mode of adaptation of those who settle in Grahamstown pennanently. Those who have been in town for several decades provide a background for the central focus of the study, the new irrmigrants who came to town a decade ago or more recently. The latter include people who migrated to town from August 1984, i.e. during a period of extra-ordinary political developments and serious unrest in Grahamstown. The study places an emphasis on the way the imnigrants themselves perceive the process. The aims of the study which have been mentioned above revolve around the impoverishment of rural inhabitants who must now work for wages with hardly any measure of autonomy over the major aspects of their lives while those who go and live in town must contend with a competitive urban economy in which economic opportunities are scarce. This is the central problem of this thesis.
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